274) Is there a graph widget in which you can add vertices and edges

and get automatic updating?

[Last modified: March 93]

Answer:  The XUG FAQ in comp.windows.x includes information on graph display
widgets.  There is also an implementation in the Asente/Swick book.

  From Martin Janzen: "You could have a look at DataViews, from V.I.
   Corporation.  This package is used mainly to display a variety of graph
   drawings (eg. bar, line, pie, high/low, and other charts), and to update
   the graphs as information is received from "data sources" such as files,
   processes (through pipes), or devices.

   However, it also provides "node" and "edge" objects which can be used
   when working with network graphs.  The DV-Tools function library
   provides routines which traverse a graph, count visits to each node or
   edge, mark nodes or edges of interest, and so on.  A node or edge object
   can have an associated "geometry object" (such as a symbol or a line),
   which represents that node or edge.

   Drawbacks: There's no automatic positioning algorithm; when you add a
   node or edge, you have to create and position its geometry object
   yourself.  Also, this isn't a set of add-on widgets; you can either have
   DataViews create an X window (ie. a separate shell), or you can create
   your own XmDrawingArea and use DataViews to update its window when
   expose events are received.  Finally, the package is quite expensive,
   and there is a run-time charge.

   The vendor's address is:
     V.I. Corporation,
     47 Pleasant Street,
     Northampton, MA  01060,
            Email: vi@vicorp.com, Phone: (413) 586-4144, Fax:   (413) 584-2649

   or

     V.I. Corporation (Europe) Ltd.,
     First Base, Beacontree Plaza,
     Gillette Way,                      Email: viesales@eurovi.uucp
     Reading, Berkshire  RG2 0BP"
   Phone: +44 734 756010,      Fax:   +44 734 756104

Craig Timmerman wrote:  Just wanted others to know that there is a third
competitor in what may be come a big market for generic APIs.  The product is
called Open Interface and Neuron Data is the vendor.  Neuron has added some
extra, more complex widgets to their set.  The two most notable are a table
and network widget.  [...]  I believe that the network widget got its name
from its ability to display expert system networks that Neuron's AI tools
needed.  It would be more aptly named the graph widget.  It can display and
manipulate graphs of various types (trees, directed graphs, etc).  Contact is

        Neuron Data
        156 University Avenue
        Palo Alto,  CA  94301
        (415) 321-4488


prism!gt3273b@gatech.edu  (RENALDS,ANDREW THEODORE) posted a set of public
domain routines for graph drawing.  Contact him for a later set.

Ramon Santiago (santiago@fgssu1.fgs.slb.com) wrote:  HP has released source
code for XmGraph and XmArc, part of the InterWorks library, which does exactly
this. The sources can be obtained by contacting Dave Shaw,
librarian@iworks.ecn.uiowa.edu. A few trivial source code changes need to be
made to get these widgets to compile under Motif 1.2.

Free DAG - directed acyclic graph drawing software in motif environment is
available. Please send a note to address below if you want it:

Budak Arpinar, TUBITAK Software Research & Development Center, Ankara,
TURKIYE, E-mail : C51881@TRMETU.BITNET