layout

Change layout of graph plot

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Syntax

Description

example

layout(H) changes the layout of graph plot H by using an automatic choice of layout method based on the structure of the graph. The layout function modifies the XData and YData properties of H.

example

layout(H,method) optionally specifies the layout method. method can be 'circle', 'force', 'layered', 'subspace', 'force3', or 'subspace3'.

example

layout(H,method,Name,Value) uses additional options specified by one or more Name-Value pair arguments. For example, layout(H,'force','Iterations',N) specifies the number of iterations to use in computing the force layout, and layout(H,'layered','Sources',S) uses a layered layout with source nodes S included in the first layer.

Examples

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Open Script

Create and plot a graph using the 'force' layout.

s = [1 1 1 1 1 6 6 6 6 6];
t = [2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11];
G = graph(s,t);
h = plot(G,'Layout','force');

Change the layout to be the default that plot determines based on the structure and properties of the graph. The result is the same as using plot(G).

layout(h)

Open Script

Create and plot a graph using the 'layered' layout.

s = [1 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 5 5 6 7];
t = [2 4 5 3 6 4 7 8 6 8 7 8];
G = graph(s,t);
h = plot(G,'Layout','layered');

Change the layout of the graph to use the 'subspace' method.

layout(h,'subspace')

Open Script

Create and plot a graph using the 'layered' layout method.

s = [1 1 1 2 3 3 3 4 4];
t = [2 4 5 6 2 4 7 8 1];
G = digraph(s,t);
h = plot(G,'Layout','layered');

Use the layout function to refine the hierarchical layout by specifying source nodes and a horizontal orientation.

layout(h,'layered','Direction','right','Sources',[1 4])

Input Arguments

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Input graph plot, specified as a GraphPlot object. Use the graph or digraph functions to create a graph, and then use plot with an output argument to return a GraphPlot object.

For more information, see GraphPlot.

Example: H = plot(G)

Layout method, specified as one of the options in the table. The table also lists compatible Name-Value pairs to further refine each layout method.

OptionDescriptionName-Value Pairs
'auto' (default)

Automatic choice of layout method based on the size and structure of the graph.

—

'circle'

Circular layout. Places the graph nodes on a circle centered at the origin with radius 1.

—

'force'

Force-directed layout [1]. Uses attractive forces between adjacent nodes and repulsive forces between distant nodes.

'Iterations'

'XStart'

'YStart'

'layered'

Layered layout [2], [3], [4]. Places the graph nodes into a set of layers, revealing hierarchical structure. By default the layers progress downwards (the arrows of a directed acyclic graph point down).

'Direction'

'Sources'

'Sinks'

'AssignLayers'

'subspace'

Subspace embedding layout [5]. Plots the graph nodes in a high-dimensional embedded subspace, and then projects the positions back into 2-D. By default the subspace dimension is either 100 or the total number of nodes, whichever is smaller.

'Dimension'

'force3'3-D force-directed layout.

'Iterations'

'XStart'

'YStart'

'ZStart'

'subspace3'3-D subspace embedding layout.

'Dimension'

Example: layout(H,'layered')

Example: layout(H,'force3','Iterations',10)

Example: layout(H,'subspace','Dimension',50)

Name-Value Pair Arguments

Specify optional comma-separated pairs of Name,Value arguments. Name is the argument name and Value is the corresponding value. Name must appear inside single quotes (' '). You can specify several name and value pair arguments in any order as Name1,Value1,...,NameN,ValueN.

Example: layout(H,'subspace','Dimension',200)

Force

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Number of force-directed layout iterations, specified as the comma-separated pair consisting of 'Iterations' and a positive scalar integer.

This option is available only when method is 'force' or 'force3'.

Example: layout(H,'force','Iterations',250)

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64

Starting x-coordinates for nodes, specified as the comma-separated pair consisting of 'XStart' and a vector of node coordinates. Use this option together with 'YStart' to specify 2-D starting coordinates (or with 'YStart' and 'ZStart' to specify 3-D starting coordinates) before iterations of the force-directed algorithm change the node positions.

This option is available only when method is 'force' or 'force3'.

