D3js: Automatic labels placement to avoid overlaps? (force repulsion)

Question

How to apply force repulsion on map\'s labels so they find their right places automatically ?

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Bostock\' \"Let\'s Make a Map\"

Mike

Answer 1

For 2D case here are some examples that do something very similar:

one http://bl.ocks.org/1691430
two http://bl.ocks.org/1377729

thanks Alexander Skaburskis who brought this up here

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For 1D case For those who search a solution to a similar problem in 1-D i can share my sandbox JSfiddle where i try to solve it. It's far from perfect but it kind of doing the thing.

Left: The sandbox model, Right: an example usage

Here is the code snippet which you can run by pressing the button in the end of the post, and also the code itself. When running, click on the field to position the fixed nodes.

var width = 700,
    height = 500;

var mouse = [0,0];

var force = d3.layout.force()
    .size([width*2, height])
    .gravity(0.05)
    .chargeDistance(30)
    .friction(0.2)
    .charge(function(d){return d.fixed?0:-1000})
    .linkDistance(5)
    .on("tick", tick);

var drag = force.drag()
    .on("dragstart", dragstart);

var svg = d3.select("body").append("svg")
    .attr("width", width)
    .attr("height", height)
    .on("click", function(){
        mouse = d3.mouse(d3.select(this).node()).map(function(d) {
            return parseInt(d);
        });
        graph.links.forEach(function(d,i){
            var rn = Math.random()*200 - 100;
            d.source.fixed = true; 
            d.source.px = mouse[0];
            d.source.py = mouse[1] + rn;
            d.target.y = mouse[1] + rn;
        })
        force.resume();
        
        d3.selectAll("circle").classed("fixed", function(d){ return d.fixed});
    });

var link = svg.selectAll(".link"),
    node = svg.selectAll(".node");
 
var graph = {
  "nodes": [
    {"x": 469, "y": 410},
    {"x": 493, "y": 364},
    {"x": 442, "y": 365},
    {"x": 467, "y": 314},
    {"x": 477, "y": 248},
    {"x": 425, "y": 207},
    {"x": 402, "y": 155},
    {"x": 369, "y": 196},
    {"x": 350, "y": 148},
    {"x": 539, "y": 222},
    {"x": 594, "y": 235},
    {"x": 582, "y": 185}
  ],
  "links": [
    {"source":  0, "target":  1},
    {"source":  2, "target":  3},
    {"source":  4, "target":  5},
    {"source":  6, "target":  7},
    {"source":  8, "target":  9},
    {"source":  10, "target":  11}
  ]
}

function tick() {
  graph.nodes.forEach(function (d) {
     if(d.fixed) return;
     if(d.xmouse[0]+50) d.x--
    })
    
    
  link.attr("x1", function(d) { return d.source.x; })
      .attr("y1", function(d) { return d.source.y; })
      .attr("x2", function(d) { return d.target.x; })
      .attr("y2", function(d) { return d.target.y; });

  node.attr("cx", function(d) { return d.x; })
      .attr("cy", function(d) { return d.y; });
}

function dblclick(d) {
  d3.select(this).classed("fixed", d.fixed = false);
}

function dragstart(d) {
  d3.select(this).classed("fixed", d.fixed = true);
}



  force
      .nodes(graph.nodes)
      .links(graph.links)
      .start();

  link = link.data(graph.links)
    .enter().append("line")
      .attr("class", "link");

  node = node.data(graph.nodes)
    .enter().append("circle")
      .attr("class", "node")
      .attr("r", 10)
      .on("dblclick", dblclick)
      .call(drag);

.link {
  stroke: #ccc;
  stroke-width: 1.5px;
}

.node {
  cursor: move;
  fill: #ccc;
  stroke: #000;
  stroke-width: 1.5px;
  opacity: 0.5;
}

.node.fixed {
  fill: #f00;
}