Many data sets, crucial for today's applications, consist essentially of enormous networks, containing millions or even billions of elements. Having the possibility of visualizing such networks is of paramount importance. We propose an algorithmic framework and a visual metaphor, dubbed treebar map, to provide schematic representations of huge networks. Our goal is to convey the main features of the network's inner structure in a straightforward, two-dimensional, one-page drawing. This drawing effectively captures the essential quantitative information about the network's main components. Our experiments show that we are able to create such representations in a few hundreds of seconds. We demonstrate the metaphor's efficacy through visual examination of extensive graphs, highlighting how their diverse structures are instantly comprehensible via their representations.

翻译：许多对当今应用至关重要的数据集本质上由庞大的网络构成，包含数百万甚至数十亿个元素。可视化此类网络的可能性至关重要。我们提出了一种算法框架和视觉隐喻，称为树形条图（treebar map），用于提供巨大网络的示意性表示。我们的目标是在一张二维单页绘图中，以直截了当的方式传达网络内部结构的主要特征。这幅图有效捕捉了网络主要组件的本质定量信息。实验表明，我们能够在几百秒内创建此类表示。通过对大规模图进行视觉检查，我们展示了该隐喻的有效性，突显了其多样结构如何通过表示被即刻理解。