Plotting a Property Graph in the most quick and convenient way

Question

I have to plot some property graph data in LaTeX. When I try to do this task in LaTeX with TiKz, it usually takes me a lot of time, because I always have to decide which is the best position of the nodes, and I have no pre-built graph layout to use. Secondly, I would like that such graph layout would adapt to the informations that are contained in each node so that two nodes do not overlap due to the huge information content. Last but not least, I would like to automatically assign to each node and edge a specific color in order to distinguish them by label value. Is there a way to automate such process? When I have to provide a lot of examples, the process of both defining the vertices and alignign them takes me too much time. Thanks in advance.

A final desired representation:

Answer 1

It's not exactly a template, but I think this could help you.

To position the nodes automatically without overlapping, you may use a matrix.

Some pics with some args may speed your work.

Here an example:

\documentclass[11pt,openright]{book}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage[british]{babel}
\usepackage{tikz}

\tikzset{%
    pics/myrec/.style n args={7}{code={%  
        \node (#1) at (0,0) [draw,#2,text=black,font=\tiny, align=center,thick,minimum width=2cm,minimum height=1cm, rounded corners,label={\tiny\{#3,#4\}}]{\textsc{Title=}\textit{#5}\\  \textsc{1Author=}\textit{#6}\\ \textsc{Name=}\textit{#7}};
    }},
    pics/myfc/.style n args={5}{code={% 
    \draw[->, red, dotted] (#1) to[bend left=#3] node[midway,font=\tiny,rotate=#4,#5] {\{Follows,Cites\}} (#2);  
    }},
   pics/myf/.style n args={5}{code={% 
    \draw[->, orange] (#1) to[bend right=#3] node[midway,font=\tiny, rotate=#4,#5] {\{Follows\}} (#2);
     }},
   pics/myc/.style n args={5}{code={% 
  \draw[->, red] (#1) to[bend left=#3] node[midway,font=\tiny, rotate=#4,#5] {\{Cites\}} (#2);
      }},
 }

\begin{document}
\begin{figure}[htbp]
\centering
\begin{tikzpicture}
  \matrix[row sep=1cm,column sep=1.5cm] {
       \pic {myrec={nodea}{blue}{User}{Paper}{Graph}{Alice}{Alice}}; & 
       \pic {myrec={nodeb}{green}{User}{Paper}{Join}{Alice}{Alice}}; & 
       \pic {myrec={nodec}{green}{User}{Paper}{OWL}{Bob}{Bob}}; \\
        & 
        & 
       \\
       \pic {myrec={noded}{red}{User}{Paper}{Projection}{Carl}{Carl}}; &
       & 
       \pic {myrec={nodee}{red}{User}{Paper}{$\mu$-calc}{Dan}{Dan}}; \\
    };    
    \pic {myfc={nodea.north east}{nodec.north west}{40}{0}{above}};
    \pic {myfc={nodeb.south}{noded.north east}{0}{45}{below}};
    \pic {myf={nodea.west}{noded.west}{40}{90}{above}};
    \pic {myf={nodeb.east}{nodec.west}{0}{0}{above}};
    \pic {myf={nodec.east}{nodee.east}{-40}{90}{below}};
    \pic {myf={nodee.south west}{noded.south east}{0}{0}{below}};
    \pic {myc={nodec.south west}{noded.east}{0}{30}{below}}; 
    \pic {myc={noded.south east}{nodee.south west}{-40}{0}{below}}; 
    \end{tikzpicture}
\caption{Example}
\end{figure}
\end{document}

Answer 2

If you want to be fast you can also use:

• LaTexDraw for PsTricks: http://latexdraw.sourceforge.net/
• or TikzEdt for Tikz: http://www.tikzedt.org/index.html

However if you really want to "automate the process", Timothy provided you with a great solution in the comments.

Answer 3

\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{arrows.meta}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[align=center,rounded corners]
    \node (nw) [text width=3cm] at (-5,3) [rectangle,draw] {\textsc{Title} $=$ \textit{Graphs} \textsc{1Author} $=$ \textit{Alice} \textsc{Name} $=$ \textit{Alice}};
    \node (n)  [text width=3cm] at ( 0,3) [rectangle,draw] {\textsc{Title} $=$ \textit{Join} \textsc{1Author} $=$ \textit{Alice} \textsc{Name} $=$ \textit{Alice}};
    \node (ne) [text width=3cm] at (+5,3) [rectangle,draw] {\textsc{Title} $=$ \textit{Graphs} \textsc{1Author} $=$ \textit{Alice} \textsc{Name} $=$ \textit{Alice}};
    \node (sw) [text width=3cm] at (-5,0) [rectangle,draw] {\textsc{Title} $=$ \textit{Graphs} \textsc{1Author} $=$ \textit{Alice} \textsc{Name} $=$ \textit{Alice}};
    \node (se) [text width=3cm] at (+5,0) [rectangle,draw] {\textsc{Title} $=$ \textit{Graphs} \textsc{1Author} $=$ \textit{Alice} \textsc{Name} $=$ \textit{Alice}};
    \node[anchor=south] at (nw.north) {\{User, Paper\}};
    \node[anchor=south] at (n.north)  {\{User, Paper\}};
    \node[anchor=south] at (ne.north) {\{User, Paper\}};
    \node[anchor=south] at (sw.north) {\{User, Paper\}};
    \node[anchor=south] at (se.north) {\{User, Paper\}};
    \draw[red,-{Latex},dotted,very thick] (n) -- node[below,sloped] {\{Follows, Cities\}} (sw.north east);
    \draw[red,-{Latex},dotted,very thick] (nw.north east) to[bend left] node[above,sloped] {\{Follows, Cities\}} (ne.north west);
    \draw[orange,-{Latex},thick] (nw.south west) to node[below,sloped] {\{Follows\}} (sw.north west);
    \draw[orange,-{Latex},thick] (ne.south east) to node[above,sloped] {\{Follows\}} (se.north east);
    \draw[magenta,-{Latex}] (sw.south east) to[bend right] node[below,sloped] {\{Cities\}} (se.south west);
    \draw[orange,-{Latex}] (se.south west) to node[above,sloped] {\{Follows\}} (sw.south east);
    \draw[orange,-{Latex}] (n.east) to node[above,sloped] {\{Follows\}} (ne.west);
    \draw[magenta,-{Latex}] (ne.south west) to node[below,sloped] {\{Cities\}} (sw.east);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}