Symbol Palette

3 Sep 202018 minutes to read

The SymbolPalette displays a collection of palettes. The Palette shows a set of nodes and connectors. It allows you to drag and drop the nodes and connectors into the Diagram.

Create symbol palette

The DiagramId property of symbolpalette should be set with the corresponding Diagram ID to drag and drop the nodes and connectors into the Diagram. The following code illustrates how to create symbolpalette. 

  • HTML
    • //Initializes overview
    
    <div>
    
        @Html.EJ().SymbolPalette("SymbolPalette", ViewData["SymbolPaletteModel"] as Syncfusion.JavaScript.DataVisualization.Models.SymbolPaletteProperties)
        
         @Html.EJ().Diagram("Diagram", ViewData["DiagramModel"] as Syncfusion.JavaScript.DataVisualization.Models.DiagramProperties)
    </div>
  • C#
    • //Initializes the symbol palette
    SymbolPaletteProperties symbolPalette = new SymbolPaletteProperties();
    //Defines the palette collection
    symbolPalette.Palettes = new Collection()
    {
        palette
    };
    //Specifies the symbol palette size
    symbolPalette.Width = "100%";
    symbolPalette.Height = "100%";
    ViewData["SymbolPaletteModel"] = symbolpalette;

    DiagramProperties model = new DiagramProperties();
    model.Height = "550px";
    model.Width = "800px";
    ViewData["DiagramModel"] = model;

    Add palettes to SymbolPalette

    A palette allows to display a group of related symbols and it textually annotates the group with its header.
    To initialize a palette, define a JSON object with the property Name that is displayed as the header text of palette. The Expanded property of palette allows to expand/collapse its palette items.
    The following code example illustrates how to define a palette and how its added to symbol palette.

  • JAVASCRIPT
    • //Creates a node
    BasicShape ellipse = new BasicShape()
    {
        //Specifies node size
        Width = 50,
        Height = 50,
        //Specifies node offset  
        OffsetX = 50,
        OffsetY = 50,
        //Specifies node shape
        Shape = BasicShapes.Ellipse
    };
    Palette palette = new Palette("Basic Shapes");
    palette.Expanded = true;
    //Adds the palette items to palette
    palette.Items.Add(ellipse);

    You can add any number of palettes to the Palettes collection of the symbol palette. The following example illustrates how to define symbol palette with a palette object that is defined in the previous step.

  • JAVASCRIPT
    • //Initializes the symbol palette 
    SymbolPaletteProperties symbolpalette = new SymbolPaletteProperties();
    symbolpalette.Palettes = new Collection()
        {
            palette
        };
    ViewData["SymbolPaletteModel"] = symbolpalette;

    DiagramProperties model = new DiagramProperties();
    model.Height = "550px";
    model.Width = "800px";
    ViewData["DiagramModel"] = model;

    The following image shows the symbol palette with multiple palette Items.

    Customize the Palette Header

    Palettes can be annotated with its header texts and you can change the height of palette header by using HeaderHeight property of symbol palette.

    Also, you can embed any HTML element into a palette header by defining the ScriptTemplate id to palette’s templateId property. Following code example illustrates how to customize palette headers.

  • HTML
    • <!--dependency scripts-->
        <script id="svgTemplate" type="text/x-jsrender">
            <!--define html element-->
            <svg version="1.0" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="225px" height="28px">
                <g visibility="visible">
                    <image width="26px" height="26px" opacity="1" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="image.png"></image>
                    <text x="40" y="18" font-size="14">
                        <tspan>Basic Shapes</tspan>
                    </text>
                </g>
            </svg>
        </script>
  • JAVASCRIPT
    • //Initializes the symbol palette 
    SymbolPaletteProperties symbolpalette = new SymbolPaletteProperties();
    symbolpalette.Height = "550px";
    symbolpalette.Width = "300px";
     
    Palette palette = new Palette("Basic Shapes");
    //Sets the id of the script template
    palette.TemplateId = "svgTemplate";
    palette.Expanded = true; 
    symbolpalette.HeaderHeight = 50;

    symbolpalette.Palettes = new Collection() { palette };
    ViewData["SymbolPaletteModel"] = symbolpalette;

    The following image shows the customized palette header

    Add symbols to palette

    The symbol need to be defined and added to the Items collection of the palette. You can create a symbol as a node, group, connector, lane, or phase except swimlane.

