Drawing graphs in Euler diagrams

P. Mutton, P. Rodgers, J. Flower

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceeding with ISSN or ISBNChapterpeer-review

Abstract

We describe a method for drawing graph-enhanced Euler diagrams using a three stage method. The first stage is to lay out the underlying Euler diagram using a multicriteria optimizing system. The second stage is to find suitable locations for nodes in the zones of the Euler diagram using a force based method. The third stage is to minimize edge crossings and total edge length by swapping the location of nodes that are in the same zone with a multicriteria hill climbing method. We show a working version of the software that draws spider diagrams. Spider diagrams represent logical expressions by superimposing graphs upon an Euler diagram. This application requires an extra step in the drawing process because the embedded graphs only convey information about the connectedness of nodes and so a spanning tree must be chosen for each maximally connected component. Similar notations to Euler diagrams enhanced with graphs are common in many applications and our method is generalizable to drawing Hypergraphs represented in the subset standard, or to drawing Higraphs where edges are restricted to connecting with only atomic nodes.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationDiagrammatic representation and inference: third international conference, Diagrams 2004. Cambridge, UK, Mar 22-24: proceedings
EditorsA. Blackwell, K. Marriott, A. Shimojima
Place of PublicationBerlin, Germany
PublisherSpringer-Verlag
Pages66-81
Number of pages16
Volume2980/2004
ISBN (Print)9783540212683
Publication statusPublished - 2004

Publication series

NameLecture notes in computer science

Keywords

  • Visual languages
  • Spider diagrams
  • Euler diagrams

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