More recent visualization techniques attempt to show many more nodes, if not the entire tree itself, as well as providing mechanisms for navigation and searching which allows the user to keep the context of the entire tree in mind as well as reducing the disorientation. Hierarchies can be seen as a special case of networks, except the definition of hierarchies eliminates the possibilities of dual paths and cycles. Every node in a hierarchy also has a unique path to the root node which is not guaranteed to be the case with networks. The major players in the hierarchical visualization are Xerox PARC, with their Cone Trees, and Hyperbolic Trees approachs, both of which have been copied or used as a basis for many other projects. Treemaps, is another significant representation in this genre, which was developed in the HCIL at the University of Maryland.
Tasks Obtain global relationships and structure from the entire hierarchy.
Find the most recent common ancestor between two nodes. Find the path to a particular node from the root of the hierarchy. Find clusters, duplicates, relationships, and inheritance properties from the structure of the hierarchy. Centre de recherche Informatique de Montr al. The Cheops approach maintains context within a huge hierarchy, while simultaneously providing easy access to details.