Drawing Family Trees With JavaScript
Creating a family tree involves visually representing familial relationships, often beginning with sketching out a basic structure and expanding to include ancestors, siblings, spouses, and children.
While basic templates exist, utilizing a modern and superior tool like yFiles for HTML provides flexibility and functionality in designing and customizing family tree diagrams directly within web applications.
yFiles offers specialized layout algorithms tailored to family trees, seamless integration with web applications, and comprehensive customization options for appearance and content.
By leveraging yFiles you can efficiently document and explore your family history, making it easier to visualize and understand your lineage.
Key Points
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Visualization: Creating a family tree involves visually representing familial relationships, typically starting with oneself and branching out to ancestors, siblings, spouses, and children.
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Modern Tools: Utilizing yFiles for HTML offers flexibility and functionality in designing and customizing family tree diagrams directly within web applications.
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Specialized Layout Algorithms: yFiles for HTML provides specialized layout algorithms tailored to family trees, ensuring optimal arrangement and organization of family members and relationships.
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Seamless Integration: With seamless integration into web applications, you can easily incorporate and interact with family tree diagrams, enhancing your ability to explore and understand your lineage.
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Customization Options: Comprehensive customization options allow users to personalize the appearance and content of family tree diagrams, including adding details such as names, dates, and photos.
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Efficient Documentation: By leveraging yFiles,you can efficiently document and explore your family history, facilitating the visualization and understanding of familial connections and ancestry.
How to draw a family tree in JavaScript?
What is a family tree and how to create one in a web app?
A family tree (also called a Ancestral chart) is a diagram representing family relationships.
Traditionally, a family tree was often represented in a conventional tree structure. Since a (child) node in a tree may have only one parent node, this approach necessitates certain restrictions with regards to how a family tree may represent the mother and father of an individual. I.e., either both parents of an individual share a single node, or the displayed relationships are restricted to matrilineal or patrilineal descent only.
Modern representations for family relationships bypass the restrictions mentioned above by introducing auxiliary nodes for families. I.e., the individual nodes for mother and father are predecessor nodes of a family node while the nodes representing the couple’s children are successor nodes of the said family node. Since parents must be born before their children, the resulting structures are directed, acyclic graphs.
How to visualize Individuals in a Family Tree
Usually a family tree visualization is focused on presenting as much information about individuals as possible. Consequently, nodes in the tree often use simple shapes with several labels for the name, date of birth, date of death, etc. Additionally, the nodes are often color-coded for the individuals’ gender.
The yFiles for HTML diagramming library provides out-of-the-box visualizations as plain geometric shapes. Furthermore, the library supports multiple labels per graph element and is therefore an ideal fit for these kinds of data representations.
Automatic Alignment of Family Trees with yFiles
A Tree layout algorithm is the obvious choice for making a traditional family tree. yFiles for HTML contains highly advanced and customizable tree layout algorithms, thus perfect for family tree drawings.
What other reasons compel us to use yFiles’ layout algorithms for creating professional, stunning and clear ancestry trees?
Hierarchic layout algorithms are the natural choice for arranging directed, acyclic graphs. Indeed, yFiles for HTML’s hierarchical algorithm will produce unparalleled results for creating cutting-edge family trees.
Furthermore, yFiles for HTML also has a layout algorithm specifically designed to create innovative family trees - the aptly named FamilyTreeLayout algorithm.
In addition to the structure of the graph, this domain-specific algorithm also takes the type of node (male, female, or family) into account when creating the graph.
Choosing this layout obviously ensures optimal results when creating a family tree.
Family Tree Examples and Source Code
With yFiles, you can create a family tree diagram that works on all supported platforms. yFiles for HTML comes with a Family Tree Sample Application.
This example features the family tree of the Kennedys.
The source code of the Family Tree Sample Application is available on the yWorks GitHub repository and part of the yFiles for HTML package.
Implement Your Own Family Tree
Go ahead and explore the yFiles for HTML diagramming library with a fully functional trial package and create professional and beautiful family trees!
Enabling you to create even the most complex family diagrams with tons of interactive options and features. Truly the most advanced SDK to create family lineage graphs with minimal coding and endless possibilities!
The family tree layout algorithm works on the standard yFiles graph model and can be used in any yFiles-based project.
Configuring and running a family tree layout algorithm requires only a few lines of code.
Step by step guide to create highly professional and stunning family diagrams:
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Download the trial version of yFiles for HTML for your target platform at the yWorks Customer Center.
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Navigate to the source directory of the Family Tree Sample Application and inspect its source code.
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Have a look at the Family Tree Layout Section of the developer’s guide.
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Integrate your favorite parts for your own projects!