Radial Layout

Context

The Radial Layout arranges nodes in concentric rings around a Root Node.

Usage

Select Menus > View > Layout > Radial Layout. You can set the root node in two ways:

Default Root Node: The default root node is the node with the highest degree, i.e., the node that has the most incoming and outgoing arcs.
Selected Root Node: You can also set the root node manually by selecting a specific node prior to running the Radial Layout algorithm.

Radial Layout Options

Under Menus > Window > Preferences > Automatic Layout > Radial Layout, you can set several options for the Radial Layout:

Orientation:
- Center to Border: The algorithm builds the rings beginning at the center, i.e., from the inside out (default).
- Border to Center: The algorithm starts arranging the nodes from the outside in.
Ordering:
- Group Nodes by Class
- Sort Nodes by Name (default)

Workflow Animation

In the animation, the Radial Layout algorithm is shown using different parameters in the following order:

Default Root Node & Center to Border
Selected Root Node & Center to Border
Default Root Node & Border to Center
Selected Root Node & Border to Center

Order by Analysis Measures

If the Radial Layout algorithm is performed while certain analysis functions are running, their analysis measures are used for ordering the nodes in a clockwise fashion from highest to lowest.

This applies to the following analysis functions:

Menus > Analysis > Visual > Overall > Arc >:
- Kullback-Leibler (Arc Force)
- Mutual Information
- Pearson Correlation
Menus > Analysis > Visual > Overall > Node Force
Menus > Analysis > Visual > Target > Contributions >:
- Arc Comment
- Interactive

Workflow Animation

For illustration purposes, the animation shows how the Radial Layout uses the Kullback-Leibler Divergence (Arc Force) for sorting.

Group Nodes by Class

By default, all nodes are sorted alphabetically according to their name in ascending order counter-clockwise.

However, if Classes are defined for your network, you can select Group Nodes by Class as an alternative ordering option under Menus > Window > Preferences > Automatic Layout > Radial Layout.