  Current applications have produced graphs on the order of hundreds of
thousands of nodes and millions of edges. To take advantage of such graphs, one
must be able to find patterns, outliers and communities. These tasks are better
performed in an interactive environment, where human expertise can guide the
process. For large graphs, though, there are some challenges: the excessive
processing requirements are prohibitive, and drawing hundred-thousand nodes
results in cluttered images hard to comprehend. To cope with these problems, we
propose an innovative framework suited for any kind of tree-like graph visual
design. GMine integrates (a) a representation for graphs organized as
hierarchies of partitions - the concepts of SuperGraph and Graph-Tree; and (b)
a graph summarization methodology - CEPS. Our graph representation deals with
the problem of tracing the connection aspects of a graph hierarchy with sub
linear complexity, allowing one to grasp the neighborhood of a single node or
of a group of nodes in a single click. As a proof of concept, the visual
environment of GMine is instantiated as a system in which large graphs can be
investigated globally and locally.
