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DataBinding

The following article will show you how to bind the RadDiagram to ViewModel collections which represent nodes and edges of a Graph.

Please note that the examples in this tutorial are showcasing Telerik Windows8 theme. In the Setting a Theme article you can find more information on how to set an application-wide theme.

Defining GraphSource

In order to bind a RadDiagram successfully you have to use its GraphSource property and create a collection that implements the IGraphSource or IGraphSource<T>. The IGraphSource interface basically describes the elements (items and links (or nodes or edges)) of an MVVM graph source.

Example 1: IGraphSource interfaces

public interface IGraphSource 
{ 
    IEnumerable<ILink> Links { get; } 
    IEnumerable Items { get; } 
} 
 
public interface IGraphSource<T> : IGraphSource 
{ 
    new IEnumerable<ILink<T>> Links { get; } 
    new IEnumerable<T> Items { get; } 
} 
Public Interface IGraphSource 
    ReadOnly Property Links() As IEnumerable(Of ILink) 
    ReadOnly Property Items() As IEnumerable 
End Interface 
 
Public Interface IGraphSource(Of T) 
    Inherits IGraphSource 
    Shadows ReadOnly Property Links() As IEnumerable(Of ILink(Of T)) 
    Shadows ReadOnly Property Items() As IEnumerable(Of T) 
End Interface 

So let's start with creating a ViewModel for the nodes of our Graph (Diagram). We will create the class PascalNode that will have 'Position' property of type Point and 'PascalNumber' of type int:

Example 2: Creating a ViewModel for nodes

public class PascalNode 
{ 
    public Point Position 
    { 
        get; 
        set; 
    } 
    public int PascalNumber 
    { 
        get; 
        set; 
    } 
} 
Public Class PascalNode 
    Public Property Position() As Point 
    Public Property PascalNumber() As Integer 
End Class 

Now we need a ViewModel for the edges (links) of the Graph. Let's call it PascalEdge. Note that this class must implement the ILink interface:

Example 3: Creating a ViewModel for links

public class PascalEdge : ILink<PascalNode> 
{ 
    public PascalNode Source 
    { 
        get; 
        set; 
    } 
 
    public PascalNode Target 
    { 
        get; 
        set; 
    } 
 
    object ILink.Source 
    { 
        get 
        { 
            return this.Source; 
        } 
        set 
        { 
        } 
 
    } 
 
    object ILink.Target 
    { 
        get 
        { 
            return this.Target; 
        } 
        set 
        { 
        } 
    } 
} 
Public Class PascalEdge 
    Implements ILink(Of PascalNode) 
    Public Property Source() As PascalNode 
 
    Public Property Target() As PascalNode 
 
    Private Property ILink_Source() As Object Implements ILink.Source 
        Get 
            Return Me.Source 
        End Get 
        Set(ByVal value As Object) 
        End Set 
 
    End Property 
 
    Private Property ILink_Target() As Object Implements ILink.Target 
        Get 
            Return Me.Target 
        End Get 
        Set(ByVal value As Object) 
        End Set 
    End Property 
End Class 

Now we can successfully create an IGraphSource class to hold collection of nodes and edges:

Example 4: Implementing IGraphSource

public class PascalTriangleGraphSource : IGraphSource 
{ 
    public PascalTriangleGraphSource() 
    { 
        this.InternalItems = new ObservableCollection<PascalNode>(); 
        this.InternalEdges = new ObservableCollection<PascalEdge>(); 
    } 
 
    public ObservableCollection<PascalNode> InternalItems 
    { 
        get; 
        private set; 
    } 
 
    public ObservableCollection<PascalEdge> InternalEdges 
    { 
        get; 
        private set; 
    } 
 
    IEnumerable<ILink> IGraphSource.Links 
    { 
        get { return this.InternalEdges; } 
    } 
 
    System.Collections.IEnumerable IGraphSource.Items 
    { 
        get { return this.InternalItems; } 
    } 
} 
Public Class PascalTriangleGraphSource 
    Implements IGraphSource 
    Public Sub New() 
        Me.InternalItems = New ObservableCollection(Of PascalNode)() 
        Me.InternalEdges = New ObservableCollection(Of PascalEdge)() 
    End Sub 
 
