Software Visualization via Hierarchic Micro/Macro Layouts

Martin Nöllenburg, Ignaz Rutter, Alfred Schuhmacher

2016

Abstract

We propose a system for visualizing the structure of software in a single drawing. In contrast to previous work we consider both the dependencies between different entities of the software and the hierarchy imposed by the nesting of classes and packages. To achieve this, we generalize the concept of micro/macro layouts introduced by Brandes and Baur (Baur and Brandes, 2008) to graphs that have more than two hierarchy levels. All entities of the software (e.g., attributes, methods, classes, packages) are represented as disk-shaped regions of the plane. The hierarchy is expressed by containment, all other relations, e.g., inheritance, functions calls and data access, are expressed by directed edges. As in the micro/macro layouts of Brandes and Baur, edges that “traverse” the hierarchy are routed together in channels to enhance the clarity of the layout. The resulting drawings provide an overview of the coarse structure of the software as well as detailed information about individual components.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Nöllenburg M., Rutter I. and Schuhmacher A. (2016). Software Visualization via Hierarchic Micro/Macro Layouts . In Proceedings of the 11th Joint Conference on Computer Vision, Imaging and Computer Graphics Theory and Applications - Volume 2: IVAPP, (VISIGRAPP 2016) ISBN 978-989-758-175-5, pages 153-160. DOI: 10.5220/0005785901530160

in Bibtex Style

@conference{ivapp16,
author={Martin Nöllenburg and Ignaz Rutter and Alfred Schuhmacher},
title={Software Visualization via Hierarchic Micro/Macro Layouts},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 11th Joint Conference on Computer Vision, Imaging and Computer Graphics Theory and Applications - Volume 2: IVAPP, (VISIGRAPP 2016)},
year={2016},
pages={153-160},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0005785901530160},
isbn={978-989-758-175-5},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF
JO - Proceedings of the 11th Joint Conference on Computer Vision, Imaging and Computer Graphics Theory and Applications - Volume 2: IVAPP, (VISIGRAPP 2016)
TI - Software Visualization via Hierarchic Micro/Macro Layouts
SN - 978-989-758-175-5
AU - Nöllenburg M.
AU - Rutter I.
AU - Schuhmacher A.
PY - 2016
SP - 153
EP - 160
DO - 10.5220/0005785901530160