Link Layout Type

ILOG JViews Diagrammer provides numerous ready-to-use graph layout algorithms, including specialized algorithms to compute optimal shapes for the links without moving the nodes. These are shown below with sample illustrations:

../images/IlvShortLinkLayoutColor16.gif  Short Link Layout: reshapes the links of a diagram without moving the nodes (recommended for short links).

Links are placed freely by choosing the best shape from a fixed number of either orthogonal or direct link shapes. An orthogonal link can have a maximum of 4 bends.

Recommended if any of the following conditions apply:

../images/sample-short-link.gif

../images/IlvLongLinkLayoutColor16.gif  Long Link Layout: reshapes the links of a diagram without moving the nodes (recommended for long orthogonal links).

Orthogonal links are routed on a grid by avoiding obstacles. Any orthogonal link shape can occur (that is, the number of link shapes is not limited) but a long link route can have many bends.

Recommended if any of the following conditions apply:

../images/sample-long-link.gif

../images/IlvHierarchicalLayoutColor16.gif  Hierarchical Link Layout: reshapes the links of a diagram without moving the nodes (recommended for hierarchy-like diagrams).

../images/sample-hierarchical.gif

Configuration options are available for each algorithm, allowing you to customize and fine-tune the layout algorithm. The sample images only show an example of the wide range of diagram arrangements that can be obtained.

You can also use the layout wizard page (../../../builder/gui/graphlayout/layoutWizardIcon.gif) to select one of the predefined layout themes.