    The following code example illustrates how to define a palette with symbols that are defined in the previous section.

  • JS
    • //Initializes the symbol palette 
    SymbolPaletteProperties symbolpalette = new SymbolPaletteProperties();
    symbolpalette.Height = "550px";
    symbolpalette.Width = "300px";
    //Creates a node
    BasicShape ellipse = new BasicShape()
    {
        //Specifies node size
        Width = 50,
        Height = 50,
        //Specifies node offset  
        OffsetX = 50,
        OffsetY = 50,
        //Specifies node shape
        Shape = BasicShapes.Ellipse
    };
    Palette palette = new Palette("Basic Shapes");
    //Sets the id of the script template
    palette.TemplateId = "svgTemplate";
    palette.Expanded = true;
    //Adds the palette items to palette
    palette.Items.Add(ellipse);
    symbolpalette.HeaderHeight = 50;

    symbolpalette.Palettes = new Collection() { palette };
    ViewData["SymbolPaletteModel"] = symbolpalette;

    Customize the size of symbols

    You can customize the size of the individual symbol. The PaletteItem property of node enables you to define the size of the symbols. The following code example illustrates how to change the size of a symbol.

  • JS
    • //Initializes the symbol palette 
    SymbolPaletteProperties symbolpalette = new SymbolPaletteProperties();
    symbolpalette.Height = "550px";
    symbolpalette.Width = "300px";
    //Creates a node
    BasicShape ellipse = new BasicShape()
    {
        //Specifies node size
        Width = 50,
        Height = 50, 
        //Specifies node shape
        Shape = BasicShapes.Ellipse,
        PaletteItem = new PaletteItem() { Width = 50, Height = 50, Margin = new Margin() { Left = 20, Top = 20, Right = 20, Bottom = 20 } }
    };
    Palette palette = new Palette("Basic Shapes");
    palette.Expanded = true;
    //Adds the palette items to palette
    palette.Items.Add(ellipse);
    //Specifies the default size to render symbols
    symbolpalette.PaletteItemWidth = 50;
    symbolpalette.PaletteItemHeight = 50;
    symbolpalette.Palettes = new Collection() { palette };
    ViewData["SymbolPaletteModel"] = symbolpalette;

    Symbol size will be set based on the following precedence.

    Precedence

    Palette Item Rendering Size
    Width PaletteItem.Width > model.PaletteItemWidth > Node.Width
    Height PaletteItem.height > model.PaletteItem.Height > Node.Height
    • Symbol size will be rendered in the palette based on Node.PaletteItem’s Width and Height property.
    • If PaletteItem’s Width and Height property is not specified, symbol size will be rendered in the palette based on model’s PaletteItemWidth and PaletteItemHeight property.
    • If you don’t specify above two, then symbol size will be rendered in the palette based on node’s Width and Height property.

    Stretch the symbols into the palette

    The EnableScale property of the paletteItem enables you to customize the size of the symbol regardless of the precedence. The following code example illustrates how to customize the symbol size.

  • JAVASCRIPT
    • //Initializes the symbol palette 
    SymbolPaletteProperties symbolpalette = new SymbolPaletteProperties();
    symbolpalette.Height = "550px";
    symbolpalette.Width = "300px";
    //Creates a node
    BasicShape rectangle = new BasicShape()
    {
        //Specifies node size
        Width = 80,
        Height = 40,
        // Enables to fit the content into the specified palette item size
        // When it is set as false, the element is rendered with actual node size
        PaletteItem = new PaletteItem() { EnableScale = true }
    };
    Palette palette = new Palette("Basic Shapes");
    palette.Expanded = true;
    //Adds the palette items to palette
    palette.Items.Add(rectangle);
    //Specifies the default size to render symbols
    symbolpalette.PaletteItemWidth = 50;
    symbolpalette.PaletteItemHeight = 50;
    symbolpalette.Palettes = new Collection() { palette };
    ViewData["SymbolPaletteModel"] = symbolpalette;

    Symbol Previews

    Image, simple snippet to customize the preview size

    You can customize the preview size of the individual palette items. The PaletteItem property of node enables you to define the preview size of the symbol items. The following code example illustrates how to change the preview size of a palette item.

