The planarization method has proven to be successful in graph drawing. The output, a combinatorial planar embedding of the so-called planarized graph, can be combined with state-of-the-art planar drawing algorithms. However, many practical applications have additional constraints on the drawings that result in restrictions on the set of admissible planar embeddings. In this paper, we consider embedding constraints that restrict the admissible order of incident edges around a vertex. Such constraints occur in applications, e.g., from side or port constraints. We introduce a set of hierarchical embedding constraints that include grouping, oriented, and mirror constraints, and show how these constraints can be integrated into the planarization method. For this, we first present a linear time algorithm for testing if a given graph G is ec-planar, i.e., admits a planar embedding satisfying the given embedding constraints. In the case that G is ec-planar, we provide a linear time algorithm for computing the corresponding ec-embedding. Otherwise, an ec-planar subgraph is computed. The critical part is to re-insert the deleted edges subject to the embedding constraints so that the number of crossings is kept small. For this, we present a linear time algorithm which is able to insert an edge into an ec-planar graph H so that the insertion is crossing minimal among all ec-planar embeddings of H. As a side result, we characterize the set of all possible ec-planar embeddings using BC- and SPQR-trees.

We study the following problem: Given a planar graph G and a planar drawing (embedding) of a subgraph of G, can such a drawing be extended to a planar drawing of the entire graph G? This problem fits the paradigm of extending a partial solution to a complete one, which has been studied before in many different settings. Unlike many cases, in which the presence of a partial solution in the input makes hard an otherwise easy problem, we show that the planarity question remains polynomial-time solvable. Our algorithm is based on several combinatorial lemmata which show that the planarity of partially embedded graphs meets the “oncas” behaviour – obvious necessary conditions for planarity are also sufficient. These conditions are expressed in terms of the interplay between (a) rotation schemes and containment relationships between cycles and (b) the decomposition of a graph into its connected, biconnected, and triconnected components. This implies that no dynamic programming is needed for a decision algorithm and that the elements of the decomposition can be processed independently. Further, by equipping the components of the decomposition with suitable data structures and by carefully splitting the problem into simpler subproblems, we improve our algorithm to reach linear-time complexity. Finally, we consider several generalizations of the problem, e.g. minimizing the number of edges of the partial embedding that need to be rerouted to extend it, and argue that they are NP-hard. Also, we show how our algorithm can be applied to solve related Graph Drawing problems.

We present a linear-time algorithm for solving the simultaneous embedding problem with fixed edges (SEFE) for a planar graph and a pseudoforest (a graph with at most one cycle) by reducing it to the following embedding problem: Given a planar graph G, a cycle C of G, and a partitioning of the remaining vertices of G, does there exist a planar embedding in which the induced subgraph on each vertex partite of G \ C is contained entirely inside or outside C? For the latter problem, we present an algorithm that is based on SPQR-trees and has linear running time. We also show how we can employ SPQR-trees to decide SEFE for two planar graphs where one graph has at most two cycles and the intersection is a pseudoforest in linear time. These results give rise to our hope that our SPQR-tree approach might eventually lead to a polynomial-time algorithm for deciding the general SEFE problem for two planar graphs.