How to: Create Custom Shapes with Connection Points
- 3 minutes to read
The Diagram control supports a special language for defining shapes. The main element that contains shape description is ShapeTemplate. This element describes a shape contour and may contain several segments:
- Start. Specifies the start point
- Line. Defines a line with start and end points
- Arc. Defines an arc with start and end points
To specify connection points, use the ShapeTemplate.ConnectionPoints property.
Shapes may contain parameters. Parameters may be used to dynamically calculate an end point, row height, and other properties. To specify parameters, use the ShapeTemplate.Parameters property.
To register custom shapes, create a stencil with the DiagramStencil.Create method and pass it to the DiagramToolboxRegistrator.RegisterStencil method.
Note
Starting with version 16.1, it is recommended to use XML to describe custom shapes. If you prefer to use XAML instead, take a look at the following example: How to: Create Custom Shapes with Connection Points Using XAML
Note
A complete sample project is available at https://github.com/DevExpress-Examples/diagramcontrol-how-to-create-custom-shapes-with-connection-points-t324404
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using DevExpress.Diagram.Core;
using DevExpress.Diagram.Core.Shapes;
using System.Windows;
using System.IO;
using System.Reflection;
namespace XtraDiagram.CreateCustomShapes {
public partial class Form1 : DevExpress.XtraBars.Ribbon.RibbonForm {
public Form1() {
InitializeComponent();
RegisterCustomShapes();
this.diagramControl1.SelectedStencils = new StencilCollection(new string[] { "CustomShapes" });
}
protected override void OnLoad(EventArgs e) {
base.OnLoad(e);
this.diagramControl1.InitializeRibbon(this.ribbonControl1);
}
void RegisterCustomShapes() {
using(var stream = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetManifestResourceStream("XtraDiagram.CreateCustomShapes.CustomShapes.xml")) {
var stencil = DiagramStencil.Create("CustomShapes", "Custom Shapes", stream, shapeName => shapeName);
DiagramToolboxRegistrator.RegisterStencil(stencil);
}
}
}
}