How to layout a non-tree hierarchy with D3

Question

D3 has a variety of layouts for directed graphs that are strict trees, such as the following:

A
|\\
B C
 / \\
D   E

I need to draw a hierar

Answer 1

As this example: "Force Directed Trees" illustrates there is a trick that often works. In the example the force direction's behavior is adjusted on each tick so that nodes drift slightly up or down depending on the direction of the links. As shown this will do a fine job for trees, but I've found it also works tolerable well for acyclic graphs. No promises, but it may help.