Force-directed drawing method for intersecting clustered graphs

Abstract

We present a novel force-directed method for drawing an intersecting clustered graph. This is based upon simulation of a virtual physical system. The graph can express complicated structures such as inclusion and intersection between vertices/clusters as well as adjacency, and it is used in diverse fields such as creativity support, software engineering, and semantic Web. We describe definitions, aesthetics, model, algorithm, performance evaluation, and applications.