  • JAVASCRIPT
    • //Initializes the symbol palette 
    SymbolPaletteProperties symbolpalette = new SymbolPaletteProperties();
    symbolpalette.Height = "550px";
    symbolpalette.Width = "300px";
    //Creates a node
    BasicShape rectangle = new BasicShape()
    {
        //Specifies node size
        Width = 50,
        Height = 50,
        //Specifies the individual palette item preview size   
        PaletteItem = new PaletteItem() { PreviewHeight = 50, PreviewWidth = 50 }
    };
    BasicShape ellipse = new BasicShape()
    {
        //Specifies node size
        Width = 50,
        Height = 50,
        Shape = BasicShapes.Ellipse, 
    };
    Palette palette = new Palette("Basic Shapes");
    palette.Expanded = true;
    //Adds the palette items to palette
    palette.Items.Add(rectangle);
    palette.Items.Add(ellipse);
    symbolpalette.Palettes = new Collection() { palette };
    ViewData["SymbolPaletteModel"] = symbolpalette;

    You can also customize the preview size of the all palette items. The PreviewWidth and PreviewHeight property of SymbolPalette enables you to define the preview size to all the symbol palette items. The following code example illustrates how to change the preview size of a symbol palette items.

  • JS
    • //Initializes the symbol palette 
    SymbolPaletteProperties symbolpalette = new SymbolPaletteProperties();
    symbolpalette.Height = "550px";
    symbolpalette.Width = "300px";
    //Creates a node
    BasicShape rectangle = new BasicShape()
    {
        //Specifies node size
        Width = 50,
        Height = 50,
    }; 
    Palette palette = new Palette("Basic Shapes");
    palette.Expanded = true;
    //Adds the palette items to palette
    palette.Items.Add(rectangle); 
    symbolpalette.PreviewHeight = 100;
    symbolpalette.PreviewWidth = 100;
    symbolpalette.Palettes = new Collection() { palette };
    ViewData["SymbolPaletteModel"] = symbolpalette;

    Symbol palette allows to sets the offset of the dragging helper relative to the mouse cursor.

  • JAVASCRIPT
    • //Initializes the symbol palette 
    SymbolPaletteProperties symbolpalette = new SymbolPaletteProperties();
    symbolpalette.Height = "550px";
    symbolpalette.Width = "300px";
    //Creates a node
    BasicShape rectangle = new BasicShape()
    {
        //Specifies node size
        Width = 50,
        Height = 50,
    };

    Palette palette = new Palette("Basic Shapes");
    palette.Expanded = true;
    //Adds the palette items to palette
    palette.Items.Add(rectangle);
    symbolpalette.PreviewOffset = new DiagramPoint() { X = 50, Y = 50 };
    symbolpalette.Palettes = new Collection() { palette };
    ViewData["SymbolPaletteModel"] = symbolpalette;

    Symbol preview size will be set based on the following precedence.

    Precedence

    Palette Item Preview Size
    Width PaletteItem.PreviewWidth > Model.PreviewWidth > Node.Width
    Height PaletteItem.PreviewHeight > Model.PreviewHeight > Node.Height
    • Symbol preview size will be set based on node.paletteItem’s PreviewWidth and PreviewHeight property.
    • If paletteItem’s width and height property is not specified, symbol size will be set based on model’s PreviewWidth and PreviewHeight property.
    • If you don’t specify above two, then symbol size will be rendered in the palette based on node’s Width and Height property.

    Show/hide the symbol Text

    You can show/hide the symbol text by using the ShowPaletteItemText property of symbol palette.

  • JS
    • //Initializes the symbol palette 
    SymbolPaletteProperties symbolpalette = new SymbolPaletteProperties();
    symbolpalette.Height = "550px";
    symbolpalette.Width = "300px";
    //Specifies whether palette item text should be visible or not
    symbolpalette.ShowPaletteItemText = true;
    ViewData["SymbolPaletteModel"] = symbolpalette;

    To explore the properties of symbol palette, refer to Symbol Palette Properties.