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Diagram for .NET / User's Guide / Data Import / Data Import - Getting Started

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    Data Import - Getting Started
    In This Topic

    It is often required to represent the relationships and data of a tabular data source as a diagram. The most common scenario is when the data relationships form tree or graph data structures and the data records involved in these relationships need to be displayed as cards, with entries for each particular data field. Nevron Diagram for .NET features built-in the NTreeDataSourceImporter and NGraphDataSourceImporter classes, which can help you perform these tedious operations.

     Sample Dataset

    For the purpose of explaining data import, lets assume that we have a simple dataset, which contains two table: Pages and Links. 

    Pages table
    Field Type Comments
    Id Auto Number page id
    ParentId Number id to the parent page
    Title string page title
    URL Hyper link page URL
    Links table
    Field Type Comments
    Id Auto Number link id
    FromPageId Number id of the the source page
    ToPageId Number id of the the destination page

    The Pages table contains information about the pages and the hierarchical structure of a website. The Links table contains information about the cross links inside this website.

    The Pages table is a self-referencing table the records of which can be displayed as a tree - we will use the NTreeDataSourceImporter to do that.

    The Pages and Links tables can be displayed as a graph the vertices of which are pages and the edges of which are page links - we will use the NGraphDataSourceImporter to perform this task.

     Common Data Import Features

    Both the NTreeDataSourceImporter and the NGraphDataSourceImporter classes derive from the base NDataSourceImporter class, which defines their common functionality:

    Supported Data Sources

    Data importers support the following types of data sources:

    Type Comments
    DataTable
    DataView
    OleDbDataAdapter Uses the SelectCommand of the adapter
    SqlDataAdapter Uses the SelectCommand of the adapter
    OdbcDataAdapter Uses the SelectCommand of the adapter
    OleDbCommand
    SqlCommand
    OdbcCommand

    Vertex and Edge Shapes Factories

    Since both tree and graphs structures are represented by shapes for their vertices and edges, you can use the VertexShapesFactory and EdgeShapesFactory properties to specify an instance of the INShapesFactory interface responsible for creating vertex and edge shapes respectively. The INShapesFactory interface is implemented by all shape factories shipped with Nevron Diagram. The name of the vertex or edge shape, which needs to be created is specified by the VertexShapeName and EdgeShapeName properties respectively.

    It is mandatory to specify a VertexShapesFactory and a VertexShapeName. If you do not specify an EdgeShapesFactory, by default the diagram will create NRoutableConnector instances for all imported edges.

    Callbacks

    Provided are the following events, which the data source importers will raise to notify you about their progress:

    Event Description
    ImportStarted raised when the import operation has started
    VertexImported raised when the data source importer has created a vertex shape for a data record. You will typically subscribe to this event to fill the vertex shape with data record information.
    EdgeImported raised when the data source importer has created an edge shape for a data record.
    ImportSucceeded raised when the import has finished successfully.
    ImportFailed raised if the import failed.
     Tree Data Import

    To perform tree data import you need a single data source. You also need to specify the Id column (must uniquely identify the records in the data source) and a ParentId column (which specifies the parent record for a given record).

    The following code sample perform a tree data import, from an OleDbAdapter, assuming that it selects the Pages table described above:

    C#
    Copy Code
    ...
    
    // create the tree data source importer
    treeImporter = new NTreeDataSourceImporter();
    
    // set the document in the active layer of which the shapes will be imported
    treeImporter.Document = document; 
    
    // set the data source
    // NOTE: In this example we assume the that oleDbDataAdapter1 selects the Pages table described above
    treeImporter.DataSource = oleDbDataAdapter1;
    
    // records are uniquely identified by their Id column
    // records link to their parent record by their ParentId column
    treeImporter.IdColumnName = "Id";
    treeImporter.ParentIdColumnName = "ParentId";
    
    // create vertices as rectangles shapes
    NBasicShapesFactory shapesFactory = new NBasicShapesFactory();
    treeImporter.VertexShapesFactory = shapesFactory;
    treeImporter.VertexShapesName = BasicShapes.Rectangle.ToString();
     
    // use layered tree layout
    NLayeredTreeLayout layout = new NLayeredTreeLayout();
    layout.Direction = LayoutDirection.LeftToRight;
    layout.OrthogonalEdgeRouting = true;
    layout.LayerAlignment = RelativeAlignment.Near;
    treeImporter.Layout = layout;
    
