# Layout question

**URL:** <https://forum.graphviz.org/t/layout-question/1872>\
**Category:** Uncategorized\
**Created:** [November 9, 2023, 3:43pm UTC](https://forum.graphviz.org/t/layout-question/1872 "2023-11-09T15:43:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![pitosalas](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/graphviz/user_avatar/forum.graphviz.org/pitosalas/32/810_2.png) [@pitosalas](https://forum.graphviz.org/u/pitosalas)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2023, 3:43pm UTC](https://forum.graphviz.org/t/layout-question/1872/1 "2023-11-09T15:43:35Z")

</div>

Please look at the attached files. I tried many different options and layout algorithm, kind of trial and error and couldn’t find how to solve it. I don’t want the arrows crisscrossing so much. Two option that I see just by looking is that one little box is moved further to the right so that the two little boxes are in different “tiers”. Note that this is a small example of a far more elaborate graph which follows the same analogy. (It’s a page table to physical memory illustration)

[Digraph.gv](https://forum.graphviz.org/uploads/short-url/bCQHkK4A7HcqWDIGWjCkiggMjcX.gv) (590 Bytes)  
[Digraph.gv.pdf](https://forum.graphviz.org/uploads/short-url/zYlqzyKjjh47cph4u3bHy1vQZby.pdf) (13.8 KB)

Here is a handdrawn idea of what I would like, as the diagram becomes more complex. I think coloring the lines would help legibility in a significant way as well ([thanks Steve Rousch]

([Layout question (#2467) · Issues · graphviz / graphviz · GitLab](https://gitlab.com/graphviz/graphviz/-/issues/2467))

 ![IMG_3697](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/graphviz/original/2X/8/863697962b3cdf0ed532886e31fb98cb91f0943b.jpeg)  
)

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**Author:** ![steveroush](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9adbd/32.png) [@steveroush](https://forum.graphviz.org/u/steveroush)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2023, 4:04pm UTC](https://forum.graphviz.org/t/layout-question/1872/2 "2023-11-09T16:04:32Z")

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You can stagger the nodes on the left by setting the **minlen** attribute of edges [minlen | Graphviz](https://graphviz.org/docs/attrs/minlen/). But the edges start looking ugly (see below).

I like placing the small nodes on both sides, like so:

```auto
digraph {
	graph [rankdir=RL]
	graph [overlap=scalexy] // dot ignores overlap attribute
	graph [ranksep="1.5"] // spread things out
	node [shape=record]
	edge [color=red] // color edges
	p2:2 -> frame:2
	p2:3 -> frame:3
	p2:4 -> frame:4
	p2:5 -> frame:5
	p2:6 -> frame:6
	p2:7 -> frame:7
	{ rank=source // pick a side
	p2 [label="<2>2|<3>3|<4>4|<5>5|<6>6|<7>7|"]
	}
	edge [color=green] // color edges
	p3:0 -> frame:0
	p3:1 -> frame:1
	p3:8 -> frame:8
	p3:9 -> frame:9
	p3:10 -> frame:10
	p3:11 -> frame:11
	{ rank=sink // pick a side
	p3 [label="<0>0|<1>1|<8>8|<9>9|<10>10|<11>11|"]
	}
	frame [label="<0>X|<1>X|<2>X|<3>X|<4>X|<5>X|<6>X|<7>X|<8>X|<9>X|<10>X|<11>X|<12>.|<13>.|<14>.|<15>.|<16>.|<17>.|<18>.|<19>.|<20>.|<21>.|<22>.|<23>.|<24>.|<25>.|<26>.|<27>.|<28>.|<29>.|<30>.|<31>.|"]
}

```

Giving:

 ![pageTable2](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/graphviz/original/2X/c/cb08f1be9feed79aa684450895f3a013d0f08919.png)

Here are the ugly staggered edges:

 ![pageTable1](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/graphviz/original/2X/d/dc83354c9cbcf62ca61025e13220c50f8bc16049.png)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![pitosalas](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/graphviz/user_avatar/forum.graphviz.org/pitosalas/32/810_2.png) [@pitosalas](https://forum.graphviz.org/u/pitosalas)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2023, 6:43pm UTC](https://forum.graphviz.org/t/layout-question/1872/3 "2023-11-09T18:43:11Z")

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Thanks! I am implementing this in my app. I am generating the ,dot file programmatically. This one seems to crash for a reason I can’t tell:

> // Memsim  
> digraph {  
> graph [rankdir=RL]  
> graph [ranksep=1.5]  
> node [shape=record]  
> frame [label=“\<0\>X|\<1\>X|\<2\>X|\<3\>X|\<4\>X|\<5\>X|\<6\>X|\<7\>X|\<8\>X|\<9\>X|\<10\>X|\<11\>X|\<12\>X|\<13\>X|\<14\>X|\<15\>X|\<16\>X|\<17\>X|\<18\>X|\<19\>X|\<20\>X|\<21\>X|\<22\>X|\<23\>X|\<24\>X|\<25\>X|\<26\>X|\<27\>X|\<28\>X|\<29\>X|\<30\>X|\<31\>X|\<32\>X|\<33\>X|\<34\>X|\<35\>X|\<36\>X|\<37\>X|\<38\>X|\<39\>X|\<40\>X|\<41\>X|\<42\>X|\<43\>X|\<44\>X|\<45\>X|\<46\>X|\<47\>X|\<48\>X|\<49\>X|\<50\>X|\<51\>X|\<52\>X|\<53\>X|\<54\>X|\<55\>X|\<56\>X|\<57\>X|\<58\>X|\<59\>X|\<60\>X|\<61\>X|\<62\>X|\<63\>X|\<64\>X|\<65\>X|\<66\>X|\<67\>X|\<68\>X|\<69\>X|\<70\>X|\<71\>X|\<72\>.|\<73\>.|\<74\>.|\<75\>.|\<76\>X|\<77\>X|\<78\>X|\<79\>X|\<80\>X|\<81\>X|\<82\>.|\<83\>.|\<84\>.|\<85\>.|\<86\>.|\<87\>.|\<88\>.|\<89\>.|\<90\>.|\<91\>.|\<92\>.|\<93\>.|\<94\>.|\<95\>.|\<96\>.|\<97\>.|\<98\>.|\<99\>.|\<100\>.|\<101\>.|\<102\>.|\<103\>.|\<104\>.|\<105\>.|\<106\>.|\<107\>.|\<108\>.|\<109\>.|\<110\>.|\<111\>.|\<112\>.|\<113\>.|\<114\>.|\<115\>.|\<116\>.|\<117\>.|\<118\>.|\<119\>.|\<120\>.|\<121\>.|\<122\>.|\<123\>.|\<124\>.|\<125\>.|\<126\>.|\<127\>.|”]  
> subgraph right\_ones {  
> p5:44 → frame:44 [color=orange]  
> p5:45 → frame:45 [color=orange]  
> p5:46 → frame:46 [color=orange]  
> p5:47 → frame:47 [color=orange]  
> p5:48 → frame:48 [color=orange]  
> p5:49 → frame:49 [color=orange]  
> p5:50 → frame:50 [color=orange]  
> p5:51 → frame:51 [color=orange]  
> p5:52 → frame:52 [color=orange]  
> p5:53 → frame:53 [color=orange]  
> p5:54 → frame:54 [color=orange]  
> p5:55 → frame:55 [color=orange]  
> p5 [label=“\<44\>44|\<45\>45|\<46\>46|\<47\>47|\<48\>48|\<49\>49|\<50\>50|\<51\>51|\<52\>52|\<53\>53|\<54\>54|\<55\>55|”]  
> p7:62 → frame:62 [color=orange]  
> p7:63 → frame:63 [color=orange]  
> p7:64 → frame:64 [color=orange]  
> p7:65 → frame:65 [color=orange]  
> p7:66 → frame:66 [color=orange]  
> p7:67 → frame:67 [color=orange]  
> p7:68 → frame:68 [color=orange]  
> p7:69 → frame:69 [color=orange]  
> p7:70 → frame:70 [color=orange]  
> p7:71 → frame:71 [color=orange]  
> p7 [label=“\<62\>62|\<63\>63|\<64\>64|\<65\>65|\<66\>66|\<67\>67|\<68\>68|\<69\>69|\<70\>70|\<71\>71|”]  
> p6:56 → frame:56 [color=orange]  
> p6:57 → frame:57 [color=orange]  
> p6:58 → frame:58 [color=orange]  
> p6:59 → frame:59 [color=orange]  
> p6:60 → frame:60 [color=orange]  
> p6:61 → frame:61 [color=orange]  
> p6 [label=“\<56\>56|\<57\>57|\<58\>58|\<59\>59|\<60\>60|\<61\>61|”]  
> p10:76 → frame:76 [color=purple]  
> p10:77 → frame:77 [color=purple]  
> p10:78 → frame:78 [color=purple]  
> p10:79 → frame:79 [color=purple]  
> p10:80 → frame:80 [color=purple]  
> p10:81 → frame:81 [color=purple]  
> p10 [label=“\<76\>76|\<77\>77|\<78\>78|\<79\>79|\<80\>80|\<81\>81|”]  
> rank=sink  
> }  
> subgraph left\_ones {  
> p2:20 → frame:20 [color=blue]  
> p2:21 → frame:21 [color=blue]  
> p2:22 → frame:22 [color=blue]  
> p2:23 → frame:23 [color=blue]  
> p2:34 → frame:34 [color=blue]  
> p2:35 → frame:35 [color=blue]  
> p2 [label=“\<20\>20|\<21\>21|\<22\>22|\<23\>23|\<34\>34|\<35\>35|”]  
> p1:18 → frame:18 [color=blue]  
> p1:19 → frame:19 [color=blue]  
> p1 [label=“\<18\>18|\<19\>19|”]  
> p9:36 → frame:36 [color=red]  
> p9:37 → frame:37 [color=red]  
> p9:38 → frame:38 [color=red]  
> p9:39 → frame:39 [color=red]  
> p9:40 → frame:40 [color=red]  
> p9:41 → frame:41 [color=red]  
> p9:42 → frame:42 [color=red]  
> p9:43 → frame:43 [color=red]  
> p9 [label=“\<36\>36|\<37\>37|\<38\>38|\<39\>39|\<40\>40|\<41\>41|\<42\>42|\<43\>43|”]  
> rank=source  
> }  
> }

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![pitosalas](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/graphviz/user_avatar/forum.graphviz.org/pitosalas/32/810_2.png) [@pitosalas](https://forum.graphviz.org/u/pitosalas)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2023, 9:55pm UTC](https://forum.graphviz.org/t/layout-question/1872/4 "2023-11-09T21:55:53Z")

</div>

I figured out how to get the crash not to happen – by trial and error. It seems the edges should not be inside the subgraph braces.