Open
Graph Drawing
Framework

 v. 2023.09 (Elderberry)
 

catalpa

../../README.md "OGDF" » ../relnotes.md "Release Notes" » Catalpa

OGDF Catalpa (2020.02)

Released 2020-02-09.

This release has been in the making for a very long time. So-called "snapshots" have been introduced in the meantime to shorten the waiting time for the next release. Now, even after more than 3000 commits, our original ambitions of the "next release" are still not fully met, but it is about time for a new snapshot. We have however noticed that releasing snapshots has not proven to be useful; it just caused irritation and confusion among OGDF users. Hence, starting with this release, called Catalpa, we will not publish any further snapshots. Instead, we will try to publish ordinary releases more often, i.e., whenever there has been some noteworthy progress in OGDF.

Moreover, OGDF got a new website, a new logo, and the abbreviation now has a second meaning that reflects OGDF's matter in a better way. OGDF now stands for both "Open Graph Drawing Framework" and "Open Graph algorithms and Data structures Framework".

Noteworthy changes since last snapshot

If you used the snapshots, you might be interested in noteworthy changes since the last OGDF snapshot:

  • file formats:
    • DL:
      • improved (and fixed) logic when to use matrix and when to use adjacency list
    • DOT:
      • fixes regarding cluster graphs and parsing bugs
      • support for subgraphs, edge styles, edge types, custom node ids, node label positions, arrow directions
    • GEXF:
      • support for subgraphs, labels, bend points, edge styles, custom node ids, node label positions
      • compatibility fixes (e.g., regarding edge weights)
      • fix handling of directed vs. undirected graphs
    • GML:
      • compatibility changes regarding subgraphs
      • support for node types, node label positions, integral edge weights (including compatibility fix), and cluster graphs
    • Graph6 family:
      • new support for Sparse6 (s6) and Digraph6 (d6) file format
      • fixed support for the case of 63 nodes
    • GraphML:
      • compatibility changes regarding subgraphs
      • support for bend points, edge styles, custom node ids, node label positions
      • fix handling of directed vs. undirected graphs
    • STP:
      • support for coordinates, directed edges, node shapes for terminals
      • support for simplified format (from PACE 2018)
    • support for background pattern's fill color of nodes in many file formats
    • fix self-loops in Chaco file format
    • the generic reader now supports more file formats and GraphAttributes
    • some readers (e.g., Rudy) are stricter now
    • readers with additional information (like edge weights or terminal nodes) are now available in Graph-only form
    • GraphAttributes can now be used for readers with edge weights
    • new generic writer (GraphIO::write()) based on file name extension
    • fix edge arrow issues in SVG printer
    • deprecated GraphIO functions based on filenames (instead of streams) are removed
  • graph generators:
  • new basic functions for convenience:
  • algorithms:
    • new algorithms:
      • PlanarSubgraphTriangles for finding planar subgraphs
      • EdgeIndependentSpanningTrees for k edge-independent spanning trees
      • simple algorithms regarding matchings, e.g., Matching::findMaximalMatching()
    • algorithms for finding maximum planar subgraphs are now weight-templated
    • CliqueFinder is split into CliqueFinderHeuristic and CliqueFinderSPQR
    • Steiner tree:
      • new SteinerTreeLowerBoundDualAscent algorithm that can be activated for preprocessing (SteinerTreePreprocessing::reduceFastAndDualAscent())
      • overhaul of constructing and managing full components (for approximation algorithms that use full components)
      • slight overhaul of SteinerTreePreprocessing (including some fixes), MinSteinerTreeGoemans139, MinSteinerTreeRZLoss
  • other noteworthy changes (besides typofixes, less compiler warnings, improved documentation, etc.):
    • many layouts/algorithms now run on corner cases like empty graphs or single nodes
    • overhaul of ClusterGraphAttributes, now similar to GraphAttributes
    • AdjacencyOracle can now trade memory usage versus speed by ignoring nodes of small degree
    • Layout::computeBoundingBox() can now handle negative coordinates
    • ConnectivityTester returns correct values also for node-connectivity now
    • GraphCopy copy assignment operator fixed for uninitialized GraphCopy
    • removed PreconditionViolatedException

Noteworthy changes since Baobab

Now let us talk about changes since our last non-snapshot release Baobab.

