How to use the built-in function GraphElementData

Question

Very surprise to me.I found this is a built-in function but it is undocumented.Such as this answer's "CurvedArc" and "Curvature",this answer's "EdgeShapeFunction",this answer's "GraphHighlightStyle" and so on.I confuse these friend how to find these parameter.Anyone can give a method to find those parameters and other?

Undocumented options / functions have been discussed extensively on this site, e.g. What are some useful, undocumented Mathematica functions?, and Is using undocumented functionality a Bad Idea™?. A search for "undocumented" in this site will return many such examples. There are no obvious methods to find undocumented functionality, but hunting for them is certainly fun! — MarcoB, May 29 '16 at 03:30
@MarcoB I'm not sure if we can call it undocumented. It is mentioned in many documentation pages, but it doesn't have its own page or usage message! — Szabolcs, Aug 18 '16 at 13:22

score 9 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 16 '20 at 09:23

9

After some digging, I found this symbol is related to the undocumented GraphComputation`GraphElementDataDump`RawNetworkGraphData.You can find the usages you mentioned and much more by typing the code:

Needs["GeneralUtilities`"]
PrintDefinitions[GraphComputation`GraphElementDataDump`RawNetworkGraphData]

Here is preview of a portion of definitions, you can follow the links inside to trace function calls.

FYI, the process of my digging is actually simple, just turn on the undocumented option: TraceInternal->True in Trace or TracePrint, and you can find out more about its evaluation.

If MMA returns an empty notebook

You have to evaluate GraphElementData["EdgeShapeFunction"] first, or the definitions won't load and the page will be blank.

If `PrintDefinitions` says too many definitions

This will happen in version before 10.4. In this case you can use Information.

edited Jun 16 '20 at 09:23

Community

1

answered May 29 '16 at 03:45

vapor

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@yode thanks for your markdown suggestion, I didn't know it before. – vapor May 29 '16 at 03:59
You are welcome,be my guest.:) – yode May 29 '16 at 04:02
BTW, what's your Mathematica version? – xyz May 29 '16 at 08:18
@ShutaoTANG 10.4.1, but I can roughly guess the problem, see my update. – vapor May 29 '16 at 08:27
@happyfish Thanks, in V10.3.1, PrintDefinitions[GraphComputation`GraphElementDataDump`RawNetworkGraphData] return a empty notebook – xyz May 29 '16 at 09:06
@ShutaoTANG this will work: Needs["GeneralUtilities`"]; GraphElementData["EdgeShapeFunction"]; ?? GraphComputation`GraphElementDataDump`RawNetworkGraphData – vapor May 29 '16 at 09:12

How to use the built-in function GraphElementData

1 Answers1

If MMA returns an empty notebook

If PrintDefinitions says too many definitions

If `PrintDefinitions` says too many definitions