CL-Graph User's Guide

Table of Contents

Introduction

Using a graph

Creation and manipulation

Tell me about yourself - introspection

Search

Algorithms

Iteration

CL-Graph and dotty

Random Graphs

Miscellaneous

Deprecated - to be removed soon

Index of Functions

Introduction

In Mathematics and Computer Science, a graph is a collection of vertexes connected by edges. Edges may be directed or undirected (i.e., sometimes you really can't get there from here). Both edges and vertexes may have additional data associated with them. Graphs are useful because you can use them to represent most anything: food webs, hypertext, the world wide web, protein/protein interactions, language, who publishes with whom, etc.

CL-Graph is a general graph library built on cl-containers. It provides an open-ended API for building, examining and manipulating graphs as well as implementations of many of the usual suspects of graph algorithms and measures.

Using a graph

Creation and manipulation

make-graph graph-type &key&allow-other-keys
function
Create a new graph of type `graph-type'. Graph type can be a symbol naming a sub-class of basic-graph or a list. If it is a list of symbols naming different classes. If graph-type is a list, then a class which has all of the listed classes as superclasses will be found (or created). In either case, the new graph will be created as if with a call to make-instance.
add-edges-to-graph graph edges &key if-duplicate-do
function
add-vertex graph value-or-vertex &key if-duplicate-do &allow-other-keys
function
Adds a vertex to a graph. If called with a vertex, then this vertex is added. If called with a value, then a new vertex is created to hold the value. If-duplicate-do can be one of :ignore, :force, :replace, :replace-value, :error, or a function. The default is :ignore.
add-edge graph edge &rest args &key force-new?
function
Add-edge adds an existing edge to a graph. As add-edge-between-vertexes is generally more natural to use, this method is rarely called.
add-edge-between-vertexes graph value-or-vertex-1 value-or-vertex-2 &rest args &key if-duplicate-do edge-type &allow-other-keys
function

Adds an edge between two vertexes and returns it. If force-new? is true, the edge is added even if one already exists. If the vertexes are not found in the graph, they will be added (unless :error-if-not-found? is true). The class of the edge can be specified using :edge-class or :edge-type. If :edge-type is used, it can be either :directed or :undirected; the actual class of the edge will be determined by using the edge-types of the graph. If neither :edge-type nor :edge-class is specified, then a directed edge will be created.

If-duplicate-do is used when the 'same' edge is added more than once. It can be either a function on one variable or :ignore or :force. If it is :ignore, then the previously added edge is returned; if it is :force, then another edge is added between the two vertexes; if it is a function, then this function will be called with the previous edge.

delete-edge graph edge
function
Delete the edge' from the graph' and returns it.
delete-all-edges graph
function
Delete all edges from `graph'. Returns the graph..
delete-edge-between-vertexes graph value-or-vertex-1 value-or-vertex-2 &rest args
function
Finds an edge in the graph between the two specified vertexes. If values (i.e., non-vertexes) are passed in, then the graph will be searched for matching vertexes.
delete-vertex graph value-or-vertex
function
Remove a vertex from a graph. The 'vertex-or-value' argument can be a vertex of the graph or a 'value' that will find a vertex via a call to find-vertex. A graph-vertex-not-found-error will be raised if the vertex is not found or is not part of the graph.
replace-vertex graph old new
function
Replace vertex old in graph graph with vertex new. The edge structure of the graph is maintained.
add-edge-to-vertex edge vertex
function
Attaches the edge edge to the vertex vertex.
make-vertex-container graph initial-size
function
Make-vertex-container is called during graph creation and can be used to create specialized containers to hold graph vertexes.
make-edge-container graph initial-size
function
Make-edge-container is called during graph creation and can be used to create specialized containers to hold graph edges.
make-edge-for-graph graph vertex-1 vertex-2 &key edge-type edge-class &allow-other-keys
function
It should not usually necessary to call this in user code. Creates a new edge between vertex-1 and vertex-2 for the graph. If the edge-type and edge-class are not specified, they will be determined from the defaults of the graph.
make-vertex-for-graph graph &key&allow-other-keys
function

Creates a new vertex for graph graph. The keyword arguments include:

and any other initialization arguments that make sense for the vertex class.

make-graph-from-vertexes vertex-list
function
Create a new graph given a list of vertexes (which are assumed to be from the same graph). The new graph contains all of the vertexes in the list and all of the edges between any vertexes on the list.

