An Algorithm for Labeling Edges of Hierarchical Drawings

. Let G(V;E) be a graph, and let \Gamma be the drawing of G on the plane. We consider the problem of assigning text labels to every edge of G such that the quality of the labeling assignment is optimal. This problem has been first encountered in automated cartography. Even though much effort has been devoted over the last 15 years in the area of automated drawing of maps, the Edge Label Placement (ELP) problem remains essentially unsolved. In this paper we investigate the ELP problem. We present an algorithm for the ELP problem more suitable for hierarchical drawings of graphs, but it can be adopted to many different drawing styles and still remain effective. Also, we present experimental results of our algorithm that indicate its effectiveness. 1 Introduction The area of graph drawing has grown significantly in the recent years motivated mostly by applications in information visualization [4, 17]. When visualizing information, it is essential to display not only the structure of the..