William Revelle
2009-Sep-18 22:04 UTC
[R] Alternatives to Rgraphviz -- request suggestions
Dear R-helpers, Can anyone suggest a useful alternative to Rgraphviz? I am trying to create fairly simple graphs showing the structures of a hierarchical cluster analysis or of a structural equation model. That is, I need to be able to control the shape (rectangles vs ovals) of a limited number (< several hundred) of nodes, connect them with edges that have values (usually numeric but sometimes text) and produce pretty output. I want to be able to force nodes to be on side or the other of the graph (sometimes, some on one side, others on the other side) and to minimize the number of edge crossings. I have been using Rgraphviz as a recommended but not required package for my psych package for several years but remain frustrated by the difficulties some users have installing Rgraphviz from BioConductor as well as by recent problems with graphviz itself (it will not install on Snow Leopard for the Mac). When Rgraphviz works, it is wonderful. However, PC users in particular seem to have problems installing it and now with Snow Leopard I can not get it work either. Does anyone have a recommended graphics packages that has at least some of the features of Rgraphviz (and hopefully, fewer of the difficulties). Thanks to all for your suggestions. Bill -- William Revelle http://personality-project.org/revelle.html Professor http://personality-project.org/personality.html Department of Psychology http://www.wcas.northwestern.edu/psych/ Northwestern University http://www.northwestern.edu/ Use R for psychology http://personality-project.org/r It is 5 minutes to midnight http://www.thebulletin.org