First of all, we are now using C++11 features, hence a C++11-capable compiler is necessary to use OGDF. Note that for this transition, macros like forall_nodes() have been removed in favor of range-based for-loops.

Check the ../porting/catalpa.md "porting guide" for compatibility-breaking changes.

Our build system has been modernized to use CMake instead of self-written Python scripts. Our documentation (see the ../build.md "Build Guide") provides examples how to use it if you are not familiar with CMake.

Noteworthy changes since Baobab:

  • file formats:
    • there is now a generic reader (GraphIO::read()) recognizing many graph formats...
    • ...and a generic writer (GraphIO::write()) based on file name extension
    • new support for file formats:
      • Graph6 (g6)
      • Sparse6 (s6)
      • Digraph6 (d6)
      • format of the DIMACS maximum flow challenge (DMF)
    • additional features and fixes in support for Chaco, DL, DOT, GDF, GEXF, GML, GraphML, STP, TLP
    • some readers (e.g., Rudy, GEXF, TLP) are stricter now (not accepting rubbish)
    • buggy XML parser is replaced by pugixml
    • dead OGML file format no longer supported
    • SVG printer is rewritten (bugfixes included)
    • readers with additional information (like edge weights or terminal nodes) are now available in Graph-only form
    • GraphAttributes can now be used for readers with edge weights
    • GraphIO functions based on filenames (instead of streams) are removed
  • layouts:
    • new LinearLayout, places nodes next to each other and draws edges as bows above the nodes
    • new NodeRespecterLayout, a force-directed layout respecting node shapes and sizes
    • SchnyderLayout can now compute the 1989's paper version by using SchnyderLayout::setCombinatorialObjects(SchnyderLayout::CombinatorialObjects::Faces)
    • fixed setting of random seeds in FMMMLayout
    • LayoutStatistics changes:
      • new numberOfNodeOverlaps() method
      • new numberOfNodeCrossings() method
      • numberOfCrossings() can now return statistical measures on crossings
  • new graph generators:
  • algorithms:
    • new algorithms:
      • s-t-planarity (planar and nodes s and t share a face):
      • maximum flows in networks:
        • MaxFlowEdmondsKarp
        • MaxFlowGoldbergTarjan
        • MaxFlowSTPlanarDigraph
        • MaxFlowSTPlanarItaiShiloach
      • minimum s-t-cuts:
        • MinSTCutBFS
        • MinSTCutDijkstra
        • MinSTCutMaxflow (replaces old MinSTCut)
      • Steiner trees:
        • MinSteinerTreeDirectedCut
        • MinSteinerTreeDualAscent
        • MinSteinerTreeGoemans139
        • MinSteinerTreeKou
        • MinSteinerTreeMehlhorn
        • MinSteinerTreePrimalDual
        • MinSteinerTreeRZLoss
        • MinSteinerTreeShore
        • MinSteinerTreeTakahashi
        • MinSteinerTreeZelikovsky
        • SteinerTreePreprocessing
        • SteinerTreeLowerBoundDualAscent
      • planar subgraphs:
        • PlanarSubgraphTriangles
        • PlanarSubgraphTree
        • PlanarSubgraphCactus
        • PlanarSubgraphEmpty
        • MaximalPlanarSubgraphSimple
      • canonical orderings:
        • LeftistOrdering
        • BitonicOrdering
      • MaxAdjOrdering to compute one or all maximum adjacency orderings
      • AStarSearch for finding a shortest path between two given nodes
      • MaximalFUPS for the maximal feasible upward-planar subgraph based on a SAT formulation
      • EdgeIndependentSpanningTrees for k edge-independent spanning trees
      • simple algorithms regarding matchings, e.g., Matching::findMaximalMatching()
      • isTwoEdgeConnected() to check a graph for 2-edge-connectivity
      • isBipartite()
    • planar subgraph algorithms:
      • MaximumPlanarSubgraph now supports weighted edges
      • renamed BoyerMyrvoldSubgraph to PlanarSubgraphBoyerMyrvold
      • renamed FastPlanarSubgraph to PlanarSubgraphFast
    • NonPlanarCore:
      • can now process weighted graphs
      • new NonPlanarCore::retransform()
      • improved (returns simple graphs)
    • MinCostFlowReinelt is now cost-templated
    • CliqueFinder is split into CliqueFinderHeuristic and CliqueFinderSPQR
    • renamed and deprecated some forest functions with misleading names
  • new basic functions (e.g., for convenience):