Tell me about yourself - introspection

edge-count vertex
function
Returns the number of edges attached to vertex. Compare with the more flexible vertex-degree.
vertex-count graph
function
Returns the number of vertexes in graph. [?? could be a defun]
source-edge-count vertex
function
Returns the number of source edges of vertex (cf. source-edges). [?? could be a defun]
target-edge-count vertex
function
Returns the number of target edges of vertex (cf. target-edges). [?? could be a defun]
number-of-neighbors vertex
function
Returns the number of neighbors of vertex (cf. neighbor-vertexes). [?? could be a defun]
has-children-p vertex
function
In a directed graph, returns true if vertex has any edges that point from vertex to some other vertex (cf. iterate-target-edges). In an undirected graph, has-children-p is testing only whether or not the vertex has any edges.
has-parent-p vertex
function
In a directed graph, returns true if vertex has any edges that point from some other vertex to this vertex (cf. iterate-source-edges). In an undirected graph, has-parent-p is testing only whether or not the vertex has any edges.
source-vertex edge
function
Returns the source-vertex of a directed edge. Compare with vertex-1.
target-vertex edge
function
Returns the target-vertex of a directed edge. Compare with vertex-2.
undirected-edge-p edge
function
Returns true if-and-only-if edge is undirected
directed-edge-p edge
function
Returns true if-and-only-if edge is directed
make-vertex-edges-container vertex container-class &rest args
function
Called during the initialization of a vertex to create the create the container used to store the edges incident to the vertex. The initarg :vertex-edges-container-class can be used to alter the default container class.
other-vertex edge value-or-vertex
function
Assuming that the value-or-vertex corresponds to one of the vertexes for edge, this method returns the other vertex of edge. If the value-or-vertex is not part of edge, then an error is signaled. [?? Should create a new condition for this]
vertices-share-edge-p vertex-1 vertex-2
function
Return true if vertex-1 and vertex-2 are connected by an edge. [?? Compare adjacentp]
out-edge-for-vertex-p edge vertex
function
Returns true if the edge is connected to vertex and is either an undirected edge or a directed edge for which vertex is the source vertex of the edge.
in-undirected-cycle-p graph start-vertex &optional marked previous
function
Return true if-and-only-if an undirected cycle in graph is reachable from start-vertex.
adjacentp graph vertex-1 vertex-2
function
Return true if vertex-1 and vertex-2 are connected by an edge. [?? compare with vertices-share-edge-p and remove one or maybe call one directed-adjacentp]
depth graph
function
Returns the maximum depth of the vertexes in graph assuming that the roots are of depth 0 and that each edge distance from the roots increments the depth by one.
edge-lessp-by-weight edge-1 edge-2
function
Returns true if the weight of edge-1 is strictly less than the weight of edge-2.
edge-lessp-by-direction edge-1 edge-2
function
Returns true if and only if edge-1 is undirected and edge-2 is directed.
weight edge
function
Returns the weight of an edge. This defaults to 1.0 and can only be altered if the edge is a sub-class of weighted-edge-mixin.
rootp vertex
function
Returns true if vertex is a root vertex (i.e., it has no incoming (source) edges).
in-cycle-p graph start-vertex
function
Returns true if start-vertex is in some cycle in graph. This uses child-vertexes to generate the vertexes adjacent to a vertex.
any-undirected-cycle-p graph
function
Returns true if there are any undirected cycles in graph.