Example: layout(H,'force','XStart',x,'YStart',y)

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64

Starting y-coordinates for nodes, specified as the comma-separated pair consisting of 'YStart' and a vector of node coordinates. Use this option together with 'XStart' to specify 2-D starting coordinates (or with 'XStart' and 'ZStart' to specify 3-D starting coordinates) before iterations of the force-directed algorithm change the node positions.

This option is available only when method is 'force' or 'force3'.

Example: layout(H,'force','XStart',x,'YStart',y)

Example: layout(H,'force','XStart',x,'YStart',y,'ZStart',z)

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64

Starting z-coordinates for nodes, specified as the comma-separated pair consisting of 'ZStart' and a vector of node coordinates. Use this option together with 'XStart' and 'YStart' to specify the starting x, y, and z node coordinates before iterations of the force-directed algorithm change the node positions.

This option is available only when method is 'force3'.

Example: layout(H,'force','XStart',x,'YStart',y,'ZStart',z)

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64

Layered

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Direction of layers, specified as the comma-separated pair consisting of 'Direction' and either 'down', 'up', 'left' or 'right'. For directed acyclic (DAG) graphs, the arrows point in the indicated direction.

This option is available only when method is 'layered'.

Example: layout(H,'layered','Direction','up')

Nodes to include in first the layer, specified as the comma-separated pair consisting of 'Sources' and either a vector of node indices or a cell array of character vectors containing node names.

This option is available only when method is 'layered'.

Example: layout(H,'layered','Sources',[1 3 5])

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64 | cell

Nodes to include in the last layer, specified as the comma-separated pair consisting of 'Sinks' and either a vector of node indices or a cell array of character vectors containing node names.

This option is available only when method is 'layered'.

Example: layout(H,'layered','Sinks',[2 4 6])

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64 | cell

Layer assignment method, specified as the comma-separated pair consisting of 'AssignLayers' and one of the options in this table.

OptionDescription
'auto' (default)Node assignment uses either 'asap' or 'alap', whichever is more compact.
'asap'As soon as possible. Each node is assigned to the first possible layer, given the constraint that all its predecessors must be in earlier layers.
'alap'As late as possible. Each node is assigned to the last possible layer, given the constraint that all its successors must be in later layers.

This option is available only when method is 'layered'.

Example: layout(H,'layered','AssignLayers','alap')

Subspace

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Dimension of embedded subspace, specified as the comma-separated pair consisting of 'Dimension' and a positive scalar integer.

  • The default integer value is min([100, numnodes(G)]).

  • For the 'subspace' layout, the integer must be greater than or equal to 2.

  • For the 'subspace3' layout, the integer must be greater than or equal to 3.

  • In both cases, the integer must be less than the number of nodes.

This option is available only when method is 'subspace' or 'subspace3'.

Example: layout(H,'subspace','Dimension',d)

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64

More About

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Tips

  • Use the Layout name-value pair to change the layout of a graph when you plot it. For example, plot(G,'Layout','circle') plots the graph G with a circular layout.

  • When using the 'force' or 'force3' layout methods, a best practice is to use more iterations with the algorithm instead of using XStart, YStart, and ZStart to restart the algorithm using previous outputs. The result of executing the algorithm with 100 iterations is different in comparison to executing 50 iterations, and then restarting the algorithm from the ending positions to execute 50 more iterations.

References

[1] Fruchterman, T., and E. Reingold,. "Graph Drawing by Force-directed Placement." Software — Practice & Experience. Vol. 21 (11), 1991, pp. 1129–1164.

[2] Gansner, E., E. Koutsofios, S. North, and K.-P Vo. "A Technique for Drawing Directed Graphs." IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering. Vol.19, 1993, pp. 214–230.

[3] Barth, W., M. Juenger, and P. Mutzel. "Simple and Efficient Bilayer Cross Counting." Journal of Graph Algorithms and Applications. Vol.8 (2), 2004, pp. 179–194.

[4] Brandes, U., and B. Koepf. "Fast and Simple Horizontal Coordinate Assignment." LNCS. Vol. 2265, 2002, pp. 31–44.

[5] Y. Koren. "Drawing Graphs by Eigenvectors: Theory and Practice." Computers and Mathematics with Applications. Vol. 49, 2005, pp. 1867–1888.

See Also

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Introduced in R2015b

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