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Global Configuration

This guide explains how to configure maxGraph globally. This global configuration applies to all instances of Graph.

General​

The following objects can be used to configure maxGraph globally:

  • Client: this is the historical entry point for global configuration, coming from the mxGraph library.
  • EdgeHandlerConfig (since 0.14.0): for EdgeHandler (including subclasses).
  • GlobalConfig (since 0.11.0): for shared resources (logger).
  • HandleConfig (since 0.14.0): for shared handle configurations.
  • StencilShapeConfig (since 0.11.0): for stencil shapes.
  • StyleDefaultsConfig (since 0.14.0): for the default values of the Cell styles.
  • TranslationsConfig (since 0.16.0): for the configuration of Translations.
  • VertexHandlerConfig (since 0.12.0): for VertexHandler.
  • For Connectors/EdgeStyles:
    • EntityRelationConnectorConfig (since 0.15.0): for EntityRelation.
    • ManhattanConnectorConfig (since 0.16.0): for ManhattanConnector.
    • OrthogonalConnectorConfig (since 0.16.0): for OrthConnector.

Some functions are provided to reset the global configuration to the default values. For example:

  • resetEdgeHandlerConfig (since 0.14.0)
  • resetGlobalConfig (since 0.23.0)
  • resetHandleConfig (since 0.14.0)
  • resetStencilShapeConfig (since 0.23.0)
  • resetStyleDefaultsConfig (since 0.14.0)
  • resetTranslationsConfig (since 0.16.0)
  • resetVertexHandlerConfig (since 0.14.0)
  • For Connectors/EdgeStyles:
    • resetEntityRelationConnectorConfig (since 0.15.0)
    • resetManhattanConnectorConfig (since 0.16.0)
    • resetOrthogonalConnectorConfig (since 0.16.0)
note

Notice that the new global configuration elements introduced as version 0.11.0 are experimental and are subject to change in future versions.

info

For former mxGraph users, the global configuration objects allow you to set the default values previously defined in mxConstants and used everywhere in the code. Not all values are currently configurable yet, but the list is growing.

See also discussions in issue #192.

Styles​

maxGraph provides several global registries used to register style configurations.

  • EdgeMarkerRegistry: edge markers (since 0.20.0, previously managed by MarkerShape)
  • EdgeStyleRegistry: edge styles (since 0.20.0, previously managed by StyleRegistry)
  • PerimeterRegistry: perimeters (since 0.20.0, previously managed by StyleRegistry)
  • ShapeRegistry: shapes (since 0.20.0, previously managed by CellRenderer)
  • StencilShapeRegistry: stencil shapes

The behavior depends on which Graph class you use (see the Graph documentation page for more details):

  • Graph: when instantiated, the registries are automatically filled with all maxGraph default style configurations.
  • BaseGraph: the registries are not filled automatically. You must register only the style elements your application needs, typically by overriding registerDefaults() in a subclass. This enables tree-shaking — unused shapes, edge styles, perimeters, and markers are not included in your bundle.

There are no default stencil shapes registered by default with either class.

If a style references a shape that is not registered, the fallback shape is used:

  • Vertices: RectangleShape by default (configurable via CellRenderer.defaultVertexShape). No need to register it.
  • Edges: ConnectorShape by default (configurable via CellRenderer.defaultEdgeShape). No need to register it.

Missing edge styles, perimeters, or markers produce no rendering for the corresponding feature.

To manually register all default style configurations (useful with BaseGraph if you want all defaults without subclassing), you can use the following functions:

registerDefaultEdgeMarkers();
registerDefaultEdgeStyles();
registerDefaultPerimeters();
registerDefaultShapes();

It is possible to unregister all elements from a style registry using the related unregister function. For example:

unregisterAllEdgeMarkers();
unregisterAllEdgeStyles(); // since 0.20.0
unregisterAllEdgeStylesAndPerimeters();
unregisterAllPerimeters(); // since 0.20.0
unregisterAllShapes();
unregisterAllStencilShapes();

Codecs and Serialization​

CodecRegistry is used for serialization and deserialization of objects in XML objects. By default, no codec is registered. Some functions are provided to register codecs for specific objects.

For more details about the codecs, see the Codec documentation page.