Search

find-vertex graph value &optional error-if-not-found?
function
Search 'graph' for a vertex with element 'value'. The search is fast but inflexible because it uses an associative-container. If you need more flexibity, see search-for-vertex.
search-for-vertex graph value &key key test error-if-not-found?
function
Search 'graph' for a vertex with element 'value'. The 'key' function is applied to each element before that element is compared with the value. The comparison is done using the function 'test'. If you don't need to use key or test, then consider using find-vertex instead.
find-edge graph edge &optional error-if-not-found?
function
Search graph for an edge whose vertexes match edge. This means that vertex-1 of the edge in the graph must match vertex-1 of edge and so forth. Wil signal an error of type graph-edge-not-found-error unless error-if-not-found? is nil. [?? Unused. Remove?]
find-edge-between-vertexes graph value-or-vertex-1 value-or-vertex-2 &key error-if-not-found?
function
Searches graph for an edge that connects vertex-1 and vertex-2. [?? Ignores error-if-not-found? Does directedness matter? need test]
find-vertex-if thing predicate &key key
function
Returns the first vertex in thing for which the predicate function returns non-nil. If the key is supplied, then it is applied to the vertex before the predicate is.
find-edge-if graph fn &key key
function
Returns the first edge in thing for which the predicate function returns non-nil. If the key is supplied, then it is applied to the edge before the predicate is.
find-edges-if thing predicate
function
Returns a list of edges in thing for which the predicate returns non-nil. [?? why no key function?]
find-vertexes-if thing predicate
function
Returns a list of vertexes in thing for which the predicate returns non-nil. [?? why no key function?]
find-edge-between-vertexes-if graph value-or-vertex-1 value-or-vertex-2 fn &key error-if-not-found?
function
Finds and returns an edge between value-or-vertex-1 and value-or-vertex-2 which returns true (as a generalized boolean) when evaluated by fn. Unless error-if-not-found? is nil, then a error will be signaled. [?? IS error really signaled? need a test.]

Algorithms

connected-components graph
function
Returns a union-find-container representing the connected-components of graph.
connected-component-count graph
function
Returns the number of connected-components of graph.
find-connected-components graph
function
Returns a list of sub-graphs of graph where each sub-graph is a different connected component of graph. Compare with connected-components and connected-component-count.
connected-graph-p graph &key edge-sorter
function
Returns true if graph is a connected graph and nil otherwise.
breadth-first-visitor graph source fn
function
breadth-first-search-graph graph source
function
dfs graph root fn &key out-edge-sorter
function
dfs-visit graph u fn sorter
function
dfs-tree-edge-p edge
function
dfs-back-edge-p edge
function
dfs-forward-edge-p edge
function
dfs-cross-edge-p edge
function
dfs-edge-type edge
function
mst-find-set vertex
function
mst-make-set vertex
function
mst-tree-union v1 v2
function
mst-link v1 v2
function
minimum-spanning-tree graph &key edge-sorter
function
Returns a minimum spanning tree of graph if one exists and nil otherwise.
generate-directed-free-tree graph root
function
Returns a version of graph which is a directed free tree rooted at root.
project-bipartite-graph new-graph existing-graph vertex-class vertex-classifier
function
Creates the unimodal bipartite projects of existing-graph with vertexes for each vertex of existing graph whose vertex-classifier is eq to vertex-class and where an edge existing between two vertexes of the graph if and only if they are connected to a shared vertex in the existing-graph.
traverse-elements thing style fn
function
WIP
traverse-elements-helper thing style marker fn
function
WIP
assortativity-coefficient mixing-matrix
nil
No documentation found
graph-roots graph
function
Returns a list of the roots of graph. A root is defined as a vertex with no source edges (i.e., all of the edges are out-going). (cf. rootp) [?? could be a defun]
topological-sort graph
function
Returns a list of vertexes sorted by the depth from the roots of the graph. See also assign-level and graph-roots.
assign-level vertex level
function
Sets the depth of vertex to level and then recursively sets the depth of all of the children of vertex to (1+ level).