    // subscribe for the vertex imported event,
    // which is raised when a shape was created for a data source record
    treeImporter.VertexImported += new ShapeImportedDelegate(OnVertexImported);
    
    // import
    treeImporter.Import();
    
    ...
    
    private void OnVertexImported(NDataSourceImporter importer, NShape shape, INDataRecord dataRecord)
    {
        // display the page title in the shape
        object text = dataRecord.GetColumnValue("Title");
        if (text == null)
        {
            shape.Text = "Title not specified";
        }
        else
        {
            shape.Text = text.ToString();
        }
        shape.SizeToText(new NMarginsF(10));
        // make the URL a tooltip of the shape
        object url = dataRecord.GetColumnValue("URL");
        if (url == null || url.ToString().Length == 0)
        {
           shape.Style.InteractivityStyle = new NInteractivityStyle("URL not specified");
        }
        else
        {
            shape.Style.InteractivityStyle = new NInteractivityStyle(url.ToString());
        }
    }
    
    VB.NET
    Copy Code
    ...
    
    ' create the tree data source importer
    treeImporter = New NTreeDataSourceImporter()
    
    ' set the document in the active layer of which the shapes will be imported
    treeImporter.Document = document
    
    ' set the data source
    ' NOTE: In this example we assume the that oleDbDataAdapter1 selects the Pages table described above
    treeImporter.DataSource = oleDbDataAdapter1
    
    ' records are uniquely identified by their Id column
    ' records link to their parent record by their ParentId column
    treeImporter.IdColumnName = "Id"
    treeImporter.ParentIdColumnName = "ParentId"
    
    ' create vertices as rectangles shapes
    Dim shapesFactory As New NBasicShapesFactory()
    treeImporter.VertexShapesFactory = shapesFactory
    treeImporter.VertexShapesName = BasicShapes.Rectangle.ToString()
    
    ' use layered tree layout
    Dim layout As New NLayeredTreeLayout()
    layout.Direction = LayoutDirection.LeftToRight
    layout.OrthogonalEdgeRouting = True
    layout.LayerAlignment = RelativeAlignment.Near
    treeImporter.Layout = layout
    
    ' subscribe for the vertex imported event,
    ' which is raised when a shape was created for a data source record
    AddHandler treeImporter.VertexImported, AddressOf OnVertexImported
    
    ' import
    treeImporter.Import()
    
    ...
    
    Private Sub OnVertexImported(ByVal importer As NDataSourceImporter, ByVal shape As NShape, ByVal dataRecord As INDataRecord)
        ' display the page title in the shape
        Dim text As Object = dataRecord.GetColumnValue("Title")
        If text Is Nothing Then
            shape.Text = "Title not specified"
        Else
            shape.Text = text.ToString()
        End If
    
        shape.SizeToText(New NMarginsF(10))
    
        ' make the URL a tooltip of the shape
        Dim url As Object = dataRecord.GetColumnValue("URL")
        If url Is Nothing Or url.ToString().Length = 0 Then
            shape.Style.InteractivityStyle = New NInteractivityStyle("URL not specified")
        Else
            shape.Style.InteractivityStyle = New NInteractivityStyle(url.ToString())
        End If
    End Sub
    
     Graph Data Import

    To perform graph data import you need a two data sources. The first data source must contain the vertex records, while the second data source must contain the edge records. You also need to specify the Id column in vertex data source (must uniquely identify the records in it), as well as specify the FromId and ToId columns in the edges data source, which define the from and to vertex records.

    The following code sample perform a graph data import, from two OleDbAdapters, assuming that they selects the Pages and Links tables described above:

    C#
    Copy Code
    // configure the graph data source importer
    graphImporter = new NGraphDataSourceImporter();
    
    // set the document in the active layer of which the shapes will be imported
    graphImporter.Document = document; 
    
    // set the data source
    // NOTE: In this example we assume the that PagesDataAdapter selects the Pages table
    // while the LinksDataAdapter selects the Links table
    graphImporter.VertexDataSource = PagesDataAdapter;
    graphImporter.EdgeDataSource = LinksDataAdapter;
    
