Organization Chart Control with a Large Number of Levels

Question: When organization chart has a large number of levels, nodes become smaller. How the nodes can be viewed clearly by the user?

Answer: There are many different options to deal with a large number of levels and consequent small nodes in the Chart4.NET organization chart component:

NOTE: Chart4.NET now has special layout features for large organization charts, instead of the settings described in this article. See Organization Chart Control for Large Trees of Information.

Also, latest Chart4.NET 2015 (5.1) release has special extended views (3D, Planer) to support large organization charts. See Organization Chart Control / Extended Views

1) Increase hpZoomMaximum

You can increase hpZoomMaximum property to 50, to allow user to zoom more. Default zoom maximum is 30. User can zoom-in and zoom-out using the slider in the bottom, or by using the mouse wheel.

2) Inbuilt Sub-charts

User can right-click on any expand/collapse (+/-) button to see the sub-chart from that point. This will show the sub-chart, beginning from that node, with the current zoom. Right-clicking again will bring in the previous chart. Click on 'Home' button (then displayed on the organization chart) to go back to the entire chart. Give such an instruction for the user, in a side box of the form.

3) Enable Tooltips

Set hierarchyWin1.hpcToolTip.NodeToolTip.Show = true; to show the visible image tooltip of the node while mouse is over the nodes (small and big).

4) Explicit Sub-charts

Use more than one organization chart control to split into departments. For example show the entire system in a form. On double-click event on any particular node, populate the sub-chart in a sub-form.

Hint: Use heNodeClick event of the control; Use e.MouseEventArgs.Button and e.MouseEventArgs.Clicks.

5) Use FlexiExtended Layout

Using flexi-extended layout will draw the expanded nodes to the maximum possible space, while user collapse other nodes.

Usage:
hierarchyWin1.hpcSettings.Chart_Layout = chartLayoutType.FlexiExtended;

*) Exporting

While exporting, you can give an appropriate size so that user can clearly see the nodes.

Usage:
hierarchyWin1.hpcTools.ExportChartToImageFile( yourFilePath, System.Drawing.Imaging.ImageFormat.Png, yourWidth, yourHeight );

Sometimes it is better to get the image size (width and height) as an input from user. But remember that very large size will cause delay in machines with less memory. So put some restrictions on user input (on maximum and minimum).

Also remember to use an image format that consumes less space, like PNG format.

*) Preview

When there is a large number of nodes, user can use the thumbnail view on the right-hand-side bottom of the chart to navigate to a specific part of the chart. Then he can use the implicit subchart, to view that part of the chart better.

NOTE: Chart4.NET now has special layout features for large organization charts, instead of the settings described in this article. See Organization Chart Control for Large Trees of Information.

Also, latest Chart4.NET 2015 (5.1) release has special extended views (3D, Planer) to support large organization charts. See Organization Chart Control / Extended Views

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Article details

Article ID:	9
Category:	Support Questions
Date added:	22-Jun-2011
Views:	389
Rating (Votes):	(12)

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