i wanna develop an application that by using blocks and the connections between them, users can create complex automated operations that are being done with different softwares. i wanna use software apis to connect my application to them then users can define checks/controls/modifications and data manipulations transfer between different engineering softwares. this can automate the rigorous processes of repeatedly check and control and edit of models. usually this type of automations need programming and api coding and since the audience of this application is public which only few have the programming ability, i wanna create a visual prgramming tool that everyone can create their own automation tool just by drag and drop of blocks with simple functionalities and their connections.

now my problem is that which path should i take for this. i have never done such a thing before. i have a little experience with opengl in cpp but i dont think doing the whole graphical part in opengl or directx is going to be a good idea! also the application im gonna program is going to be in C# because the software apis are mainly developed natively for .net environment and im thinking wpf would be a good choice for the application development of this kind.

so, what are your recommendations? should i create everything in a low level graphical rendering tool like opengl or directx (which is a nightmare i suppose!) or there is an opensource tool that provides the node/block and connections graphical playground on which i can rely as the graphical part of my applications and graphical programming part and i mainly focus on the backend and logic of the application. i am a structural engineer and which means not an experienced programmer. so please do not expect me to be smart. thanks for you help in advance!