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In d3.js force layout, giving a gravity value makes layout circular.
However, I'd like to make force layout rectangular, while nodes have a negative charge and even distance. (like above)
Is there any way to make force layout rectangular?
Can I achieve this by modifying tick function?
Here is my code:
var background = d3.select('.background');
var width = background.node().getBoundingClientRect().width,
height = background.node().getBoundingClientRect().height;
var nodes = d3.range(50).map(function(d, i) {
return {
text: "Hello"
};
});
var messages = background.selectAll('.message')
.data(nodes)
.enter()
.append('div')
.attr('class', 'message')
.text(d => d.text)
.each(function(d, i) {
d.width = this.getBoundingClientRect().width;
d.height = this.getBoundingClientRect().height;
});
var force = d3.layout.force()
.gravity(1/88)
.charge(-50)
.nodes(nodes)
.size([width, height]);
messages.call(force.drag);
force.on('tick', function(e) {
messages.each(d => {
d.x = Math.max(0, Math.min(width - d.width, d.x));
d.y = Math.max(0, Math.min(height - d.height, d.y));
});
messages.style('left', d => `${d.x}px`)
.style('top', d => `${d.y}px`);
});
force.start();body {
padding: 0;
margin: 0;
}
.background {
width: 100%;
height: 100vh;
border: 1px solid #007aff;
}
.message {
display: inline-block;
font-family: sans-serif;
border-radius: 100vh;
color: white;
padding: 10px;
background-color: #007aff;
position: absolute;
}
.boundary {
display: inline-block;
width: 10px;
height: 10px;
background-color: red;
position: absolute;
}<script src="https://d3js.org/d3.v3.min.js"></script>
<body>
<div class="background">
</div>
</body>
729
asked Feb 15 '26 05:02
OK, edit 3: in d3v4, forceCollide can be used to set minimum distances between the nodes, if you then use a positive strength, this draws the nodes together, helping set them an even distance apart (although it looks better for circles than rectangles):
var force = d3.forceSimulation(nodes)
.force("charge", d3.forceManyBody().strength(-10))
.force("collide", d3.forceCollide(30).strength(1).iterations(1))
.force('x', d3.forceX(width/2).strength(0.5))
.force('y', d3.forceY(height/2).strength(10));
Assuming the nodes are in a rectangular svg, limiting them to within the centre of the SVG can help even out the edges:
position.nodes(nodes).on('tick', function ticks() {
nodes.attr("cx", function(d) {
return d.x = Math.max(20, Math.min(width + 20, d.x))
}).attr("cy", function(d) {
return d.y = Math.max(20, Math.min(height + 20, d.y));
})
});
and playing around with the force strengths can help draw them in along the y-axis:
var position = d3.forceSimulation(nodes).force("charge", d3.forceManyBody())
.force('x', d3.forceX(width/2).strength(1))
.force('y', d3.forceY(height/2).strength(5));
fiddle here.
It seems that the forces are a lot more customisable in v4 than v3, I think forceCollide integrated some workarounds into the library. So, you can try and find a v3 workaround, or maybe look into upgrading to v4.
In v3 I played around with the gravity, charge and limiting x and y to maintain the nodes in the box a bit better, fiddle here. But I don't know enough about v3 to improve it much beyond that.
168
answered Feb 17 '26 19:02
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