STRETCH menu





Demonstration Applet
This applet is a demonstration of some of the basic features of STRETCH. To interact with it follow these directions:

  • Expand a sub-tree: click once on a label and the tree beneath it will expand out.
  • Auto-expansion: click and drag a label upwards. The tree expands as you drag up and contracts as you drag it down.
  • Expand and Contract in place: click and drag upwards with the right mouse button and the tree will expand and contract in place.
  • Switch Skewed/Horizontal: double click to switch between skewed and horizontal mode.

To see another demonstration of a less structured tree, see Randomly Generated Tree.

WEB SITES
STRETCH is an excellent way to visualize and navigate websites. It allows the user to see the entire site (1,000's to 10,000's of pages at once) and to zoom in and navigate the site while still having the context of the whole tree in view. The inherent structure of each site is readily apparent in STRETCH so that each site map has it's own unique look. STRETCH is therefore ideal for both the end user to navigate the site and for the website author to construct and manage the site. For an example of a site map, see Netscape Site Map. Also see this site about Tunisia for an example of a STRETCH map used for navigating a site. (Click on Java Map.)



FAMILY TREES
Because of the hierarchical nature of a family tree,STRETCH is quite effective for visualizing these relationships. The benefit of using STRETCH for this task is that much more data can be seen in one view than typical family tree charts allow. This one has about 300 people and goes back 10 generations. This is Karen's (the UI designer) family tree. Follow the yellow branch down to the bottom to locate her.



TAXONOMIES
Because of the nature of taxonomies,STRETCH is perfectly matched to handle structures like these. The BayCHI hierarchy that was used in the Browse-Off is a good example. Click on the button below to launch the applet. Once the window comes up, hit the spider button again then when you are ready hit the stop button to begin interacting with the tree.



Note that you will not be able to specify an arbitrary URL with this applet (security restrictions) unless your browser allows this sort of thing (e.g. HotJava). If your browser allows arbitrary connections, you can use the applet to spider any site. If you are inside a firewall and having problems try selecting "Sample Data" from the File menu to quickly load a subset of the SIGCHI hierarchy without connecting over the web.


Other Applications
Other domain areas that STRETCH would be well suited for include Network management and medical and financial information visualization and management.