Laying out a graph where the y axis of nodes is fixed

Question

I'm working with a digraph where nodes happen at instances in "time". So there's a connectedness but also an element of time associated with each node.

Think of it as (say) a family tree where you also want to show births or marriages on the y axis flowing downwards in time.

Is there a way to achieve something like this in yed?

Answer 1

If you are asking if yEd offers a layout algorithm for automatically arranging your graph that respects a time axis, then the answer is unfortunately "no, it does not."

It is, of course, possible to manually arrange your graph in the desired way in yEd. Moreover, using features like hierarchical layout's "Use Drawing as Sketch", a semi-automatic approach might be possible (i.e. roughly place your elements and have the hierarchical layout do the exact placement).

Comments

Thanks! Is there an equivalent of the  "rank = same" attribute of graphviz?

---

Unfortunately, I do not know Graphviz, so I cannot be sure what "rank = same" does. Does that attribute determine the vertical order of nodes (for a top-to-bottom arrangement)?
When "Use Drawing as Sketch" is enabled in yEd, the initial, relative positions of the nodes is used to determine said order. (If "Use Drawing as Sketch" is disabled, the graph structure induces the vertical order).