Routable connectors (or simply connectors) are special 1D shapes whose geometry can be a horizontal-vertical (HV) polyline, a normal polyline, or a simple line.
Automatic layouts can reshape connectors according to layout-specific requirements.
In manually drawn diagrams, connectors can be configured to automatically avoid 2D shapes in their path. This process is known as automatic routing, and the routing algorithm attempts to minimize connector length, bends, and crossings.
Obstacle Avoidance Routing
NOV Diagram for .NET features routable connectors that automatically reshape themselves to represent the shortest horizontal-vertical path between their endpoints without crossing other shapes, while minimizing the number of bends.
This makes it possible to quickly create professional-looking diagrams with clean, well-routed connectors.
Obstacle avoidance routing is indispensable for manually arranged diagrams, where connectors must adapt dynamically as shapes are moved.
Manually maintaining these paths would be impractical, as every shape movement could require numerous connector segments and bends to be adjusted by hand.
Layout Connector Routing
Most graph and tree layouts automatically reshape connectors to fulfill layout-specific requirements and aesthetics.
Most graph layouts attempt to satisfy several important graph-drawing aesthetic criteria, including compactness and short connector paths, minimizing the overall number of bends, minimizing the overall number of connector crossings, and minimizing or eliminating connectors crossing through shapes.
Bridges (Hops)
Connectors can display bridges (hops) at self-intersections and intersections with other connectors.
This greatly improves the readability of large diagrams where crossings are unavoidable, making it easier for users to visually follow a connector's path.
Manual Reshape
Connectors can also be manually reshaped by simply dragging connector mid-segments (bend points) and corner points.
Corner points move the adjacent horizontal and vertical segments, while bend points split segments to provide additional steps.
Segments are automatically merged when possible to avoid creating overly jagged connectors.
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