This web site is associated with a companion article published in the electronic Journal of Graph Algorithms and Applications, Special Issue on Graph Drawing '98 (GD '98). It features links to the actual animation, sample frames, and some additional material from the production process. |
Ulrik Brandes, Vanessa K��b, Andres L�h, Dorothea Wagner and Thomas Willhalm:
Abstract: We describe a method for three-dimensional straight-line representation of dynamic directed graphs (such as parts of the World Wide Web). It has been developed on the occasion of the 1998 Graph Drawing Contest (see the contest report) and constitutes a customized blend of techniques known from the Graph Drawing literature. Since we feel that they may be of interest to others facing similar graph drawing problems, some technical details are mixed in.
WWW pages and links between them are conveniently described by means of a directed graph. Even though no particular structure of such a graph can be guaranteed, it typically contains tree-like hierachical substructures. One possible form of graphical representation is therefore, to display linked pages as boxes in space that are connected by straight line segments, where a referred box is placed below of the referring box.
Since the original file submitted to the Graph Drawing Contest is too big in file size (it was rendered at 640x480 pixels), we produced a smaller version in compressed format for download:
The following data may be useful in reproducing our results or comprehending and customizing its production to a differnt setting.