lap_animate: Animate an assignment algorithm step-by-step

In couplr: Optimal Pairing and Matching via Linear Assignment

Animate an assignment algorithm step-by-step

Description

Produce an interactive bipartite-graph animation showing how a chosen linear-assignment algorithm transforms the matching over time. The result is an htmlwidget suitable for use in R Markdown, Quarto, pkgdown vignettes, Shiny apps, or standalone HTML output.

Usage

lap_animate(
  cost,
  method = "hungarian",
  maximize = FALSE,
  width = NULL,
  height = NULL,
  elementId = NULL,
  ...
)

Arguments

cost	Numeric cost matrix. Rows = workers/sources, columns = jobs/targets. NA or Inf entries mark forbidden assignments.
method	Character; the algorithm to animate. Must match one of the methods registered for animation (see animated_methods() for the current list). Method names are the same strings used by assignment(), e.g. "hungarian", "jv", "auction", "gabow_tarjan".
maximize	Logical; if TRUE, animate the maximization variant.
width, height	Optional explicit widget dimensions (pixels or CSS units).
elementId	Optional DOM id for the widget container.
...	Algorithm-specific extra arguments forwarded to the trace function (e.g. auction_eps).

Details

This is a teaching interface. It runs a slower R reference implementation that emits a state trace at every step, then plays it back in the browser. For production solving, use assignment() or lap_solve() which call the fast C++ backends.

Value

An htmlwidget object.

Animated methods

Animation support is added incrementally. Call animated_methods() to see which method strings currently have a registered trace.

See Also

assignment() for production solving, lap_solve() for the tidy interface.

Examples

## Not run: 
cost <- matrix(c(4, 2, 5,
                 3, 3, 6,
                 7, 5, 4), nrow = 3, byrow = TRUE)
lap_animate(cost, method = "hungarian")

## End(Not run)

couplr documentation built on Sept. 17, 2026, 1:08 a.m.