Optimizing cut-and-paste on directed graphs, with a user-controlled edge reconstruction strategy

In this paper, we present a strategy for implementing select copy, cut and paste editing primitives for a directed graph-based visual formalism. This strategy focuses on minimizing the user interactions while keeping the user in control of how edges are disconnected and reconnected during cut and paste operations. To achieve this, we introduce a classification of the nodes belonging to the selection based on whether the edges connecting them with the rest of the graph are selected or not. This classification influences the reconnection process when the selection is either cut or pasted. The simplicity of the criteria used for the classification greatly helps in the predictability, for the user, of the result of cut and paste operations.