A Graph Model which Supports Flexible Layout

Graphs are commonly used to model relations in computer systems. Nodes are used to represent entities in an application, and edges represent relationships between entities. Many graph based applications need to provide user interfaces for the user to create and edit graphs depicted as diagrams. The underlying graph model should be powerful enough to represent a wide range of applications yet simple enough to enable good layout. In this paper we propose a new model: cigraphs. In a cigraph, each node may consist of a (sub)cigraph. Layout functions are assigned to nodes (that is, to sub-cigraphs) in an object-oriented fashion; this allows considerable user control of layout.

[1]  Peter Eades,et al.  A Heuristic for Graph Drawing , 1984 .

[2]  Stephen C. North,et al.  Incremental Layout in DynaDAG , 1995, GD.

[3]  Ioannis G. Tollis,et al.  Algorithms for Drawing Graphs: an Annotated Bibliography , 1988, Comput. Geom..

[4]  Walt Scacchi,et al.  Requirements for an extensible object-oriented tree/graph editor , 1990, UIST '90.

[5]  Kozo Sugiyama,et al.  Layout Adjustment and the Mental Map , 1995, J. Vis. Lang. Comput..

[6]  Burkhard Monien,et al.  A Parallel Simulated Annealing Algorithm for Generating 3D Layouts of Undirected Graphs , 1995, GD.

[7]  Walter F. Tichy,et al.  Edge: An extendible graph editor , 1990, Softw. Pract. Exp..

[8]  David Harel,et al.  On visual formalisms , 1988, CACM.

[9]  Kozo Sugiyama,et al.  Visualization of structural information: automatic drawing of compound digraphs , 1991, IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybern..

[10]  David Harel,et al.  Drawing graphs nicely using simulated annealing , 1996, TOGS.

[11]  Robert F. Cohen,et al.  Planarity for Clustered Graphs , 1995, ESA.

[12]  Kelly A. Lyons.  Cluster busting in anchored graph drawing , 1992, CASCON.

[13]  Robert H. Henry,et al.  Automatic layout of large directed graphs , 1988 .

[14]  Robert F. Cohen,et al.  How to Draw a Planar Clustered Graph , 1995, COCOON.

[15]  Lawrence A. Rowe,et al.  A browser for directed graphs , 1987, Softw. Pract. Exp..

[16]  P Eades,et al.  Visual Interface Design for Relational Systems , 1990 .

[17]  David Jablonowski,et al.  GMB: A tool for manipulating and animating graph data structures , 1989, Softw. Pract. Exp..

[18]  K. P. Vo,et al.  DAG—a program that draws directed graphs , 1988, Softw. Pract. Exp..

[19]  Patrick Madden,et al.  Portable Graph Layout and Editing , 1995, Graph Drawing.

[20]  Mitsuhiko Toda,et al.  Methods for Visual Understanding of Hierarchical System Structures , 1981, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics.