Spreadsheet Format

You build bubble graphs from tree data structures. Here's a representation of a tree data structure: 

Tree data structures are made of nodes, or elements on the tree. In the example above, each box represents a node.

Tree data structures are also hierarchical: each node (or element on the tree) has a parent node. In the example above, "Pet" is the parent of "Cat," "Dog," and "Rabbit". "Cat" is the parent of "Domestic Shorthair" and "Siamese."

Trees have a root node, which has no parent. "Pet" in the example above is the root node, since it has no parent. 

You place nodes on the tree using two values: the name of the node, and the name of the node's parent. For example, you can place the Labrador node by knowing only "Labrador" (it's name) and "Dog" (it's parent). Remember, any node on the tree can be a parent. 

A leaf is a node that isn't a parent (that is, it has no children). In the example above, "Domestic Shorthair", "Siamese", "Corgi", "Great Dane", "Rabbit", and "Labrador" are all leaf nodes. 

Each row in the Tree spreadsheet represents a node on the tree. 

For the sample tree above, the spreadsheet might look like this: 

Customization Options

Bubble style: choose how you want to display the bubbles your graph

• Click an option from the drop-down menu
  • Grouped: the bubbles will be grouped in a circular shape, with smaller bubbles dispersed among the larger ones
  • Spiral: the bubbles will be in a spiral shape, from largest to smallest
  • Packed: the bubbles will be grouped within different concentric circles, according to their relationships

Bubble spacing: decide how far apart to keep the bubbles from each other

• Note that if you decided to style the bubbles as "Packed," this option will have no effect

• Type a number into the textbox
  • Type in a higher number to space bubbles farther apart
  • Type in a smaller number to space bubbles closer together

Group color: note that this property only applies to bubble graphs whose style is set to "packed." Choose the color of the circles enclosing the packed bubbles.

• Click the colored square

  • The ColorPicker will appear

• Either: Choose a color by clicking it
• Or: Click No color

Node color: note that this property only applies to bubble graphs whose style is set to "packed." Choose what color you want the nodes to be.

• Click the colored square

  • The ColorPicker will appear

• Either: Choose a color by clicking it
• Or: Click No color