Software Visualization via Hierarchic Micro/Macro Layouts

Abstract

We propose a system for visualizing the structure of software in a single drawing. In contrast to previous work we consider both the dependencies between different entities of the software and the hierarchy imposed by the nesting of classes and packages. To achieve this, we generalize the concept of micro/macro layouts introduced by Brandes and Baur (Baur and Brandes, 2008) to graphs that have more than two hierarchy levels. All entities of the software (e.g., attributes, methods, classes, packages) are represented as disk-shaped regions of the plane. The hierarchy is expressed by containment, all other relations, e.g., inheritance, functions calls and data access, are expressed by directed edges. As in the micro/macro layouts of Brandes and Baur, edges that "traverse" the hierarchy are routed together in channels to enhance the clarity of the layout. The resulting drawings provide an overview of the coarse structure of the software as well as detailed information about individual components.