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DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.GD.2025.32

Planar Stories of Graph Drawings: Algorithms and Experiments

Authors: Carla Binucci, Sabine Cornelsen, Walter Didimo, Seok-Hee Hong, Eleni Katsanou, Maurizio Patrignani, Antonios Symvonis, and Samuel Wolf

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 357, 33rd International Symposium on Graph Drawing and Network Visualization (GD 2025)

Abstract

We address the problem of computing a dynamic visualization of a geometric graph G as a sequence of frames. Each frame shows only a portion of the graph but their union covers G entirely. The two main requirements of our dynamic visualization are: (i) guaranteeing drawing stability, so to preserve the user’s mental map; (ii) keeping the visual complexity of each frame low. To satisfy the first requirement, we never change the position of the vertices. Regarding the second requirement, we avoid edge crossings in each frame. More precisely, in the first frame we visualize a suitable subset of non-crossing edges; in each subsequent frame, exactly one new edge enters the visualization and all the edges that cross with it are deleted. We call such a sequence of frames a planar story of G. Our goal is to find a planar story whose minimum number of edges contemporarily displayed is maximized (i.e., a planar story that maximizes the minimum frame size). Besides studying our model from a theoretical point of view, we also design and experimentally compare different algorithms, both exact techniques and heuristics. These algorithms provide an array of alternative trade-offs between efficiency and effectiveness, also depending on the structure of the input graph.

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Carla Binucci, Sabine Cornelsen, Walter Didimo, Seok-Hee Hong, Eleni Katsanou, Maurizio Patrignani, Antonios Symvonis, and Samuel Wolf. Planar Stories of Graph Drawings: Algorithms and Experiments. In 33rd International Symposium on Graph Drawing and Network Visualization (GD 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 357, pp. 32:1-32:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{binucci_et_al:LIPIcs.GD.2025.32,
  author =	{Binucci, Carla and Cornelsen, Sabine and Didimo, Walter and Hong, Seok-Hee and Katsanou, Eleni and Patrignani, Maurizio and Symvonis, Antonios and Wolf, Samuel},
  title =	{{Planar Stories of Graph Drawings: Algorithms and Experiments}},
  booktitle =	{33rd International Symposium on Graph Drawing and Network Visualization (GD 2025)},
  pages =	{32:1--32:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-403-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{357},
  editor =	{Dujmovi\'{c}, Vida and Montecchiani, Fabrizio},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.GD.2025.32},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-250182},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.GD.2025.32},
  annote =	{Keywords: Graph Drawing, Dynamic Graphs, Graph Stories, Heuristics, ILP}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/OASIcs.ATMOS.2025.4

Visualization of Event Graphs for Train Schedules

Authors: Johann Hartleb, Marie Schmidt, Samuel Wolf, and Alexander Wolff

Published in: OASIcs, Volume 137, 25th Symposium on Algorithmic Approaches for Transportation Modelling, Optimization, and Systems (ATMOS 2025)

Abstract

Train timetables can be represented as event graphs, where events correspond to a train passing through a location at a certain point in time. A visual representation of an event graph is important for many applications such as dispatching and (the development of) dispatching software. A common way to represent event graphs are time-space diagrams. In such a diagram, key locations are visualized on the y-axis and time on the x-axis of a coordinate system. A train’s movement is then represented as a connected sequence of line segments in this coordinate system. This visualization allows for an easy detection of infrastructure conflicts and safety distance violations. However, time-space diagrams are usually used only to depict event graphs that are restricted to corridors, where an obvious ordering of the locations exists. In this paper, we consider the visualization of general event graphs in time-space diagrams, where the challenge is to find an ordering of the locations that produces readable drawings. We argue that this means to minimize the number of turns, i.e., the total number of changes in y-direction. To this end, we establish a connection between this problem and Maximum Betweenness. Then we develop a preprocessing strategy to reduce the instance size. We also propose a parameterized algorithm and integer linear programming formulations. We experimentally evaluate the preprocessing strategy and the integer programming formulations on a real-world dataset. Our best algorithm solves every instance in the dataset in less than a second. This suggests that turn-optimal time-space diagrams can be computed in real time.

Cite as

Johann Hartleb, Marie Schmidt, Samuel Wolf, and Alexander Wolff. Visualization of Event Graphs for Train Schedules. In 25th Symposium on Algorithmic Approaches for Transportation Modelling, Optimization, and Systems (ATMOS 2025). Open Access Series in Informatics (OASIcs), Volume 137, pp. 4:1-4:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{hartleb_et_al:OASIcs.ATMOS.2025.4,
  author =	{Hartleb, Johann and Schmidt, Marie and Wolf, Samuel and Wolff, Alexander},
  title =	{{Visualization of Event Graphs for Train Schedules}},
  booktitle =	{25th Symposium on Algorithmic Approaches for Transportation Modelling, Optimization, and Systems (ATMOS 2025)},
  pages =	{4:1--4:20},
  series =	{Open Access Series in Informatics (OASIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-404-8},
  ISSN =	{2190-6807},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{137},
  editor =	{Sauer, Jonas and Schmidt, Marie},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/OASIcs.ATMOS.2025.4},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-247607},
  doi =		{10.4230/OASIcs.ATMOS.2025.4},
  annote =	{Keywords: Graph Drawing, Event Graphs, Integer Linear Programming, Parameterized Algorithms, Treewidth}
}

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Documents authored by Wolf, Samuel

Planar Stories of Graph Drawings: Algorithms and Experiments

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Visualization of Event Graphs for Train Schedules

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