Skip to main content

File formats

GEXF​

GEXF is an XML format which has been created by the Gephi community to enhance Graph data interoperability.

Gephi Lite supports reading and writing GEXF (version 1.2 or 1.3) files.

It's the format of choice to exchange Graphs with Gephi.

warning

Gephi Lite does not support those GEXF specifications:

GraphML​

Gephi Lite can read GraphML files.

warning

Gephi Lite does not support writing GraphML.

info

Gephi Lite GEXF and GraphML support are both fueled by the Graphology library. Enhancing GEXF or GraphML support would require enhancing Graphology modules.

Graphology JSON​

Gephi Lite can read Graphology graphs serialized as JSON (with graph.export()), in a file with the .json extension.

This is handy to load graphs built with Graphology scripts, in Node.js or in the browser.

warning

Gephi Lite does not support writing Graphology JSON. Use the Gephi Lite workspace format instead.

Gephi Lite workspace​

On top of the data exchange formats (GEXF and GraphML), Gephi Lite proposes its own internal workspace format.

This file is a JSON file which represents not only the graph data but also the Gephi Lite application workspace state:

  • Appearance state: how visual attributes were set, including the background (such as the map style)
  • Filter state: filters to apply on the graph
  • Layout state: the last layout run with its parameters, and the layout quality settings

To sum it up, the Gephi Lite workspace file format will save/load the application state together with the graph data.

The current version of the format is described as the Gephi Lite workspace JSON schema specification.

Files from other Gephi Lite versions​

Workspace files are versioned. Gephi Lite fully opens files saved with the same major and minor version only (for instance, Gephi Lite 1.1.x opens files from 1.1.x).

When a file comes from another version, Gephi Lite shows an error, with an Open anyway button. The file then opens in a degraded mode: the graph data (nodes, edges, their attributes and positions) is imported, but the appearance, filters and layout state are lost.

Error when opening a file from an older Gephi Lite version

When such a file is opened from a URL, it is opened in degraded mode directly, with a warning notification.