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Plot Network Evolution (Small Multiples)

Source: R/plot-distributions.R
plot_network_evolution.Rd

Plots a network at different time points side by side. The input is an edge list data frame with a time column, a cograph_network whose stored edge data contain such a column, or a list of networks. All panels share one node layout. At least two periods are required.

Usage

plot_network_evolution(
  x,
  time = NULL,
  slices = NULL,
  cumulative = FALSE,
  labels = NULL,
  layout = "spring",
  ncol = NULL,
  node_size = 5,
  seed = 42,
  combined = TRUE,
  ...
)

Arguments

x

An edge list data frame with columns from, to, optionally weight, and a time column; a cograph_network with stored edge data; or a list of network objects (matrices, igraph, etc.).

time

Character. Name of the time column in x. Required for data frame input and ignored if x is a list.

slices

Integer or NULL. Number of equal-width bins of the numeric time column. Default NULL uses the unique time values. Bins work with cumulative = TRUE as well.

cumulative

Logical. If TRUE, each panel shows all edges up to that time point (growing network). If FALSE (default), each panel shows only edges from that period.

labels

Character vector of panel labels, one per period. The default NULL uses the time values, or "T1", "T2", ... for list input.

layout

Character, or a matrix or data frame of coordinates. Any character value computes one Fruchterman-Reingold layout from the union of all edges and uses it for every panel. A matrix or data frame gives the x and y coordinates of the nodes in its first two columns, one row per node; rows named after the nodes are matched by name, otherwise they are taken in node order. Default "spring".

ncol

Integer. Number of grid columns. The default NULL uses min(number of periods, 4).

node_size

Numeric. Node size passed to splot. Default 5.

seed

Integer or NULL. Random seed for the shared layout. The caller's random number state is restored on exit. NULL sets no seed. Default 42.

combined

Logical. When TRUE (default), the period panels are arranged in an internal grid via graphics::par(mfrow = ...). When FALSE, the panels are plotted into a layout the caller has already configured, for example with panel_layout().

...

Additional arguments passed to splot.

Value

Invisibly, a list with one element per period. For data frame input each element is the edge-list data frame of that period (all earlier periods included when cumulative = TRUE). For list input it is the input list.

Examples

set.seed(1)
edges <- data.frame(
  from = sample(LETTERS[1:5], 30, replace = TRUE),
  to   = sample(LETTERS[1:5], 30, replace = TRUE),
  week = sample(1:4, 30, replace = TRUE))
cograph::plot_network_evolution(edges, time = "week")