Expand and Collapse Groups of Vertices with NodeXL v.132

September 9, 2010
Marc Smith
Syndicated

Clusters are now groups in NodeXL. Recently, the NodeXL team has been focused on a set of new features related to grouping sets of vertices together. In the previous version we released a feature that allowed all sorts of groupings to be recorded in the worksheet. What’s new is that the three clustering algorithms we have already provided are just one form of group, components (connected sets of vertices) are another, and user labeled sets are a third method of creating a group of nodes in NodeXL (this last feature is still pending). This release adds the ability to add vertices to a group and then collapse all of the vertices in that group to a metanode – a composite of all the nodes in that group. It is then possible to expand the collapsed vertices into the graph

These features are part of a larger effort to support time in which “time is but a group” – a set of nodes and edges present in a time slice. We are working on designs in which some groups are sequenced, allowing the user to move up and back through collections of vertices that may appear or disappear over different time slices/groups.

Here are the most recent features: 1.0.1.132 (2010-09-06)

After you group the graph’s vertices (NodeXL, Analysis, Groups), you can now select all the vertices in a group. Go to the Groups worksheet and click on a group name.
Once a group is selected, you can collapse it into a single vertex. Go to NodeXL, Analysis, Groups, Collapse Group. You can expand it again using Expand Group.
The Groups worksheet now includes a column that tells you how many vertices are in the group.
Bug fix: The NodeXL, Help, Check for Updates feature stopped working in version 1.0.1.131.
Bug fix: If you clicked NodeXL, Graph, Show Graph while editing a worksheet cell, you would get a message that started with “Unable to set the Hidden property of the Range class.”

1.0.1.131 (2010-08-19)

This version introduces the concept of “vertex groups,” or “groups” for short. A group is a set of related vertices. All vertices in a group are shown with the same shape and color. Clusters are an example of groups.
The worksheets that used to be called “Clusters” and “Cluster Vertices” are now called “Groups” and “Group Vertices.”
The NodeXL, Analysis, Find Clusters button in the ribbon has been moved to a new NodeXL, Analysis, Groups menu.
You can now group vertices by connected components, meaning that each group of interconnected vertices will have the same shape and color. Go to NodeXL, Analysis, Groups, Find Connected Components.
You can now group vertices using the values in a column on the Vertices worksheet — all vertices with degree greater than 100 in one group, all vertices with degree greater than 50 in another, for example.
If you open an older NodeXL workbook in this new version of NodeXL, the Clusters and Cluster Vertices worksheets will be automatically renamed.
You cannot open a new NodeXL workbook in an older version of NodeXL. If you attempt to do so, you will get a message that starts with “This document might not function as expected because the following control is missing: Clusters.”

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