Grid lines in Angular Diagram component

4 Apr 202318 minutes to read

Gridlines are the pattern of lines drawn behind the diagram elements. It provides a visual guidance while dragging or arranging the objects on the diagram surface.

The model’s snapSettings property is used to customize the gridlines and control the snapping behavior in the diagram.

Customize the gridlines visibility

The snapSettings.snapConstraints enables you to show/hide the gridlines. The following code example illustrates how to show or hide gridlines.

If you need to enable snapping, then inject snapping module into the diagram.

import { Component, ViewEncapsulation, ViewChild } from '@angular/core';
import { DiagramComponent, SnapSettingsModel, SnapConstraints } from '@syncfusion/ej2-angular-diagrams';

@Component({
  selector: "app-container",
  // specifies the template string for the diagram component
  template: `<ejs-diagram #diagram id="diagram" width="100%" height="580px" [snapSettings]='snapSettings'></ejs-diagram>`
})
export class AppComponent {
    @ViewChild("diagram")
    public diagram: DiagramComponent;
    public snapSettings: SnapSettingsModel = {
        // Display both Horizontal and Vertical gridlines
        constraints:  SnapConstraints.ShowLines
    };
}
import { NgModule } from '@angular/core';
import { BrowserModule } from '@angular/platform-browser';
import { AppComponent } from './app.component';
import { DiagramModule, SnappingService } from '@syncfusion/ej2-angular-diagrams';

/**
 * Module
 */
@NgModule({
    imports: [
        BrowserModule, DiagramModule
    ],
    declarations: [AppComponent],
    bootstrap: [AppComponent],
    providers: [SnappingService]
})
export class AppModule { }
import { platformBrowserDynamic } from '@angular/platform-browser-dynamic';
import { enableProdMode } from '@angular/core';
import { AppModule } from './app.module';

enableProdMode();
platformBrowserDynamic().bootstrapModule(AppModule);

To show only horizontal/vertical gridlines or to hide gridlines, refer to Constraints.

Appearance

The appearance of the gridlines can be customized by using a set of predefined properties.

  • The horizontalGridLines and the verticalGridLines properties allow to customize the appearance of the horizontal and vertical gridlines respectively.

  • The horizontal gridlines lineColor and lineDashArray properties are used to customizes the line color and line style of the horizontal gridlines.

  • The vertical gridlines lineColor and lineDashArray properties are used to customizes the line color and line style of the vertical gridlines.

The following code example illustrates how to customize the appearance of gridlines.

import { Component, ViewEncapsulation, ViewChild } from '@angular/core';
import { DiagramComponent, SnapSettingsModel, SnapConstraints, NodeModel } from '@syncfusion/ej2-angular-diagrams';

@Component({
  selector: "app-container",
  // specifies the template string for the diagram component
  template: `<ejs-diagram #diagram id="diagram" width="100%" height="580px" [snapSettings]='snapSettings'></ejs-diagram>`
})
export class AppComponent {
    @ViewChild("diagram")
    public diagram: DiagramComponent;
    public snapSettings: SnapSettingsModel = {
        // Define the Constraints for gridlines and snapping
        constraints: SnapConstraints.ShowLines,
        // Defines the horizontalGridlines for SnapSettings
        horizontalGridlines: {
            // Sets the line color of gridlines
            lineColor: 'blue',
            // Defines the lineDashArray of gridlines
            lineDashArray: '2 2'
        },
        // Defines the verticalGridlines for SnapSettings
        verticalGridlines: {
            lineColor: 'blue',
            lineDashArray: '2 2'
        }
    };
}
import { NgModule } from '@angular/core';
import { BrowserModule } from '@angular/platform-browser';
import { AppComponent } from './app.component';
import { DiagramModule, SnappingService } from '@syncfusion/ej2-angular-diagrams';

/**
 * Module
 */
@NgModule({
    imports: [
        BrowserModule, DiagramModule
    ],
    declarations: [AppComponent],
    bootstrap: [AppComponent],
    providers: [SnappingService]
})
export class AppModule { }
import { platformBrowserDynamic } from '@angular/platform-browser-dynamic';
import { enableProdMode } from '@angular/core';
import { AppModule } from './app.module';

enableProdMode();
platformBrowserDynamic().bootstrapModule(AppModule);

Line intervals

Thickness and the space between gridlines can be customized by using horizontal gridlines’s linesInterval and vertical gridlines’s linesInterval properties. In the lines interval collections, values at the odd places are referred as the thickness of lines and values at the even places are referred as the space between gridlines.

