Circular layout in the graph layout toolkit

Abstract

The Graph Layout Toolkit is a family of portable, automated, graph layout libraries designed for integration into graphical user interface application programs. The Circular Library is one of the four styles currently available with the Graph Layout Toolkit. It produces layouts that emphasize natural group structures inherent in a graph's topology, and is well suited for the layout of ring and star network topologies. It clusters (groups) the nodes of a graph by group IDs, by IP addresses, and by biconnectivity or node degree, and allows the user to specify a range for the size of each cluster. The Library positions the nodes of a cluster on a radiating circle, and employs heuristics to reduce the crossings not only between edges incident to nodes of the same cluster but also between edges that connect different clusters.