    • cast from AdjElement to corresponding node
    • AdjElement::isSource()
    • AdjElement::isBetween()
    • EdgeElement::nodes() function for for (node v : anEdge->nodes()) { ... }
    • EdgeElement::isAdjacent()
    • EdgeElement::getAdj()
    • EdgeElement::isParallelUndirected()
    • EdgeElement::isParallelDirected()
    • EdgeElement::isInvertedDirected()
    • operator() indexing (as synonym for operator[]) for NodeArrays and alike
    • operator== and operator!= for Array and ArrayBuffer
    • GraphCopy::isReversedCopyEdge()
    • Graph::searchEdge() with and without edge direction
    • GraphAttributes::nodeBoundingBoxes(boundingBoxes)
    • GraphAttributes::has() to check for attributes
    • GraphAttributes::transferTo{Original,Copy}() to replace GraphCopyAttributes class (which is removed)
    • GraphAttributes::all flag
    • GraphAttributes::point(node) instead of querying single x- and y-coordinates
    • hasNonSelfLoopEdges() to check whether a graph has edges which are not self-loops
    • removeSelfLoops()
    • Graph::insert()
    • graphUnion() to form a (disjoint and non-disjoint) union of two graphs
    • graphProduct() to form the product of two graphs using a given function, and its common use-cases:
    • methods like Graph::chooseNode() or CombinatorialEmbedding::chooseFace() can now adhere to constraints
    • nodeDistribution() and degreeDistribution() as a special case
    • isRegular() to check if a graph is regular
    • GenericComparer replaces simple custom comparers by using lambdas
    • Graph::allNodes() and Graph::allEdges() for arrays
    • GraphAttributes::{x,y,z}Label() methods for the coordinates of a label relative to its node
    • Graph::HiddenEdgeSet replaces old and buggy (un)hiding mechanism for edges
    • new EpsilonTest class
  • geometry classes:
    • DPoint, IPoint are now template specializations of GenericPoint
    • DPolyline,IPolylineare now template specializations of new GenericPolyline
    • newGenericLineand newGenericSegmentrepresent (infinite) lines and (finite) line segments, respectively, replacingDLine` being a mix of both (for double only)
    • improved intersection methods for these classes
    • removed: DVector (simply use DPoint), DScaler, DRound
    • new DRect::intersection()
    • fixed bug and generalized DPolyline::normalize()
    • new DIntersectableRect replaces IntersectionRectangle
  • Math utility changes:
  • overhaul of ClusterGraphAttributes, now similar to GraphAttributes
  • removed classes Stack, StackPure, BoundedStack in favor of ArrayBuffer
  • removed OGDF file system functions (outside of scope of OGDF)
  • rather internal but noteworthy changes:
    • all include guards are replaced by #pragma once
    • all header files are now self-sufficient (i.e., have no other dependencies)
    • enum classes (scoped enums) are now used throughout OGDF instead of unscoped enums
    • cleanup of global namespace
    • some auxiliary classes are moved into sub-namespaces of ogdf
    • many std members imported into the ogdf namespace are now removed from it (e.g., swap, [io]stream, numeric_limits, cin, cout, endl, flush, ios)
    • rbegin() and rend() now work with reverse iterators instead of forward iterators
    • rbegin() is renamed to backIterator() where a reverse iterator does not make sense
    • removed ModuleOption (replaced by std::unique_ptr)
    • AdjacencyOracle can now trade memory usage versus speed by ignoring nodes of small degree
    • the graph size is no longer bounded by the stack size for the following algorithms:
    • new safeForEach() and safeTestForEach() as simple functions to iterate over containers destructively (i.e., the current member of an iteration may be destroyed)
    • removed PreconditionViolatedException
  • many many bugfixes, code cleanup, improvements in code quality, documentation, and test coverage

This release contains (huge and small) contributions by Anuj Agarwal, Hendrick Brückler, Carsten Gutwenger, Daniel L. Lu, Denis Kurz, Ivo Hedtke, Jens Schmidt, Jöran Schierbaum, Karsten Klein, Kévin Szkudłapski, Łukasz Hanuszczak, Manuel Fiedler, Markus Chimani, Max Ilsen, Mirko Wagner, Mihai Popa, raven-worx on GitHub, Sebastian Semper, Stephan Beyer, Tilo Wiedera, and Yosuke Onoue.