springgraph
Download latest version: springgraph.pl(older versions)
Debian (unstable) package: springgraph
BSD Port: springgraph
(5/12/02) Can now generate 3D graphs !
Springgraph will read in a .dot file description of a graph, which, for each node, specifies its name and which other nodes it is connected to, and then renders a graph. Each node is drawn as an ellipse, and each connection is drawn as an arrow. The node placement is a result of all of the nodes moving away from each other, while all nodes which are connected move toward each other. This movement is repeated until it stabilizes.
Springgraph was written as an alternative
to neato, which is part of
graphviz. It attempts to read the same
.dot files used by graphviz, but currently
only supports a limited number of node
attributes (label and fillcolor). I am open
to requests for support for more
graph/node/edge attributes. I have used neato
quite a lot since September of 2000, when I
started writing programs to convert apache log files,
gpg/pgp keyring
signature relationships, and C include
relationships to .dot files to be graphed
with neato. 
Compare springgraph and neato output.
Reasons I wanted an alternative to neato:
- More appropriate math for what I graph, resulting in better graph layouts: neato uses line lengths - every node tries to be a certain distance from every other node it is connected to. To increase the size of the graph (and eliminate node overlaps), you must increase the default line length. So in large graphs, all nodes try to be some large distance from every other node. In springgraph, every node tries to be as close as possible to every node it is connected to, while pushing away from every node. I think this method is better suited to the kinds of graphs I tend to generate, like those of keyrings.
- neato is released under an (opensource) license that is incompatible with the GPL. springgraph is released under the GPL.
- In the process of figuring out how to write springgraph, I DID, as I had hoped, learn how to output a graph in 3D.
Usage:
cat test.dot | ./springgraph.pl -s 3 > springgraph.png
The "-s 3" specifies the scale, and is optional. All of the node locations are multiplied by this. Increase the scale to eliminate node overlaps. Decrease the scale to make the graph smaller.
Definition of the input (.dot) files that springgraph renders
The following programs generate .dot files that are fully supported by springgraph:
- sig2dot
- cinclude2dot
- c2dot by Hagen Fritsch, Generates a depency tree in dot-format based upon c-files.
Thiseveing (5/9/02) it occurred to me why neato is the way it is - why its method is sometimes more appropriate than the one I use in springgraph. This happened as I was testing springgraph with some of the graphviz example files, and noticed that in this graph, all of the lines should be the same length, as they are drawn by neato, not adjusted according to the positioning of other nodes, as they are drawn by springgraph.
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Fri May 30 14:06:58 EDT 2003