An object oriented approach to 3D network visualization

A network diagram is a familiar graphic form that can represent may different kinds of information. To achieve an aesthetic layout presentation, in a 3-dimensional orthogonal drawing of a graph, vertices are mapped to grid points on a 3D rectangular integer lattice and edges are routed as segments along grid lines. In this report, we describe the design and implementation of an objected-oriented 3D network graphic layout program built upon OpenGL with simple and efficient layout algorithm. The system provides an easy-to-adapt graphic drawing framework for visualizing a network and for experimenting different layout algorithms in a pipelined fashion. Current implementation restricts vertices with maximum degree of six, and guarantees no crossings and optimized shortest path for edges.