    // vertex records are uniquely identified by their Id (in the Pages table)
    // edges link the vertices with the FromPageId and ToPageId (in the Links table)
    graphImporter.VertexIdColumnName = "Id";
    graphImporter.FromVertexIdColumnName = "FromPageId";
    graphImporter.ToVertexIdColumnName = "ToPageId";
    
    // create vertices as rectangle shapes
    NBasicShapesFactory shapesFactory = new NBasicShapesFactory();
    graphImporter.VertexShapesFactory = shapesFactory;
    graphImporter.VertexShapesName = BasicShapes.Rectangle.ToString();
    
    // use layered graph layout NLayeredGraphLayout
    layout = new NLayeredGraphLayout();
    layout.Direction = LayoutDirection.LeftToRight;
    layout.LayerAlignment = RelativeAlignment.Near;
    graphImporter.Layout = layout;
    
    // subscribe for the vertex imported event,
    // which is raised when a shape was created for a data source record
    graphImporter.VertexImported += new ShapeImportedDelegate(OnVertexImported);
    
    // import
    graphImporter.Import();
    ...
    
    
    private void OnVertexImported(NDataSourceImporter importer, NShape shape, INDataRecord dataRecord)
    {
        // display the page title in the shape
        object text = dataRecord.GetColumnValue("Title");
        if (text == null)
        {
            shape.Text = "Title not specified";
        }
        else
        {
            shape.Text = text.ToString();
        }
        shape.SizeToText(new NMarginsF(10));  
    
        // make the URL a tooltip of the shape
        object url = dataRecord.GetColumnValue("URL");
        if (url == null || url.ToString().Length == 0)
        {
           shape.Style.InteractivityStyle = new NInteractivityStyle("URL not specified");
        }
        else
        {
            shape.Style.InteractivityStyle = new NInteractivityStyle(url.ToString());
        }
    }
    
    VB.NET
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    ' configure the graph data source importer
    graphImporter = New NGraphDataSourceImporter()
    
    ' set the document in the active layer of which the shapes will be imported
    graphImporter.Document = document
    
    ' set the data source
    ' NOTE: In this example we assume the that PagesDataAdapter selects the Pages table
    ' while the LinksDataAdapter selects the Links table
    graphImporter.VertexDataSource = PagesDataAdapter
    graphImporter.EdgeDataSource = LinksDataAdapter
    
    ' vertex records are uniquely identified by their Id (in the Pages table)
    ' edges link the vertices with the FromPageId and ToPageId (in the Links table)graphImporter.VertexIdColumnName = "Id"
    graphImporter.FromVertexIdColumnName = "FromPageId"
    graphImporter.ToVertexIdColumnName = "ToPageId"
    
    ' create vertices as rectangle shapes
    Dim shapesFactory As New NBasicShapesFactory()
    graphImporter.VertexShapesFactory = shapesFactory
    graphImporter.VertexShapesName = BasicShapes.Rectangle.ToString()
    
    ' use layered graph layout NLayeredGraphLayout layout = New NLayeredGraphLayout()
    layout.Direction = LayoutDirection.LeftToRight
    layout.LayerAlignment = RelativeAlignment.Near
    graphImporter.Layout = layout
    
    ' subscribe for the vertex imported event,
    ' which is raised when a shape was created for a data source record
    AddHandler graphImporter.VertexImported, AddressOf OnVertexImported
    
    ' import
    graphImporter.Import()
    
    ...
    
    Private Sub OnVertexImported(ByVal importer As NDataSourceImporter, ByVal shape As NShape, ByVal dataRecord As INDataRecord)
        ' display the page title in the shape
        Dim text As Object = dataRecord.GetColumnValue("Title")
        If text Is Nothing Then
            shape.Text = "Title not specified"
        Else
            shape.Text = text.ToString()
        End If
    
        shape.SizeToText(New NMarginsF(10))
    
        ' make the URL a tooltip of the shape
        Dim url As Object = dataRecord.GetColumnValue("URL")
        If url Is Nothing Or url.ToString().Length = 0 Then
            shape.Style.InteractivityStyle = New NInteractivityStyle("URL not specified")
        Else
            shape.Style.InteractivityStyle = New NInteractivityStyle(url.ToString())
        End If
    End Sub
    
     Related Examples

    Windows Forms: Data Import Folder
    Web Forms: Data Import Folder