The Grasper-CL Graph Management System

Abstract

Grasper-CL [5] is a COMMON LISP system for manipulating and displaying graphs, and for building graph-based user interfaces for application programs. The system represents a significant advance over previous COMMON LISP graphers because each level of the Grasper-CL architecture from the core graph data structures to the interactive display module has been fully developed and articulated, and is accessible to application programmers. We call this system organization open architecture. In our experience, several different classes of graph-based user interfaces exist. For example, one class produces static drawings of graphs, whereas another class requires extensive user interaction with graph drawings. The open architecture of Grasper-CL supports the development of all classes of interfaces, whereas previous graphers support only one or two classes of interfaces. Grasper-CL graphics operations are implemented using CLIM, the COMMON LISP Interface Manager.