Dane:
An entire set is a subset of itself, so we just said the same thing. But we can happily skip the mathematical set theory and just find you a solution.
What you can do is create what you've called a "template file" that contains vertices that are locked in place, but that has no edges. (I don't mean an Excel template file, which is a different beast, and I know you don't mean that either.) To do that, follow these steps:
1) Create a new NodeXL workbook.
2) Switch to the Vertices worksheet using the tabs at the lower-left corner of the Excel window.
3) For each of your 18 vertices, enter a name in the Vertex column.
4) In the first empty cell in the Visibility column, enter ="show". That will fill the entire Visibility column with "show", which is what is required to get an isolated vertex to appear when you show the graph.
5) Fill in any other visual property columns you want to specify, such as Color or Shape.
6) Select a layout in NodeXL, Graph, Layout.
7) Click Show Graph.
8) Manually rearrange the vertices if necessary.
9) (Important!) Set NodeXL Graph, Layout to "None." This prevents the vertices from moving when you click Refresh Graph.
10) Save the workbook. Call it BrainTemplate.xlsx, for example.
Now, for each of your individual graphs, do this:
11) In Windows Explorer copy BrainTemplate.xlsx to BrainTemplate01.xlsx, for example.
12) In Excel, open BrainTemplate01.xlsx.
13) Fill in the Edges worksheet. In the Vertex 1 and Vertex 2 columns, be sure to use the exact names you used back in step 3.
14) Click Show Graph.
15) You'll get a warning about the Layout being set to None, because the graph has never been laid out before. Answer "Yes" to the warning.
That's it. In step 14, NodeXL will not create a vertex in the Vertices worksheet if the vertex is already there, so you will end up reusing the same 18 vertices for each of your workbooks. And because you used a layout of "None", the vertices will be in the same place in each workbook.
-- Tony
An entire set is a subset of itself, so we just said the same thing. But we can happily skip the mathematical set theory and just find you a solution.
What you can do is create what you've called a "template file" that contains vertices that are locked in place, but that has no edges. (I don't mean an Excel template file, which is a different beast, and I know you don't mean that either.) To do that, follow these steps:
1) Create a new NodeXL workbook.
2) Switch to the Vertices worksheet using the tabs at the lower-left corner of the Excel window.
3) For each of your 18 vertices, enter a name in the Vertex column.
4) In the first empty cell in the Visibility column, enter ="show". That will fill the entire Visibility column with "show", which is what is required to get an isolated vertex to appear when you show the graph.
5) Fill in any other visual property columns you want to specify, such as Color or Shape.
6) Select a layout in NodeXL, Graph, Layout.
7) Click Show Graph.
8) Manually rearrange the vertices if necessary.
9) (Important!) Set NodeXL Graph, Layout to "None." This prevents the vertices from moving when you click Refresh Graph.
10) Save the workbook. Call it BrainTemplate.xlsx, for example.
Now, for each of your individual graphs, do this:
11) In Windows Explorer copy BrainTemplate.xlsx to BrainTemplate01.xlsx, for example.
12) In Excel, open BrainTemplate01.xlsx.
13) Fill in the Edges worksheet. In the Vertex 1 and Vertex 2 columns, be sure to use the exact names you used back in step 3.
14) Click Show Graph.
15) You'll get a warning about the Layout being set to None, because the graph has never been laid out before. Answer "Yes" to the warning.
That's it. In step 14, NodeXL will not create a vertex in the Vertices worksheet if the vertex is already there, so you will end up reusing the same 18 vertices for each of your workbooks. And because you used a layout of "None", the vertices will be in the same place in each workbook.
-- Tony