Formal Concept Analysis Examples

This webpage shows some of Rudolf Wille's "classic" examples of formal contexts. (The references for the papers from which they are taken are below.) The examples are provided here without explanation of their background (which can be found in Wille's papers). It is reasonably challenging to derive good layouts for these examples. Thus these examples can serve as test cases for graph layout software. The lattice diagrams which have blue lines were drawn with ConExp. All other diagrams were produced with FcaStone, which uses Graphviz for its layouts. A more detailed comparison of these examples can be found in Priss (2008) (pdf).

Digits
Tea Ladies
Lattice of lattice properties
Bodies of water
Live in water
References

Digits

Download cxt file

Digits: Lattice drawn in Conexp (copying Wille's layout):

Digits: Lattice generated by FcaStone/Graphviz:

Tea Ladies

Download cxt file

Tea Ladies: Lattice generated by FcaStone/Graphviz:

Lattice of lattice properties

Download cxt file

Lattice properties: Lattice generated by FcaStone/Graphviz (using -b):

Lattice properties: Lattice generated by FcaStone/Graphviz (labels were moved afterwards):

Bodies of water

Download cxt file

Bodies of water: Lattice generated by FcaStone/Graphviz:

Live in water

Download cxt file

Live in water: Lattice drawn in Conexp (copying Wille's layout):

Live in water: Lattice generated by FcaStone/Graphviz (labels were moved afterwards):

Sources

Digits:
Stahl, J.; Wille, R. (1986). Preconcepts and set representation of contexts. In: Gaul & Schader (eds): Classification as a tool of research.

Bodies of water, live in water:
Wille, Rudolf (1984). Liniendiagramme hierarchischer Begriffssysteme. Studien zur Klassifikation. Indeks Verlag.

Tealadys, lattice of lattice properties:
Wille, Rudolf (1992). Concept Lattices and Conceptual Knowledge Systems. Computers Math. Applic., 23, 6-9, p 493-515.

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