Chisio Editor

ChiEd: Chisio Editor

ChiEd (Chisio Editor) is a graph visualization tool for creating, editing and layout of compound or clustered graphs, as well as simple, flat graphs.

The tool features standard graph editing facilities such as zoom, scroll, add/remove graph objects, move and resize. Object property and layout options dialogs are provided to modify existing graph object properties and layout options, respectively.

The tool has a user friendly graphical interface for interactive editing of compound or clustered graphs, accepting graphs in GraphML format. It also features a number of popular graph layout algorithms from spring embedders to Sugiyama algorithm for hierarchical graphs, including novel ones designed by our group for compound and clustered graphs, all available through the Chisio Layout component.

ChiEd can be used as a finished editing tool or customized to build application-specific graph visualization and analysis tools by modifying its code-base.

Chisio Editor as a Drawing Tool

The graph model used in Chisio is managed by a compound graph. A compound graph manages a list of nodes (possibly compound) and edges. Compound nodes, in turn, manages a list of nodes and edges, potentially creating an arbitrary level of nesting hierarchies. In addition, nodes can be clustered through their cluster IDs, where a node may belong to multiple clusters. Following are sample screenshots from the Chisio compound graph editor.

[Click on the figure to see the entire screenshot]

The instructions on how to use Chisio version 2.0 as a graph editor are detailed out in its User's Guide.

Installers of Chisio Editor for some popular platforms can be found here:

Click here to download set-up file for Chisio Editor 2.0 for Windows 32-bit 7/Vista/XP.
Click here to download Chisio Editor 2.0 distribution for Linux 32-bit and follow the instructions in file "README.TXT".

Please contact us if you need a build for another platform.

Customizing Chisio Editor for Domain-Specific Applications

One can customize Chisio Editor for their specific needs by adding new node/edge types or by modifying existing nodes/edges (UI and attributes). In addition, you may customize the menus to add new functionality as well as modifying node and edge menus and property inspectors.

Furthermore, Chisio Editor is designed for easy integration of new layout algorithms. Layout researchers will especially find Chisio to be useful for implementation and testing of their new methods.

Instructions for customizing Chisio version 2.0 can be found in its Programmer's Guide.

The sources of Chisio Editor are maintained in a GitHub project.

Release Notes for Version 2.0

Following improvements were made in this release in addition to those in Chisio Layout component:

Cluster bounds can now be shown with a transparent tightest convex polygon if desired.
Support for multiple clusters per node (overlapping clusters) have been implemented.
Sample graph suite has been enriched with a wide range of graphs.

Release Notes for Version 1.1

CiSE (Circular Spring Embedder) layout is now completed (version 1.0 had a draft implementation).
Layout operations are now executed on a separate thread, thus they no longer block the GUI. In addition, this facilitates cancellation of a layout.
Random graph generation functionality is added. Supported graph types are flat (including mesh-like planar graph), clustered graphs, and compound graphs. Several type specific options as well as general options can be specified for customizing the random graph to be generated.
Functionality for randomly assigning clusters to an already loaded graph is added.
A good number of connected bi-planar subset of Rome graphs have been imported into Chisio and made available in GraphML format.
A mechanism for analyzing performance has been implemented, so layout developers can test their algorithms with respect to parameters such as area, edge crossings, and execution time in a convenient manner.
All layout operations can also be run without the need for a Chisio window (GUI). This facilitates batch testing, and could be especially useful during performance analysis.

Credits

Software development team of Chisio includes Cihan Kucukkececi, Ugur Dogrusoz, Alper Karacelik, and Shatlyk Ashyralyev of the Computer Engineering Department.