How to make force layout graph in D3.js responsive to screen/browser size

Question

I have a graph using force layout, but it has a fixed width w and height h:

var svg = d3.select("#viz").append("svg")
            .attr("id", "playgraph")
            .attr("width", w)
            .attr("height", h)

var force = d3.layout.force()
              .nodes(nodes)
              .links(links)
              .charge(-1600)
              .linkDistance(45)
              .size([w, h]); 

which results in a svg graph that does not scale or down despite of changes in screen or browser window size. In order to make it responsive (i.e. automatically resizes itself), I tried using viewBox and preserveAspectRatio attributes:

var svg = d3.select("#viz").append("svg")
            .attr("id", "playgraph")
            .attr("width", w)
            .attr("height", h)
            .attr("viewBox", "0, 0, 600, 400")
            .attr("preserveAspectRatio", "xMidYMid meet");

Unfortunately, this didn't work as nothing happens when I adjust the browser window size. I wonder if the .size([w, h]) of the force graph has anything to do with this.

Please shed some light on how to use viewBox and preserveAspectRatio attributes with force layout graphs.

Answer 1

The problem is not within .size(), it's that you are stating the SVG dimensions in .attr("width", w) .attr("height", h). Remove these two attributes and you'll get it right...

var svg = d3.select("#viz").append("svg")
            .attr("id", "playgraph")
             //better to keep the viewBox dimensions with variables
            .attr("viewBox", "0 0 " + w + " " + h )
            .attr("preserveAspectRatio", "xMidYMid meet");

http://jsfiddle.net/aaSjd/