Techniques
Layout algorithms — picking the placement
One small hierarchy rendered by each native placement algorithm: grid, layered, tree, circular, radial, organic and more.
ddn@1New DDN source
Why use it?
The algorithm is the argument structure: layered reads as flow, tree as descent, radial as containment — pick deliberately.
When it helps
Any new view: choose the placement that matches the question before tuning anything else.
How to read it
- Switch variants: same six elements, same relations — only the placement changes.
- Read the layered variant for direction, the radial for orbit distance, the grid for census.
What you need
- The model
- The algorithm declaration (and its root/columns/direction where relevant)
Things to check
- Do not hand-tune positions before the algorithm is right — that is fighting the tool.
- A tree algorithm on a cyclic graph hides the cycles; check the relation kinds first.
Scope of this diagram
The registry's native and pattern algorithms; custom placement is the pinned-placement technique.
Work with the converted example
- Open the viewer and select
layered. Inspect the rendered view and its source. - Open the designer. Keep the selected profile and inspect its legal palette and property controls.
- Change one displayed title or an appropriate data value. Apply the edit and check the resulting diagram.
- Run the verifier and review its diagnostics before moving complete content into review.
- Download your edited DDN source to retain the change.
The example uses the indentation-based ddn-next-1 dialect. The language guide explains reusable definitions, dotted data rows and explicit property blocks.