The following code example illustrates how to customize the thickness of lines and the line intervals.

import { Component, ViewEncapsulation, ViewChild } from '@angular/core';
import { DiagramComponent, SnapSettingsModel, SnapConstraints, NodeModel } from '@syncfusion/ej2-angular-diagrams';

@Component({
  selector: "app-container",
  // specifies the template string for the diagram component
  template: `<ejs-diagram #diagram id="diagram" width="100%" height="580px" [snapSettings]='snapSettings'></ejs-diagram>`
})
export class AppComponent {
    @ViewChild("diagram")
    public diagram: DiagramComponent;
    public snapSettings: SnapSettingsModel = {
        constraints: SnapConstraints.ShowLines,
        horizontalGridlines: {
            // Sets the lineIntervals of Gridlines
            lineIntervals: [1.25, 14, 0.25, 15, 0.25, 15, 0.25, 15, 0.25, 15],
            lineColor: 'blue',
            lineDashArray: '2 2'
        },
        verticalGridlines: {
            // Sets the lineIntervals of Gridlines
            lineIntervals: [1.25, 14, 0.25, 15, 0.25, 15, 0.25, 15, 0.25, 15],
            lineColor: 'blue',
            lineDashArray: '2 2'
        }
    };
}
import { NgModule } from '@angular/core';
import { BrowserModule } from '@angular/platform-browser';
import { AppComponent } from './app.component';
import { DiagramModule, SnappingService } from '@syncfusion/ej2-angular-diagrams';

/**
 * Module
 */
@NgModule({
    imports: [
        BrowserModule, DiagramModule
    ],
    declarations: [AppComponent],
    bootstrap: [AppComponent],
    providers: [SnappingService]
})
export class AppModule { }
import { platformBrowserDynamic } from '@angular/platform-browser-dynamic';
import { enableProdMode } from '@angular/core';
import { AppModule } from './app.module';

enableProdMode();
platformBrowserDynamic().bootstrapModule(AppModule);

Snapping

Snap to lines

This feature allows the diagram objects to snap to the nearest intersection of gridlines while being dragged or resized. This feature enables easier alignment during layout or design.

Snapping to gridlines can be enabled/disabled with the snapSettings.snapConstraints. The following code example illustrates how to enable/disable the snapping to gridlines.

import { Component, ViewEncapsulation, ViewChild } from '@angular/core';
import { DiagramComponent, SnapSettingsModel, SnapConstraints, NodeModel } from '@syncfusion/ej2-angular-diagrams';

@Component({
  selector: "app-container",
  // specifies the template string for the diagram component
  template: `<ejs-diagram #diagram id="diagram" width="100%" height="580px" [snapSettings]='snapSettings' [getNodeDefaults]='getNodeDefaults'>
        <e-nodes>
            <e-node id='node1' [offsetX]=150 [offsetY]=150></e-node>
        </e-nodes>
    </ejs-diagram>`
})
export class AppComponent {
    @ViewChild("diagram")
    public diagram: DiagramComponent;
    public snapSettings: SnapSettingsModel = {
        // Enables the object to snap with both horizontal and Vertical gridlines
        constraints: SnapConstraints.SnapToLines | SnapConstraints.ShowLines
    };
    public getNodeDefaults(node: NodeModel): NodeModel {
        node.height = 100;
        node.width = 100;
        node.style.fill = "#6BA5D7";
        node.style.strokeColor = "White";
        return node;
    }
}
import { NgModule } from '@angular/core';
import { BrowserModule } from '@angular/platform-browser';
import { AppComponent } from './app.component';
import { DiagramModule, SnappingService } from '@syncfusion/ej2-angular-diagrams';

/**
 * Module
 */
@NgModule({
    imports: [
        BrowserModule, DiagramModule
    ],
    declarations: [AppComponent],
    bootstrap: [AppComponent],
    providers: [SnappingService]
})
export class AppModule { }
import { platformBrowserDynamic } from '@angular/platform-browser-dynamic';
import { enableProdMode } from '@angular/core';
import { AppModule } from './app.module';

enableProdMode();
platformBrowserDynamic().bootstrapModule(AppModule);

Customization of snap intervals

By default, the objects are snapped towards the nearest gridline. The gridline or position towards where the diagram object snaps can be customized with the horizontal gridlines’s snapInterval and the vertical gridlines’s snapInterval properties.

