Patent ID: 8365129

Claim:
At a computer system including a processor and a memory, a computer-implemented method for establishing one or more possible connection regions for connecting an edge to a node, the method comprising: an act of the computer system identifying a source node that is to be connected to a target node, wherein the target node is connected to the source node using an edge that links a connection region associated with the source node to a candidate connection region of the target node, the candidate connection region defining a range in which edges are connectable to the target node; an act of identifying one or more candidate connection region constraints that place restrictions on where the candidate connection regions can be positioned on the target node; an act of determining, based on the identified candidate connection region constraints, the position of each candidate connection region relative to the target node, wherein at least two of the candidate connection regions are disconnected such that an edge's connection to the target node can change between the disconnected connection regions; and an act of visually representing the position of each of the candidate connection regions of the target node.