yFiles Developer's Guide

Table of Contents

Changes From Previous Edition

Developer's Guide Enhancements

New Features of yFiles 2.5

General

1. Preface

Diagrams

Benefits and Problems

From Diagrams to Graphs

Graph-related Problems

About yFiles

What it is

What it's not

Application Domains

2. Introducing the yFiles Library

yFiles Library Components

yFiles Basic

yFiles Viewer

yFiles Layout

How to Read This Developer's Guide

First-Time Users

Experienced Users

Where to Find Things in yFiles

3. General Concepts in yFiles

Basic Graph Structure

Clear Responsibilities

Accessing Graph Elements

Storing Elements

Binding Data to Graph Elements

A Word on Subclassing Graph Elements

4. Working With the Graph Structure

Creating Graphs and Graph Elements

Graph Structure Functionality

More About Class Graph

Graph Elements

Complexity

Advanced Topics

Events and Listeners

Structural Changes

Iteration Mechanisms

Iteration and Element Removal

Alternative Iteration Techniques

Containers

High-Level Features

Low-Level Features

Binding Data to Graph Elements

Maps and Data Providers

Notes

Analyzing Graphs

Quickly Checking for Graph Characteristics

Advanced Graph Characteristics

5. Automatic Graph Layout

Layout Algorithms

Advanced Layout Features

Layout Architecture

Graph Structure Enhancements

Advanced Topics

Layout Infrastructure

Concepts

The Layout Stages Concept

Default Compound Layout Process

Using Buffered Layout

Providing Supplemental Layout Data

Advanced Layout Features

Hierarchically Organized Graphs

Port Constraints

Port Candidates

Edge/Port Grouping (Bus-style Edge Routing)

