Flexible graph layout for the Web
More powerful personal computers and higher network bandwidth has meant that graphics has become increasingly important on the web. Graph-based diagrams are one of the most important types of structured graphical information. Here we demonstrate how XML can be used as the basis for contents-based delivery of graph-based diagrams. The main distinguishing feature of our approach is that it separates style and content of diagrams in the same way as (XML-based) markup languages for textual information do: The diagram itself is marked-up according to its logical structure and its visual appearance is defined via attached style sheets. Such an approach poses interesting challenges for the browser component, because it requires automatic layout of complex diagrammatic information that takes stylistic constraints into account. We present a prototype system for our approach comprised of three main components: a contents-based markup language, GXML, for specifying graph-based diagrams, a style sheet language, GXSL., for such diagrams and a browser that can display styled graphs from this information. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
graph layout style sheets constraints world wide web