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yFiles for Java Release Notes

yFiles for Java version 2.6 is the newest major release available. It contains many exciting new features compared to older versions and is almost completely API compatible with the 2.5 series.
The latest release is version 2.6.1.

Technical Requirements

  • Sun Microsystems J2SDK 1.4 or higher is needed for software development with yFiles.
  • Sun Microsystems J2RE 1.4 or higher is needed to execute programs using yFiles.
  • In order to browse the documentation use Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher or Mozilla Firefox 2.0 or higher.
  • You need an operating system that supports Java 2.

yFiles 2.6 - Changes Since 2.5.0.4

Major Features Added

Swimlane layout for
grouped graphs
New stylish node
painters
Family tree layout Comprehensive
yEd Lite source code
demo

Automatic Layout

  • Layout algorithm IncrementalHierarchicLayouter now supports swimlane layouts of hierarchically grouped graphs.
  • Layout algorithm IncrementalHierarchicLayouter now allows to specify placement constraints for nodes that reside in the same layer. A default implementation of new interface SequenceConstraintFactory enables user-defined constrained node sequencing, where nodes can be specified to be placed at the beginning or the end of their respective layer, or can be specified to be placed before/after a given reference node.
  • A new domain-specific layout algorithm, FamilyTreeLayouter, has been added that is especially suited for genealogical family trees.
  • A new planarity test class, PlanarityTest, has been added. It can be used to test a graph for planarity and to create a planar embedding of a planar graph. Both can be done in linear time.
  • Minimum size constraints for group nodes have been added to the major layout algorithms HierarchicGroupLayouter, OrganicLayouter, SmartOrganicLayouter, and IncrementalHierarchicLayouter.
    GroupLayoutConfigurator prepares and binds the relevant data to the graph using data provider look-up key MINIMUM_NODE_SIZE_DPKEY.
  • Significantly improved generic label placement algorithms SALabeling and GreedyMISLabeling. The number of overlapping labels has been drastically reduced. Furthermore, these algorithms now place labels associated with the FREE label model.
  • Added the ability for the organic layout algorithms to deal with elliptical shapes of group nodes, which may themselves contain elliptical node shapes. Class EllipticalGroupBoundsCalculator can be used to add this ability to the algorithms.
  • Class SequentialLayouter has been added, that can be used to run several layouters sequentially one after the other.

Realizers and Rendering

Viewer/Editor Interaction

  • New class ModelViewManager enables multiple views on a common model graph. ModelViewManager establishes and manages all model-view relationships between a distinguished graph, the "model graph," and an arbitrary number of so-called "satellite graphs" that can each be rendered in their own view.
  • View mode class HotSpotMode (and also HierarchyHotSpotMode) respects minimum size and maximum size constraints for nodes when they are resized interactively.
    Size constraints can be specified using interface SizeConstraintProvider which is retrieved from node realizers when being resized. The realizer base classes NodeRealizer and GenericNodeRealizer define an appropriate getter method.
  • Class HitInfo uses the reverse of the rendering order as established by the graph renderer for traversing the graph elements when collecting hit-testing information.

Demos

  • The complete source code of the comprehensive graph editor yEd Lite has been added. The source code is made available as a separate download item that is available through our software download center.
Swimlane layout for
grouped graphs
New stylish node
painters
Family tree layout Comprehensive
yEd Lite source code
demo

Minor Features Added

Graph Analysis Algorithms

Automatic Layout

Realizers and Rendering

  • YLabel: added the setSelected property to allow for selecting labels individually. Default actions in Graph2DViewActions have been added and EditMode-behavior has been enhanced to make use of the new selection feature. See labelClicked for details. Also convenience methods have been added to Graph2D that deal with and yield the selection state of labels.
  • GenericEdgeRealizer: A new implementation of GenericEdgeRealizer.PathCalculator has been added that can be used as a wrapper to other PathCalculators and will smoothen the calculated bends as e.g. PolyLineEdgeRealizer does.
  • NodeRealizer: getLabel no longer throws an exception, if the realizer has no label. In this case a new label is added and returned. This is the same behavior as already implemented for edge realizers.
  • New interface SizeConstraintProvider that allows to specify minimum size and maximum size constraints for node realizers.
  • Class DefaultGraph2DRenderer supports collecting hit-testing information based on the reverse of the rendering order.

Viewer/Editor Interaction

Demos Added

  • ModelViewManagerDemo shows how class ModelViewManager can be used to create model-view relationships between graphs.
  • FamilyTreeDemo presents the layout algorithm FamilyTreeLayouter.
  • SequenceConstraintsDemo allows to experience IncrementalHierarchicalLayouter's support for constrained node sequencing.
  • SwimLaneGroupDemo shows swimlane layout with hierarchically grouped graphs.
  • FullScreenNavigationDemo features the user interface elements provided by class NavigationComponent that allow convenient navigation in the view.
  • RollOverEffectDemo presents a custom view mode implemention that uses the capabilities of the yFiles animation framework.

Changes in Default Behavior

Incompatible API Changes

Bugfixes