Iteration

iterate-children node fn
function
Calls fn on every child of node.
iterate-parents vertex fn
function
Calls fn on every vertex that is either connected to vertex by an undirected edge or is at the source end of a directed edge.
iterate-neighbors vertex fn
function
Calls fn on every vertex adjecent to vertex See also iterate-children and iterate-parents.
iterate-edges graph-or-vertex fn
function
Calls fn on each edge of graph or vertex.
iterate-source-edges vertex fn
function
In a directed graph, calls fn on each edge of a vertex that begins at vertex. In an undirected graph, this is equivalent to iterate-edges.
iterate-target-edges vertex fn
function
In a directed graph, calls fn on each edge of a vertex that ends at vertex. In an undirected graph, this is equivalent to iterate-edges.
source-edges vertex &optional filter
function
Returns a list of the source edges of vertex. I.e., the edges that begin at vertex.
target-edges vertex &optional filter
function
Returns a list of the target edges of vertex. I.e., the edges that end at vertex.
child-vertexes vertex &optional filter
function
Returns a list of the vertexes to which vertex is connected by an edge and for which vertex is the source vertex. If the connecting edge is undirected, then the vertex is always counted as a source. [?? Could be a defun].
parent-vertexes vertex &optional filter
function
Returns a list of the vertexes to which vertex is connected by an edge and for which vertex is the target vertex. If the connecting edge is undirected, then the vertex is always counted as a target. [?? Could be a defun].
neighbor-vertexes vertex &optional filter
function
Returns a list of the vertexes to which vertex is connected by an edge disregarding edge direction. In a directed graph, neighbor-vertexes is the union of parent-vertexes and child-vertexes. [?? Could be a defun].
iterate-vertexes thing fn
function
Calls fn on each of the vertexes of thing.
edges thing
function
Returns a list of the edges of thing.
vertexes thing
function
Returns a list of the vertexes of thing.

CL-Graph and dotty

graph->dot graph output &key graph-formatter vertex-key vertex-labeler vertex-formatter edge-labeler edge-formatter
function

Generates a description of graph in DOT file format. The formatting can be altered using graph->dot-properties, vertex->dot, and edge->dot as well as edge-formatter, vertex-formatter, vertex-labeler, and edge-labeler. These can be specified directly in the call to graph->dot or by creating subclasses of basic-graph, basic-vertex and basic-edge.

The output can be a stream or pathname or one of the values nil or t. If output is nil, then graph->dot returns a string containing the DOT description. If it is t, then the DOT description is written to *standard-output*.

Here is an example;

(let ((g (make-container 'graph-container :default-edge-type :directed)))  
  (loop for (a b) in '((a b) (b c) (b d) (d e) (e f) (d f)) do  
        (add-edge-between-vertexes g a b))  
  (graph->dot g nil))  
 
"digraph G {  
E []  
C []  
B []  
A []  
D []  
F []  
E->F []  
B->C []  
B->D []  
A->B []  
D->E []  
D->F []  
}" 

For more information about DOT file format, search the web for 'DOTTY' and 'GRAPHVIZ'.

graph->dot-properties g stream
function
Unless a different graph-formatter is specified, this method is called by graph->dot to output graph-properties onto a stream. The function can assume that the openning and closing brackets will be taken care of by the graph->dot.
vertex->dot vertex stream
function
Unless a different vertex-formatter is specified with a keyword argument, this is used by graph->dot to output vertex formatting for vertex onto the stream. The function can assume that openning and closing square brackets and label have already been taken care of.
edge->dot edge stream
function
Used by graph->dot to output edge formatting for edge onto the stream. The function can assume that openning and closing square brackets and label have already been taken care of.
dot-attribute-value attribute thing
function
graph->dot-external graph file-name &key type
function
Generate an external represenation of a graph to a file, by running the program in dot-path.
ensure-valid-dot-attribute key object
function
write-name-for-dot attribute stream
function

