Grid-based rendering of nodes and relationships between nodes

A system comprising:

• one or more computers;
• and
• a computer-readable medium coupled to the one or more computers having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the one or more computers, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:
• identifying model information that identifies nodes and relationships between related nodes;
• rendering, in a graphical model, the identified nodes in a grid layout, wherein each cell of the grid includes at most one node, and wherein the cells are separated by lane areas in which connections can be rendered;
• rendering, in the lane areas, orthogonal connections between the nodes, the orthogonal connections corresponding to the identified relationships between the related nodes, wherein one or more portions of the orthogonal connections are overlapped in a common portion when two or more orthogonal connections are drawn in a same lane area and wherein the orthogonal connections, the rendered nodes, and the lane areas comprise selectable items;
• receiving a first user selection of a first selectable item, as a first selected item;
• highlighting, in response to the first user selection, orthogonal connections and nodes that are associated with the first selected item, including highlighting a second selectable item and a third selectable item;
• receiving, after the first user selection, and while the second selectable item and the third selectable item are highlighted, a second user selection selecting a fourth selectable item as a second selected item;
• determining that the second selectable item is associated with both the first selected item and the second selected item;
• maintaining highlighting of the second selectable item based on determining that the second selectable item is associated with both the first selected item and the second selected item;
• determining that the third selectable item is associated with the first selected item but not associated with the second selected item;
• and
• removing highlighting from the third selectable item based on determining that the third selectable item is associated with the first selected item but not associated with the second selected item.

A computer program product encoded on a non-transitory storage medium, the product comprising non-transitory, computer readable instructions for causing one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

• identifying model information that identifies nodes and relationships between related nodes;
• rendering, in a graphical model, the identified nodes in a grid layout, wherein each cell of the grid includes at most one node, and wherein the cells are separated by lane areas in which connections can be rendered;
• rendering, in the lane areas, orthogonal connections between the nodes, the orthogonal connections corresponding to the identified relationships between the related nodes, wherein one or more portions of the orthogonal connections are overlapped in a common portion when two or more orthogonal connections are drawn in a same lane area and wherein the orthogonal connections, the rendered nodes, and the lane areas comprise selectable items;
• receiving a first user selection of a first selectable item, as a first selected item;
• highlighting, in response to the first user selection, orthogonal connections and nodes that are associated with the first selected item, including highlighting a second selectable item and a third selectable item;
• receiving, after the first user selection, and while the second selectable item and the third selectable item are highlighted, a second user selection selecting a fourth selectable item as a second selected item;
• determining that the second selectable item is associated with both the first selected item and the second selected item;
• maintaining highlighting of the second selectable item based on determining that the second selectable item is associated with both the first selected item and the second selected item;
• determining that the third selectable item is associated with the first selected item but not associated with the second selected item;
• and
• removing highlighting from the third selectable item based on determining that the third selectable item is associated with the first selected item but not associated with the second selected item.