shortestPathTo does not adhere to Traversal restrictions

[Calavoow]

I want to try and find a shortest path of a constant maximum length. To do this, I tried using the withMaxDepth filter for traversals. This works nicely with pathTo, but shortestPathTo ignores the restrictions.

Example:

import scalax.collection.GraphEdge._
import scalax.collection.GraphPredef._
import scalax.collection.immutable.Graph

val g = Graph(1~2, 2~3, 3~4)
val traversal = g.get(1).withSubgraph(nodes = _ < 2)
traversal.pathTo(g.get(3))
// res1: Option[g.Path] = None

val traversal2 = g.get(1).withMaxDepth(1)
traversal2.pathTo(g.get(3))
// res2: Option[g.Path] = None

traversal2.shortestPathTo(g.get(3))
// res3: Option[g.Path] = Some(Path(1, 1~2, 2, 2~3, 3))

I expect that the shortestPathTo return None, but instead it returns a complete path.

[peter-empen]

withMaxDepth is currently just relevant in case of BFS. True, this is kind of shortcoming.

[peter-empen]

Which other traversal restrictions did you see not being handeld by shortestPathTo?

[Calavoow]

Sorry, the only thing I could come up with was not really a traversal:

val g = Graph(1~2, 2~3, 3~4)
val subGraph = g.get(2).withMaxDepth(1).toGraph

[peter-empen]

With my above question I intended to clear why you put "Trversal restrictions" (plural) in the issue title.

[peter-empen]

More efficient is the following workaround:

• use a preparatory traversal with BSF and withMaxDepth as above but, instead of creating a new graph, just store the visited nodes in say validNodes.
• start a second traversal like ...withSubgraph(node => validNodes containes node).shortestPathTo...

[Calavoow]

Does withKind work on pathTo?

val g2 = Graph(1~2,2~3,3~4,1~4)
g2.get(1).withKind(DepthFirst).pathTo(g2.get(4))
g2.get(1).withKind(DepthFirst).pathTo(g2.get(2))
// res3: Option[g2.Path] = Some(Path(1, 1~4, 4))
// res4: Option[g2.Path] = Some(Path(1, 1~2, 2))

Both give a shortest path. It is not conclusive, but it seems like BFS is used instead?

For a simple graph, I would like to use BFS to find a shortest path of maximum length 6 (withMaxDepth(6)). From my tests on bigger graphs it seems pathTo does not find the shortest path on simple graphs, so it must not be BFS.

alpha.withMaxDepth(6).withKind(BreadthFirst).pathTo(beta)

[peter-empen]

withKind has currently no effect on pathTo. pathTo, implemented in terms of pathUntil, always selects DFS since it was not obvious that BFS would ever be desired by a users. Do you really think it would have any sense, if so why?
DFS, BFS and Dijkstra's shortestPath are distinct algorithms meaning you cannot combine them.
pathTo is specified to return any path satisfying the request but based on BSF the returned path would be the shortest one provided all edge weights are equal.

[peter-empen]

You may also want to consider using BfsInformer.

[Calavoow]

withKind has currently no effect on pathTo. pathTo, implemented in terms of pathUntil, always selects DFS since it was not obvious that BFS would ever be desired by a users. Do you really think it would have any sense, if so why?

If you have a very big graph, and you know the destination is a bounded distance, then DFS will be much less efficient.

How does one use a BfsInformer?

[peter-empen]

Take a look at TTraversal.scala near line 324 where DfsInformer is tested.

[Calavoow]

What does BfsQueue contain? A node and its depth? What does that mean.
And why does DfsInformer have a path, while BfsInformer doesn't? Because I want to construct a path to the node that I find.

[peter-empen]

Informers allow you to inspect implementation-specific internal data structures during the traversal. As implementations vary so do these data structures. BFS works internally with a queue so you can inspect that queue containing known but not yet processed pairs of, yes, (NodeT, depth).

Since the BFS implementation does not maintain any path, you need to build it on your own.

What about the following: While traversing you build a map with (depth, NodeT). Once you got your target node, you could build the path from there back to your root node by selecting predecessors.

[peter-empen]

See also PathBuilder in case you decide to investigate into the above idea.

[Calavoow]

While I like the idea of building the stack as we go, it is unclear at call time of the BfsInformer what the predecessor of the current node was. Thus it is not possible to build a path.

If instead you build the path as in one of your previous comments, you get something like

        val x = alpha.innerNodeTraverser.withKind(BreadthFirst).withMaxDepth(6)
        val visited = mutable.ListBuffer.empty[g.NodeT]

        object AllDone extends Exception
        try {
            x.foreach {
                g.ExtendedNodeVisitor((node, count, depth, informer) => {
                    assert(depth <= 6, "Depth too high")
                    informer match {
                        case BfsInformer(queue) =>
                            visited += node
                            if(node == beta) {
                                throw AllDone
                            }
                        case _ => throw new RuntimeException("Unexpected informer")
                    }
                })
            }
        } catch {
            case AllDone =>
                val subG = g.filter(node => visited.contains(node))
                val subA = subG.get(alpha)
                val subB = subG.get(beta)
                val subPath = subA.shortestPathTo(subB)
                // Convert subG.Path to g.Path
        }

Which is of course also far from ideal. Any suggestions?

Please keep in mind high performance requirements. Currently, I run my own implementation of Dijkstra and this line is 50% of my runtime

val newPaths = path.head.neighbors.filterNot(x => visited.contains(x.id)).map(_ :: path)

Where the neighbors is actually 25% of my runtime, and filterNot is 30% (so together 55%) on the 25s I profiled. The program actually runs for hours.

[peter-empen]

Hi, withMaxDepth support has now been added to shortestPathTo. Please check out the preview at http://www.scala-graph.org/temp/. (This link is now obsolate.)
Looking forward to your feedback.

[peter-empen]

Included in release 1.11.2.