Layout Stages

Tutorial Demo Code

Class ComponentLayouter

Supplemental Layout Data

Layout Options

Advanced Layout Techniques

Class GraphLayoutLineWrapper

Layout Options

Major Layout Algorithms

Circular Layout

Hierarchical Layout

Organic Layout

Orthogonal Layout

Tree Layout

Incremental Layout

Use Cases

Circular Layout

Supplemental Layout Data

Layout Options

Partition Arrangement Options

Tree Arrangement Options

Tutorial Demo Code

Configuration Hints

Hierarchical Layout

Supplemental Layout Data

Layout Options

Drawing Style Options

Layer Assignment Options

Node Order Options

Advanced Layout Features

Package Structure

Tutorial Demo Code

Hierarchical Layout of Hierarchically Organized Graphs

Supplemental Layout Data

Layout Options

Tutorial Demo Code

Incremental Hierarchical Layout

Specifying Hints

Supplemental Layout Data

Layout Options

Drawing Style Options

Advanced Layout Features

Related Classes

Layout of Hierarchically Organized Graphs

Tutorial Demo Code

Organic Layout

Supplemental Layout Data

Layout Options

Advanced Layout Features

Tutorial Demo Code

Smart Organic Layout

Supplemental Layout Data

Layout Options

Advanced Layout Features

Configuration Hints

Interactive Organic Layout

General Usage

Supplemental Layout Data

Layout Options

Tutorial Demo Code

Orthogonal Layout

Supplemental Layout Data

Layout Options

Advanced Layout Features

Tutorial Demo Code

Configuration Hints

Orthogonal Layout of Hierarchically Organized Graphs

Supplemental Layout Data

Layout Options

Tutorial Demo Code

Directed Orthogonal Layout

Supplemental Layout Data

Layout Options

Advanced Layout Features

Tutorial Demo Code

Compact Orthogonal Layout

Layout Options

Tutorial Demo Code

Tree Layout

Enhancing the Layout Process

Directed

Supplemental Layout Data

Layout Options

Advanced Layout Features

Balloon

Layout Options

Advanced Layout Features

Horizontal/Vertical

Supplemental Layout Data

Layout Options

Compact

Supplemental Layout Data

Layout Options

Generic Tree Layout

Supplemental Layout Data

Layout Options

Advanced Layout Features

Tutorial Demo Code

Edge Routing Algorithms

Organic Routing

Orthogonal Routing

Organic Edge Routing

Routing Options

Tutorial Demo Code

Orthogonal Edge Routing

Supplemental Layout Data

Routing Options

Advanced Routing Features

Enhancing the Routing Process

Tutorial Demo Code

Channel Edge Routing

Supplemental Layout Data

Routing Options

Advanced Routing Features

Related Classes

Tutorial Demo Code

Automatic Label Placement

Labeling Scenarios

Concepts

Label Models

General Labeling

Integrated Labeling

Tutorial Demo Code

6. Displaying and Editing Graphs

Model-View-Controller Paradigm

Graph Structure Enhancements

Class Graph2D

Advanced Topics

Bringing Graph Elements to Life: The Realizer Concept

Binding Realizers

General Features

Node Realizers

Edge Realizers

Realizer-Related Features

Label Support

Related Classes

Selection State

Writing Customized Realizers

Subclassing and Overriding

Providing Interface Implementations

Swing User Interface Components as Node Realizers

Rendering

Editor Functionality

Tutorial Demo Code

View Implementations

Class Graph2DView

Class Overview

Related Classes and Interfaces

User Interaction

Mouse-Driven Actions

Keyboard-Driven Actions

Label Editor

Node-Related Editing Capabilities

ViewMode Workings

Class EditMode

Class NavigationMode

Class CellEditorMode

Class MagnifierViewMode

Class AutoDragViewMode

Related Classes and Interfaces

Customizing an EditMode

Events and Listeners

Graphical Property Changes

Selection State Changes

Printing a Graph's Visual Representation

Scaling and Clipping

Title Bar and Footer Support

Printing Preview

Creating a Dedicated Printing View

Tutorial Demo Code

Animations for Graph Elements

Animation Framework

Tutorial Demo Code

Advanced Application Logic

Undo/Redo

Clipboard

Layout Morphing

7. Graph Hierarchies

Concepts

Grouping and Nesting

Special Proxy Elements

Working With Graph Hierarchies

Comparing the Concepts

Nesting Characteristics

Managing Graph Hierarchies

Class HierarchyManager

Class DefaultHierarchyGraphFactory

Tutorial Demo Code

Node Realizers

Class GroupNodeRealizer

Interface AutoBoundsFeature

View Implementations

Class HierarchyJTree

Related Classes

User Interaction

Class HierarchyEditMode

Tutorial Demo Code

Events and Listeners

Hierarchy Changes

Automatic Layout

Class GroupLayoutConfigurator

8. Input and Output

Graph Exchange and Graph Export Formats

Input/Output Handlers

Reading and Writing Graph Structure Data

YGF

Common Usage

Extending YGF With Custom Data

Tutorial Demo Code

GML

What it Looks Like

Common Usage

Extending GML With Custom Data

Tutorial Demo Code

GML File Format

XGML

What it Looks Like

Common Usage

TGF

What it Looks Like

Common Usage

Exporting a Graph's Visual Representation

Preparing the Graph

Using GIF and JPG

Using the Java Image I/O API

Image Tiling

Image Maps

yFiles Extension Packages

GraphML

ySVG

yExport

9. Settings Dialogs and Components

Overview

Model-Delegate Pattern

Basic Functionality

Creating Model and View

Synchronizing Editors and Option Items

Defining Dependencies Between Option Items

Undefined Values in Option Items

Internationalization and Localization

Serialization of Settings

Tutorial Demo Code

Advanced Topics

Synchronizing Multiple Editors

Tutorial Demo Code

10. GraphML Extension Package

GraphML

What GraphML Looks Like

GraphML Default Extension Mechanism

Customizing the GraphML Extension Mechanism

Using the yFiles GraphML Extension Package

Direct Support for Simple Data Types

General Support for Structured Data

Support for Custom Realizer Implementations

yFiles GraphML Post-processors

Tutorial Demo Code

Advanced Topics

yFiles XSLT Support for GraphML

Reading and Writing Graphs of Arbitrary Type

11. ySVG Extension Package

Scalable Vector Graphics

Using the ySVG Extension Package

Using SVG Content

Customizing SVG Content

Tutorial Demo Code

GraphML Support

12. yExport Extension Package

Vector Graphics File Formats

Using the yExport Extension Package

Using the System Clipboard

A. Obfuscation

Why Obfuscation Matters

Name Obfuscation and its Benefits

Name Obfuscation Using yGuard

Adjusting Names

Checking Obfuscation Success

Tutorial Demo Code

Glossary

Index