Random Graphs

Requires cl-variants.

generate-gnm generator graph n m &key
nil
No documentation found
generate-gnp generator graph n p &key
nil
No documentation found
generate-undirected-graph-via-assortativity-matrix generator graph-class size edge-count kind-matrix assortativity-matrix vertex-labeler &key
nil
No documentation found
generate-undirected-graph-via-vertex-probabilities generator graph-class size kind-matrix probability-matrix vertex-labeler
nil
No documentation found
generate-scale-free-graph generator graph size kind-matrix add-edge-count other-vertex-kind-samplers vertex-labeler &key
nil
No documentation found
generate-assortative-graph-with-degree-distributions generator graph edge-count assortativity-matrix average-degrees degree-distributions vertex-labeler &key
nil
No documentation found
generate-simple-preferential-attachment-graph generator graph size minimum-degree
nil
No documentation found
generate-preferential-attachment-graph generator graph size kind-matrix minimum-degree assortativity-matrix &key
nil
No documentation found
graph-edge-mixture-matrix graph vertex-classifier &key edge-weight
nil
No documentation found
graph-mixing-matrix graph vertex-classifier &key edge-weight
nil
No documentation found

Miscellaneous

force-undirected graph
function
Ensures that the graph is undirected (possibly by calling change-class on the edges).
renumber-vertexes graph
function
Assign a number to each vertex in a graph in some unspecified order. [?? internal]
renumber-edges graph
function
Assign a number to each edge in a graph in some unspecified order. [?? internal]
initialize-vertex-data graph
function
complete-links new-graph old-graph
function
Add edges between vertexes in the new-graph for which the matching vertexes in the old-graph have edges. The vertex matching is done using find-vertex.
subgraph-containing graph vertex &key depth new-graph
function
Returns a new graph that is a subset of graph that contains vertex and all of the other vertexes that can be reached from vertex by paths of less than or equal of length depth. If depth is not specified, then the entire sub-graph reachable from vertex will be returned. [?? Edge weights are always assumed to be one.]
make-filtered-graph old-graph test-fn &key graph-completion-method depth new-graph
function

Takes a GRAPH and a TEST-FN (a single argument function returning NIL or non-NIL), and filters the graph nodes according to the test-fn (those that return non-NIL are accepted), returning a new graph with only nodes corresponding to those in the original graph that satisfy the test (the nodes in the new graph are new, but their values and name point to the same contents of the original graph). There are four options for how the new graph is filled-out, depending on the following keywords passed to the optional GRAPH-COMPLETION-METHOD argument:

For both transitive closure options, an additional optional argument, DEPTH, specifies how many links away from a source vertex to travel in gathering vertexes of the closure. E.g., a depth of 1 returns the source vertex and the parents and children of that vertex (all vertexes one link away from the source). The default value is NIL, indicating that all vertexes are to be included, no matter their depth. This value is ignored in non closure options.

Deprecated - to be removed soon

map-over-all-combinations-of-k-vertexes graph k fn
function
map-over-all-combinations-of-k-edges vertex k fn
function
tag-edges edges
function
Sets the tag of all the edges of thing to true. [?? why does this exist?]
tag-all-edges thing
function
Sets the tag of all the edges of thing to true. [?? why does this exist?]
untag-edges edges
function
Sets the tag of all the edges of thing to true. [?? why does this exist?]
untag-all-edges thing
function
Sets the tag of all the edges of thing to nil. [?? why does this exist?]
tagged-edge-p edge
function
Returns true if-and-only-if edge's tag slot is t
untagged-edge-p edge
function
Returns true if-and-only-if edge's tage slot is nil

Index of Functions