    Private privateInternalItems As ObservableCollection(Of PascalNode) 
    Public Property InternalItems() As ObservableCollection(Of PascalNode) 
        Get 
            Return privateInternalItems 
        End Get 
        Private Set(ByVal value As ObservableCollection(Of PascalNode)) 
            privateInternalItems = value 
        End Set 
    End Property 
 
    Private privateInternalEdges As ObservableCollection(Of PascalEdge) 
    Public Property InternalEdges() As ObservableCollection(Of PascalEdge) 
        Get 
            Return privateInternalEdges 
        End Get 
        Private Set(ByVal value As ObservableCollection(Of PascalEdge)) 
            privateInternalEdges = value 
        End Set 
    End Property 
 
    Private ReadOnly Property Links() As IEnumerable(Of ILink) Implements IGraphSource.Links 
        Get 
            Return Me.InternalEdges 
        End Get 
    End Property 
 
    Private ReadOnly Property Items() As System.Collections.IEnumerable Implements IGraphSource.Items 
        Get 
            Return Me.InternalItems 
        End Get 
    End Property 
End Class 

Our next step is to create a function that accepts integer as a parameter and fills the GraphSource collection with PascalNodes and PascalEdges:

Example 5: Populating the graph source

const int ROOT_X_Position = 400; 
const int ROOT_Y_Position = 20; 
const int X_DELIMITER_WIDTH = 80; 
const int Y_DELIMITER_HEIGHT = 60; 
const int X_START_NEGATIVE_OFFSET = 40;        
 
private IGraphSource CreatePascalTriangleGraphSource(int levels) 
{ 
    PascalTriangleGraphSource graph = new PascalTriangleGraphSource(); 
    for (int i = 0; i < levels; i++) 
    { 
        for (int j = 0; j < i + 1; j++) 
        { 
            PascalNode node = new PascalNode() 
            { 
                Position = new Point()  
                { 
                    Y = ROOT_Y_Position + i * Y_DELIMITER_HEIGHT, 
                    X = ROOT_X_Position - i * X_START_NEGATIVE_OFFSET + j * X_DELIMITER_WIDTH  
                }, 
                PascalNumber = Binom(i, j) 
            }; 
            graph.InternalItems.Add(node);   
            int currIndex = i * (i + 1) / 2 + j; 
            if (j == 0) graph.InternalEdges.Add(new PascalEdge() { Source = graph.InternalItems[currIndex - i], Target = node }); 
            if (j == i && i != 0) graph.InternalEdges.Add(new PascalEdge() { Source = graph.InternalItems[currIndex - i - 1], Target = node }); 
            if (0 < j && j < i) 
            { 
                graph.InternalEdges.Add(new PascalEdge() { Source = graph.InternalItems[currIndex - i - 1], Target = node }); 
                graph.InternalEdges.Add(new PascalEdge() { Source = graph.InternalItems[currIndex - i], Target = node }); 
            } 
        }                 
    } 
    return graph; 
} 
 
private int Binom(int n, int k) 
{            
    return FactN(n) / (FactN(k) * FactN(n -k));             
} 
 
private int FactN(int n) 
{ 
    if (n == 0 || n == 1) return 1; 
    int res = 1; 
    for (int i = 1; i <= n; i++) 
    { 
        res = res * i; 
    }            
    return res; 
} 
Private Const ROOT_X_Position As Integer = 400 
Private Const ROOT_Y_Position As Integer = 20 
Private Const X_DELIMITER_WIDTH As Integer = 80 
Private Const Y_DELIMITER_HEIGHT As Integer = 60 
Private Const X_START_NEGATIVE_OFFSET As Integer = 40 
 
Private Function CreatePascalTriangleGraphSource(ByVal levels As Integer) As IGraphSource 
    Dim graph As New PascalTriangleGraphSource() 
    For i As Integer = 0 To levels - 1 
        For j As Integer = 0 To i 
            Dim node As New PascalNode() With {.Position = New Point() With {.Y = ROOT_Y_Position + i * Y_DELIMITER_HEIGHT, .X = ROOT_X_Position - i * X_START_NEGATIVE_OFFSET + j * X_DELIMITER_WIDTH}, .PascalNumber = Binom(i, j)} 
            graph.InternalItems.Add(node) 
            Dim currIndex As Integer = i * (i + 1) / 2 + j 
            If j = 0 Then 
                graph.InternalEdges.Add(New PascalEdge() With {.Source = graph.InternalItems(currIndex - i), .Target = node}) 
            End If 
            If j = i AndAlso i <> 0 Then 
                graph.InternalEdges.Add(New PascalEdge() With {.Source = graph.InternalItems(currIndex - i - 1), .Target = node}) 
            End If 
            If 0 < j AndAlso j < i Then 
                graph.InternalEdges.Add(New PascalEdge() With {.Source = graph.InternalItems(currIndex - i - 1), .Target = node}) 
                graph.InternalEdges.Add(New PascalEdge() With {.Source = graph.InternalItems(currIndex - i), .Target = node}) 
            End If 
        Next j 
    Next i 
    Return graph 
End Function 
 
