Workflow Visualization

[henricasanova]

• Step 1:

  • Create a simple JavaScript app that runs in a browser and allows WfCommons format JSON file to be uploaded
  • The app should then display some basic information, such as the number of tasks

• Step 2:

• Compute all task top-levels (using a simple recursive algorithm), and make it so that we can easily determine the set of tasks that have the same top-level

• The app should display the number of levels as part of the basic information

• Step 3:

  • The app should display the workflow visually using cytoscape. The approach is "top-level" by "top-level", and within a level tasks are placed arbitrarily ordered by evenly spaced on the display from left to right
  • Compute and display the number of edge crossings (or an approximation thereof)

• Step 4:

  • Implement a heuristic to re-order tasks within a level so as to reduce the number of edge crossings. Simple first idea: sort tasks by the average horizontal positions of their parents.
  • Maybe come up with better heuristics
  • Experiment with randomized searches; for instance try out random swaps of vertices in a level and keeping each swap whenever it reduces the number of edge crossings. Do that 1000 times and then give up.