Incremental Grid-Like Layout Using Soft and Hard Constraints

Kieffer, Steve; Dwyer, Tim; Marriott, Kim; Wybrow, Michael

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-03841-4_39

Cited by 7 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 18 publications

(37 reference statements)

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“…The most closely related approach is that of Kieffer et al [20] which explores the use of greedy heuristics to "gridify" a force-directed layout by snapping nodes to a grid or adding vertical or horizontal alignment constraints between nodes, and Rüegg et al [31] which extends this to handle port constraints and directed edges laid out using orthogonal connectors. While stages 2b and 4a of HOLA utilise similar greedy heuristics, these are a small part of the overall approach.…”

Section: Human-like Orthogonal Layout Algorithm (Hola)mentioning

confidence: 99%

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HOLA: Human-like Orthogonal Network Layout

Kieffer

Dwyer

Marriott

et al. 2016

IEEE Trans. Visual. Comput. Graphics

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Fig. 1: Human, yFiles, and HOLA layouts of SBGN Glycolysis-Glygoneogensis pathway. It is clear that the human and the state-of-the-art layout algorithm from yFiles produce structurally quite different layouts. In this paper we explore the reasons why humans arrange such orthogonal network diagrams differently to standard algorithms and use this to inform the design of a new algorithm, HOLA (output shown right-most), that aims to produce more "human-like" layout.Abstract-Over the last 50 years a wide variety of automatic network layout algorithms have been developed. Some are fast heuristic techniques suitable for networks with hundreds of thousands of nodes while others are multi-stage frameworks for higher-quality layout of smaller networks. However, despite decades of research currently no algorithm produces layout of comparable quality to that of a human. We give a new "human-centred" methodology for automatic network layout algorithm design that is intended to overcome this deficiency. User studies are first used to identify the aesthetic criteria algorithms should encode, then an algorithm is developed that is informed by these criteria and finally, a follow-up study evaluates the algorithm output. We have used this new methodology to develop an automatic orthogonal network layout method, HOLA, that achieves measurably better (by user study) layout than the best available orthogonal layout algorithm and which produces layouts of comparable quality to those produced by hand.

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Section: Human-like Orthogonal Layout Algorithm (Hola)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a configurable option, the ACA algorithm [20] may be applied to the chains instead of this process. We have found that this gives better results on large graphs as in our second user study (see Sec.…”

Section: Layout Of the Corementioning

confidence: 99%

HOLA: Human-like Orthogonal Network Layout

Kieffer

Dwyer

Marriott

et al. 2016

IEEE Trans. Visual. Comput. Graphics

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“…Kieffer et al [KDMW13] present a force-directed, constraintbased layout for creating graphs with node and edge alignment, and demonstrate its effectiveness for interactive refinement within the interactive graph layout system Dunnart [DMW08a]. Dwyer and Wybrow developed libcola [DW18], which utilizes constraints within a force-directed graph layout [DMW08b] using stress majorization.…”

Section: Constraint-based Layout Techniquesmentioning

confidence: 99%

SetCoLa: High‐Level Constraints for Graph Layout

Hoffswell

Borning

Heer

2018

Computer Graphics Forum

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Constraints enable flexible graph layout by combining the ease of automatic layout with customizations for a particular domain. However, constraint-based layout often requires many individual constraints defined over specific nodes and node pairs. In addition to the effort of writing and maintaining a large number of similar constraints, such constraints are specific to the particular graph and thus cannot generalize to other graphs in the same domain. To facilitate the specification of customized and generalizable constraint layouts, we contribute SetCoLa: a domain-specific language for specifying high-level constraints relative to properties of the backing data. Users identify node sets based on data or graph properties and apply high-level constraints within each set. Applying constraints to node sets rather than individual nodes reduces specification effort and facilitates reapplication of customized layouts across distinct graphs. We demonstrate the conciseness, generalizability, and expressiveness of SetCoLa on a series of real-world examples from ecological networks, biological systems, and social networks.

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“…We implemented the "grid-snap" technique described by Kieffer et al [30] in the cola.js [6] browser-based constraint-layout library. We extended this method to handle group-hierarchy containment inside rectangular regions using separation constraints as described in [18].…”

Section: Heuristic For Larger Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This approach does not allow group information to be taken into account, and the graph structure is hard to conceive from the layouts. Recent work from Kieffer et al [30] explored augmenting the objective function of a constrainedforce-directed technique to prefer nodes placed at grid-points, thereby creating a compromise between a grid-aesthetic and R2. This method (extended to grouped graphs) provides the starting point for our LNS.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-Quality Ultra-Compact Grid Layout of Grouped Networks

Yoghourdjian

Dwyer

Gange

et al. 2016

IEEE Trans. Visual. Comput. Graphics

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Fig. 1: Grid systems in typographic layout, UI design and an example of our proposed grid layout for a power-graph. With graphic designers playing an increasing role in the design of user interfaces for phone, tablet and desktop operating systems, this traditional grid-based design aesthetic is becoming more popular in these media. A case in point is Microsoft's "Modern" interface which seeks to unify app-design across devices. This resurgence of the grid-design aesthetic in new media leads us to re-examine some of the aesthetic assumptions that have been made in designing layout methods for network diagrams.Abstract-Prior research into network layout has focused on fast heuristic techniques for layout of large networks, or complex multi-stage pipelines for higher quality layout of small graphs. Improvements to these pipeline techniques, especially for orthogonal-style layout, are difficult and practical results have been slight in recent years. Yet, as discussed in this paper, there remain significant issues in the quality of the layouts produced by these techniques, even for quite small networks. This is especially true when layout with additional grouping constraints is required. The first contribution of this paper is to investigate an ultra-compact, grid-like network layout aesthetic that is motivated by the grid arrangements that are used almost universally by designers in typographical layout. Since the time when these heuristic and pipeline-based graph-layout methods were conceived, generic technologies (MIP, CP and SAT) for solving combinatorial and mixed-integer optimization problems have improved massively. The second contribution of this paper is to reassess whether these techniques can be used for high-quality layout of small graphs. While they are fast enough for graphs of up to 50 nodes we found these methods do not scale up. Our third contribution is a large-neighborhood search meta-heuristic approach that is scalable to larger networks.

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Incremental Grid-Like Layout Using Soft and Hard Constraints

Cited by 7 publications

References 18 publications

HOLA: Human-like Orthogonal Network Layout

HOLA: Human-like Orthogonal Network Layout

SetCoLa: High‐Level Constraints for Graph Layout

High-Quality Ultra-Compact Grid Layout of Grouped Networks

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