Private Function Binom(ByVal n As Integer, ByVal k As Integer) As Integer 
    Return FactN(n) / (FactN(k) * FactN(n - k)) 
End Function 
 
Private Function FactN(ByVal n As Integer) As Integer 
    If n = 0 OrElse n = 1 Then 
        Return 1 
    End If 
    Dim res As Integer = 1 
    For i As Integer = 1 To n 
        res = res * i 
    Next i 
    Return res 
End Function 

Configuring XAML

Now let's take care of our Shapes and Connections' look and feel. We have to bind the Shapes' Position property and define ContentTemplate to show the PascalNumber. On the other hand, we have to create an empty ContentTemplate for the Connections if we don't want the default one - the name of the ViewModel's class shown in a TextBlock. We will also define a TargetCapType for the edges.

Example 6: Declaring the RadDiagram in XAML and adding the necessary styles

  <Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot"> 
    <Grid.Resources> 
        <Style x:Key="pascalNodeStyle" TargetType="telerik:RadDiagramShape"> 
            <Setter Property="Position" Value="{Binding Position, Mode=TwoWay}" /> 
            <Setter Property="Content" Value="{Binding}" /> 
            <Setter Property="Geometry" Value="{telerik:CommonShape ShapeType=EllipseShape}" /> 
            <Setter Property="Width" Value="40" /> 
            <Setter Property="Height" Value="40" /> 
            <Setter Property="ContentTemplate"> 
                <Setter.Value> 
                    <DataTemplate > 
                        <TextBlock FontSize="14"  
                                   FontWeight="Bold"  
                                   Foreground="Black" 
                                   Text="{Binding PascalNumber}" /> 
                    </DataTemplate> 
                </Setter.Value> 
            </Setter> 
        </Style> 
 
        <Style x:Key="pascalEdgeStyle" TargetType="telerik:RadDiagramConnection"> 
            <Setter Property="TargetCapType" Value="Arrow1" /> 
            <Setter Property="ContentTemplate"> 
                <Setter.Value> 
                    <DataTemplate /> 
                </Setter.Value> 
            </Setter> 
        </Style>            
    </Grid.Resources> 
 
    <telerik:RadDiagram x:Name="diagram"  
                        ConnectionStyle="{StaticResource pascalEdgeStyle}" 
                        ShapeStyle="{StaticResource pascalNodeStyle}" /> 
</Grid> 

Connecting The View And The ViewModel

The final step is to bind the View to the ViewModels:

Example 7: Setting the GraphSource

this.diagram.GraphSource = CreatePascalTriangleGraphSource(7); 
Me.diagram.GraphSource = CreatePascalTriangleGraphSource(7) 

Figure 1: Pascal Triangle with seven levels represented by RadDiagram

Pascal Triangle with seven levels represented by RadDiagram

Two-Way MVVM

In Q2 2012 we improved the MVVM support by adding two-way changes, i.e. changes in the UI or diagram will be reflected in the viewmodel.

In order to make use of the two-way binding the data source should implement the IObservableGraphSource interface which extends the IGraphSource interface with some methods called by RadDiagram when Items are added or removed in the diagram.

The simplest way to use the IObservableGraphSource is via its default implementation in the Extensions library. The ObservableGraphSourceBase contains Add and Remove methods which can and should be overriden to make sure that any changes in the view (RadDiagram canvas), will be reflected in the ViewModel. The next examples demonstrate this in a sample scenario.

Example 8: Defining a model

public class Person : NodeViewModelBase  
{  
    public Person(string name)  
    {  
        this.Name = name;  
    }  
 
    public string Name  
    {  
        get  
        {  
            return this.Content.ToString();  
        }  
        set  
        {  
            this.Content = value;         
            this.OnPropertyChanged("Name");  
        }  
    }  
 
    public override string ToString()  
    {  
        return this.Name;  
    }  
} 
Public Class Person 
    Inherits NodeViewModelBase 
    Public Sub New(name As String) 
        Me.Name = name 
    End Sub 
 
    Public Property Name() As String 
        Get 
            Return Me.Content.ToString() 
        End Get 
        Set 
            Me.Content = value 
            Me.OnPropertyChanged("Name") 
        End Set 
    End Property 
 
    Public Overrides Function ToString() As String 
        Return Me.Name 
    End Function 
End Class 

Next, define a graph source deriving from the ObservableGraphSourceBase class as in Example 9.

Example 9: Implement ObservableGraphSourceBase

public class DataStore : ObservableGraphSourceBase<NodeViewModelBase, LinkViewModelBase<NodeViewModelBase>>  
    {  
        public DataStore()  
        {  
            this.AddNode(new Person("Johnny Carter"));  
            this.AddNode(new Person("Alexandra Morgan"));  
            this.AddNode(new Person("Jeff Kadensky"));  
        } 
 
        public override void AddNode(NodeViewModelBase node) 
        { 
            if (!(node is Person)) node = new Person("New Person!"); 
            base.AddNode(node); 
        } 
    } 
Public Class DataStore 
    Inherits ObservableGraphSourceBase(Of NodeViewModelBase, LinkViewModelBase(Of NodeViewModelBase)) 
    Public Sub New() 
        Me.AddNode(New Person("Johnny Carter")) 
        Me.AddNode(New Person("Alexandra Morgan")) 
        Me.AddNode(New Person("Jeff Kadensky")) 
    End Sub 
 
    Public Overrides Sub AddNode(node As NodeViewModelBase) 
        If Not (TypeOf node Is Person) Then 
            node = New Person("New Person!") 
        End If 
        MyBase.AddNode(node) 
    End Sub 
End Class 

This model is bound to a RadTreeView and a RadDiagram in XAML as demonstrated in Example 10.

Example 10: Showing the items in a RadTreeView

<telerik:RadDiagram x:Name="diagram" GraphSource="{Binding }" /> 
 
        <telerik:RadTreeView x:Name="tree" Grid.Column="1" Width="300" ItemsSource="{Binding Items}"> 
            <telerik:RadTreeView.ItemTemplate> 
                <DataTemplate> 
                    <TextBlock Text="{Binding Name}" /> 
                </DataTemplate> 
            </telerik:RadTreeView.ItemTemplate> 
        </telerik:RadTreeView> 

Figure 2: Result from Example 10

Two-Way MVVM RadDiagram

Figure 3: Selecting an item and pasting it into the diagram

Selecting an item and pasting it into the diagram

An item has been created in the MVVM model (the empty treeview item) as a result of the changes in the diagram, as should be with a two-way MVVM source. The item has however an empty content since RadDiagram has thus far no knowledge of the Person data type to insert into the model.

For this purpose you need to override the AddNode method in the Datastore as in Example 11.

Example 11: Overriding the AddNode method

public override void AddNode(NodeViewModelBase node) 
{ 
    if (!(node is Person)) node = new Person("New Person!"); 
    base.AddNode(node); 
}    
Public Overrides Sub AddNode(node As NodeViewModelBase) 
If Not (TypeOf node Is Person) Then 
node = New Person("New Person!") 
End If 
MyBase.AddNode(node) 
End Sub 

Figure 4: Result from Example 11

Addin a node to RadDiagram

Clearing the Cache of the ItemContainerGenerator

When an item (node) is removed from the GraphSource, its corresponding UI container (the RadDiagramShape) is stored in a collection of 'recycled' shapes for future use. This aims to speed up the diagram's performance in extensive undo-redo and container generation operations. However, this could lead to an increased use of memory. In order to clear this cache, utilize the ClearCache method of the diagram's ContainerGenerator as demonstrated in Example 12.

Example 12: Invoking the ClearCache method of the ItemContainerGenerator

(this.Diagram.ContainerGenerator as GenericContainerGenerator<Telerik.Windows.Controls.Diagrams.RadDiagramItem>).ClearCache(); 
TryCast(Me.Diagram.ContainerGenerator, GenericContainerGenerator(Of Telerik.Windows.Controls.Diagrams.RadDiagramItem)).ClearCache() 

See Also

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