Getting started

This page walks through a minimal analysis to verify that BasicSpanner is working correctly.

1. Prepare an input graph

Create a plain-text file with one edge per line. Tabs, spaces or commas are accepted as separators; the importer will let you select the appropriate columns and delimiter.

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2. Prepare a seed list

Create a second plain-text file with one node identifier per line:

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3. Load the network

  1. Launch BasicSpanner.
  2. Use the File Operations panel on the left sidebar to load the graph file. A column selection dialog will appear; pick the source and target columns and the appropriate delimiter.
  3. Verify in the status bar that the expected number of nodes and edges was imported. Self-loops and isolated nodes are detected automatically.

4. Load the seeds

From the Seed Selection panel, choose Load from file and select the seed list you created above. The seeds are highlighted in red in the central viewer.

5. Configure the analysis

Open the Algorithm Configuration panel and set:

  • Number of replicates (default 100).
  • Replicate mode: Permutations of user seeds or Random seed batches.
  • Number of parallel threads (default: all available cores).
  • Enable Pruning to obtain the optimal basic network.

6. Run the analysis

Press Run Analysis in the Execution panel. The floating Real-Time Connector Histogram window updates as each replicate finishes, showing the distribution of connector counts and summary statistics.

7. Export results

From the Results and Export panel you can save:

  • The basic network edge list as CSV or plain text.
  • Node-level metrics as CSV.
  • A Gephi-compatible node metadata file.
  • The full set of per-replicate statistics.

Continue with the workflow and algorithm pages for a deeper description of each step.