Heuristic graph displayer for G-Base

✍ Scribed by Hiroyuki Watanabe

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1989
• Weight: 776 KB
• Volume: 30
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0020-7373
• DOI: 10.1016/s0020-7373(89)80004-5

✦ Synopsis

A proto-type graph displaying system for a data base management system is described. The system uses a heuristic algorithm for drawing a graph. The system was developed to draw a schema graph for the G-Base-Data Base Management System based on a graph data model. For quiek display, the algorithm used no or very limited backtracking and it attempts to minimize unnecessary arc intersections. The graph is embedded in an integer grid plane and displayed on a window. The graph drawer has several useful features for producing visually pleasant drawings such as automatic font selection, and automatic abbreviation of long node label. It can draw both directed graphs and non-directed graphs and can display arc labels. The system is implemented using the X-window system running on Sun workstations and Sony NEWS workstations. It is written in C language and is portable to any workstation which supports the X-window system. Complex graphs, such as a graph with 149 nodes and 153 arcs, have been displayed in a visually pleasing manner.