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Copilot AI commented Oct 26, 2025

Users need edge lists in the flat vector format c(from1, to1, from2, to2, ...) for make_graph() and C library interop. Currently requires inefficient transpose workaround: as.vector(t(as_edgelist(g))).

Changes

  • Added as.vector parameter to as_edgelist() (defaults to FALSE for backward compatibility)
  • When TRUE, returns flat vector directly from C layer without matrix conversion
  • Works with both numeric IDs and vertex names
  • ~38% faster than transpose workaround

Usage

g <- make_graph(c(1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5))

# Before: inefficient transpose
edges <- as.vector(t(as_edgelist(g, names = FALSE)))

# After: direct vector output
edges <- as_edgelist(g, names = FALSE, as.vector = TRUE)

# Suitable for make_graph()
g2 <- make_graph(edges)

Addresses use cases in leidenbase (#39) and leidenAlg (#13) for efficient graph conversion.

Original prompt

This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>Obtain an edges vector in a form suitable for make_graph()</issue_title>
<issue_description>What is the feature or improvement you would like to see?

There should be a function that retrieves an edge list in a form suitable for make_graph(), as well as suitable for the C function igraph_create().

as_edgelist() returns a matrix, not a vector, and converting to a vector gives the vertex IDs in the wrong order:

> g<-make_graph(c(1,2, 2,3, 3,4, 4,5))
> as.vector(as_edgelist(g, names=F))
[1] 1 2 3 4 2 3 4 5

Instead one must transpose the matrix first, which is inefficient:

> as.vector(t(as_edgelist(g, names=F)))
[1] 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5

A more efficient way is

> .Call(igraph:::R_igraph_get_edgelist, g, F)
[1] 0 1 1 2 2 3 3 4

but this uses an internal function.

Use cases for the feature

For libraries that need to convert igraph graphs efficiently, such as leidenbase or leidenalg.

References

Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)

@schochastics This is `as_edgelist` ```r as_edgelist <- function(graph, names = TRUE) { ensure_igraph(graph) on.exit(.Call(R_igraph_finalizer)) res <- matrix(.Call(R_igraph_get_edgelist, graph, TRUE), ncol = 2) res <- res + 1 if (names && "name" %in% vertex_attr_names(graph)) { res <- matrix(V(graph)$name[res], ncol = 2) }

res
}


Simple solution would be to a add a bool (just `arg` here) that defaults to `TRUE`?

```r
as_edgelist <- function(graph, names = TRUE, arg = TRUE) {
  ensure_igraph(graph)
  on.exit(.Call(R_igraph_finalizer))
  res <- matrix(.Call(R_igraph_get_edgelist, graph, TRUE), ncol = 2)
  res <- res + 1
  if(arg){
	res <- matrix(.Call(R_igraph_get_edgelist, graph, TRUE), ncol = 2)
  	if (names && "name" %in% vertex_attr_names(graph)) {
      res <- matrix(V(graph)$name[res], ncol = 2)
  	}
  } else{
    res <- .Call(R_igraph_get_edgelist, graph, FALSE)
    if (names && "name" %in% vertex_attr_names(graph)) {
      res <- V(graph)$name[res]
  	}
  }

  res
}
```</body></comment_new>
</comments>


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Copilot AI self-assigned this Oct 26, 2025
Copilot AI changed the title [WIP] Add function to obtain edges vector for make_graph() feat: add as.vector parameter to as_edgelist() Oct 26, 2025
Copilot AI requested a review from krlmlr October 26, 2025 21:27
Copilot finished work on behalf of krlmlr October 26, 2025 21:27
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Obtain an edges vector in a form suitable for make_graph()

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