How to force node position (x and y) in graphviz

Question

I am trying to force position of nodes. I have x and y coordinates of my nodes and its also directed graph. I can use the rank=same to handle row (y coordinate), but can't figure out how I can handle column (x coordinate).

Answer 1

You can use pos attribute (https://www.graphviz.org/doc/info/attrs.html#d:pos), e.g.:

xxx [     label = xxx     pos = "0,0!" ]  yyy [     label = yyy     pos = "10,10!" ] 

You will also have to specify neato or fdp layout engine, so that dot command-line would be (for fdp):

dot -Kfdp -n -Tpng -o sample.png sample.dot 

Answer 2

Here is an example I found: https://observablehq.com/@magjac/placing-graphviz-nodes-in-fixed-positions

Essentially the position attribute "pos" can be specified for a node. Only works with neato or fdp layout engines, not dot.

The ! indicates that the position is an input and should not be altered.