Graphical Objects

Essential Diagram provides you all the basic shapes to let you come up with Symbols more reflective of your business needs.

Diagram nodes have been classified into three broad categories. These have been discussed below:

Line Based Node

Line based nodes refer to nodes that connect two or more nodes in a diagram and generally do not form a closed path. These line based nodes also include connectors that are used for connecting nodes in a diagram. The Line based nodes in diagram are :

• Line
• Polyline
• Measure Line
• Curve Node
• Bezier Curve
• Spline Node
• Line Connector
• Orthogonal Connector

Closed Path Node

Nodes which come with a closed path are referred to as closed path nodes. The closed path nodes in diagram are :

• Closed Curve Node
• Polygon

Rectangle Node

The rectangle nodes are closed path nodes whose shape is derived from a Rectangle. The rectangle nodes available are:

• Rectangle
• Rounded Rectangle
• Ellipse
• Text Node
• Rich Text Node
• Bitmap Node
• Metafile Node

Labels refer to the text added along the diagram nodes and connectors. There is no limit to the number of labels that can be added to a diagram node. The label can be placed in any custom position with respect to the diagram node using anchor points.

A Model is a collection of objects rendered onto a view and manipulated by a controller. It represents the data or document portion of a diagram. Models can be nested and serialized using SOAP or binary formatters.

The diagram layers, background styles, line routing and bridging, header and footer data and diagram rendering are managed by the diagram model.

Essential Diagram supports a variety of shapes. A shape is defined as a type of node that contains a set of points and renders those points. Essential Diagram has basic shape classes from which specific other shapes can be derived.

The following shapes can be drawn using Essential Diagram's shape tool:

• Polygon

• Rectangle

• Rounded Rectangle

• Arc

• Ellipse

• Curve

• Closed Curve

• Line

• Polyline

• Orthogonal Line

Symbols and links contain points at which connections can be established. A Symbol can have any number of ports positioned anywhere on it.

Users can add any number of text labels to a symbol or link. The label can be positioned based on an anchor point. The symbol label can be moved around or positioned based on percentage distance along the line.

Labels can be added using the Label Collection Editor.