import { Component, ViewEncapsulation, ViewChild } from '@angular/core';
import { DiagramComponent, SnapSettingsModel, SnapConstraints, NodeModel } from '@syncfusion/ej2-angular-diagrams';

@Component({
  selector: "app-container",
  // specifies the template string for the diagram component
  template: `<ejs-diagram #diagram id="diagram" width="100%" height="580px" [snapSettings]='snapSettings' [getNodeDefaults]='getNodeDefaults'>
        <e-nodes>
            <e-node id='node1' [offsetX]=150 [offsetY]=150></e-node>
        </e-nodes>
    </ejs-diagram>`
})
export class AppComponent {
    @ViewChild("diagram")
    public diagram: DiagramComponent;
    public snapSettings: SnapSettingsModel = {
        horizontalGridlines: {
            // Defines the snap interval for object
            snapIntervals: [10]
        },
        verticalGridlines: {
            snapIntervals: [10]
        },
        constraints: SnapConstraints.All
    };
    public getNodeDefaults(node: NodeModel): NodeModel {
        node.height = 100;
        node.width = 100;
        node.style.fill = "#6BA5D7";
        node.style.strokeColor = "White";
        return node;
    }
}
import { NgModule } from '@angular/core';
import { BrowserModule } from '@angular/platform-browser';
import { AppComponent } from './app.component';
import { DiagramModule, SnappingService } from '@syncfusion/ej2-angular-diagrams';

/**
 * Module
 */
@NgModule({
    imports: [
        BrowserModule, DiagramModule
    ],
    declarations: [AppComponent],
    bootstrap: [AppComponent],
    providers: [SnappingService]
})
export class AppModule { }
import { platformBrowserDynamic } from '@angular/platform-browser-dynamic';
import { enableProdMode } from '@angular/core';
import { AppModule } from './app.module';

enableProdMode();
platformBrowserDynamic().bootstrapModule(AppModule);

Snap to objects

The snap to object provides visual cues to assist with aligning and spacing diagram elements. A node can be snapped with its neighboring objects based on certain alignments. Such alignments are visually represented as smart guides.

The snapObjectDistance property allows you to define minimum distance between the selected object and the nearest object.

The snapAngle property allows you to define the snap angle by which the object needs to be rotated.

The snapConstraints property allows you to enable or disable the certain features of the snapping, refer to snapConstraints.

The snapLineColor property allows you to define the color of the snapline.

import { Component, ViewEncapsulation, ViewChild } from '@angular/core';
import { DiagramComponent, SnapSettingsModel, SnapConstraints, NodeModel } from '@syncfusion/ej2-angular-diagrams';

@Component({
  selector: "app-container",
  // specifies the template string for the diagram component
  template: `<ejs-diagram #diagram id="diagram" width="100%" height="580px" [snapSettings]='snapSettings' [getNodeDefaults]='getNodeDefaults'>
        <e-nodes>
            <e-node id='node1' [offsetX]=150 [offsetY]=150></e-node>
            <e-node id='node2' [offsetX]=350 [offsetY]=150></e-node>
        </e-nodes>
    </ejs-diagram>`
})
export class AppComponent {
    @ViewChild("diagram")
    public diagram: DiagramComponent;
    public snapSettings: SnapSettingsModel = {
        // Enable snap to object constraint
        constraints: SnapConstraints.SnapToObject|SnapConstraints.ShowLines,
        // Sets the Snap object distance
        snapObjectDistance: 10,
        // Snap Angle for object
        snapAngle: 10,
        // Set the Snapline color
        snapLineColor: 'red',
    };
    public getNodeDefaults(node: NodeModel): NodeModel {
        node.height = 100;
        node.width = 100;
        node.style.fill = "#6BA5D7";
        node.style.strokeColor = "White";
        return node;
    }
}
import { NgModule } from '@angular/core';
import { BrowserModule } from '@angular/platform-browser';
import { AppComponent } from './app.component';
import { DiagramModule, SnappingService } from '@syncfusion/ej2-angular-diagrams';

/**
 * Module
 */
@NgModule({
    imports: [
        BrowserModule, DiagramModule
    ],
    declarations: [AppComponent],
    bootstrap: [AppComponent],
    providers: [SnappingService]
})
export class AppModule { }
import { platformBrowserDynamic } from '@angular/platform-browser-dynamic';
import { enableProdMode } from '@angular/core';
import { AppModule } from './app.module';

enableProdMode();
platformBrowserDynamic().bootstrapModule(AppModule);