Native File Format for Graphs
      The native file format for graphs consists of several lines which are 
        separated by endl. Comment-lines have a # character 
        in the first column and are ignored. The output can be partitioned in 
        three sections: 
      Header Section
      The first line always contains the string  LEDA.GRAPH. If 
        the graph type is not parameterized, i.e. graph, 
        the following two lines both contain the string  void. In 
        case the graph is parameterized, i.e.  GRAPH, 
        these lines contain a description of the node type and the edge type. The fourth 
        line specifies if the graph is either directed (-1) or undirected (-2). 
      Nodes Section
       The first line contains n, the number of nodes in the graph. 
        The nodes are ordered and numbered according to their position in the 
        node list of the graph. Each of the following n lines contains 
        the information which is associated with the respective node of the graph. 
        When the information of a node (or an edge) is sent to an output stream, 
        it is always enclosed by the strings  |{ and  }|. 
        If the graph is not parameterized, then the string between these parantheses 
        is empty, so that all the n lines contain the string |{}|. 
      Edges Section
       The first line contains m, the number of edges in the graph. 
        The edges of the graph are ordered by two criteria: first according to 
        the number of their source node and second according to their position 
        in the adjacency list of the source node. Each of the next m 
        lines contains the description of an edge which consists of four space-separated 
        parts: 
      
        -  the number of the source node
 
        -  the number of the target node 
 
        -  the number of the reversal edge or 0, if no such edge is set 
 
        -  the information associated with the edge (cf. nodes section)
 
       
      Note: For the data type  planar_map 
        the order of the edges is important, because the ordering of the edges 
        in the adjacency list of a node corresponds to the counter-clockwise ordering 
        of these edges around the node in the planar embedding. And the information 
        about reversal edges is also vital for this data type. 
      Example of a Graph
      The following lines show a graph in native file format. It consists of 
        five nodes and seven edges. The nodes have a parameter of type string 
        and the edges have a parameter of type int. 
      
#header section	  
LEDA.GRAPH 
string
int
-1
#nodes section
5 
|{v1}| 
|{v2}| 
|{v3}| 
|{v4}| 
|{v5}| 
#edges section
7 
1 2 0 |{4}| 
1 3 0 |{3}| 
2 3 0 |{2}| 
3 4 0 |{3}| 
3 5 0 |{7}| 
4 5 0 |{6}| 
5 1 0 |{1}|
      Example of how to 
        use GML format and native graph file format 
       Strength
      
      Disadvantage
      
      Tips
      
        - Use the native format if you need to store a LEDA graph or GraphWin
 
       
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