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SetProperty[{obj,itemspec},namevalue]

sets the property namevalue for itemspec in obj.

Details
Details and Options Details and Options
Examples  
Basic Examples  
Scope  
Basic Uses  
Vertex Properties  
Edge Properties  
Applications  
Properties & Relations  
Possible Issues  
See Also
Related Guides
History
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SetProperty

As of Version 12.1, SetProperty has been superseded by Annotate.

SetProperty[{obj,itemspec},namevalue]

sets the property namevalue for itemspec in obj.

Details

  • Properties are used to store and manipulate name->value pairs for specific named items within an object such as Graph.
  • SetProperty will produce an object with a modified property value.
  • The item specification itemspec typically has the form {collection,index}.
  • The index can typically have the following forms:
  • inda single index
    {ind1,ind2,…}a list of indexes
    Allall possible indexes in collection
    pattindexes that match patt in collection
  • The collection can typically have the following forms:
  • cola single collection
    {col1,col2,…}a list of collections
    Allall possible collections
    pattcollections that match patt
  • The item specification itemspec of the form collection refers to the default value for all indexes in the collection.
  • The items available for Graph objects include vertices and edges.

Examples

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Basic Examples  (2)

Specify a vertex or edge property:

Wolfram Language code: g = CompleteGraph[4]
Wolfram Language code: {SetProperty[{g, 1}, VertexLabels -> "one"], SetProperty[{g, 12}, EdgeStyle -> Brown]}

Use SetProperty to override the vertex style:

Wolfram Language code: CompleteGraph[4, VertexSize -> Small]
Wolfram Language code: SetProperty[{%, 1}, VertexStyle -> Red]
Wolfram Language code: SetProperty[{%, 1}, VertexStyle -> Blue]

Scope  (6)

Basic Uses  (2)

Set properties for vertices:

Wolfram Language code: SetProperty[{[image], 1}, VertexSize -> Small]

And edges:

Wolfram Language code: SetProperty[{[image], 12}, EdgeLabels -> "hello"]

Set several properties for a vertex:

Wolfram Language code: SetProperty[{[image], 1}, {VertexStyle -> Magenta, VertexLabels -> "hello"}]

And for an edge:

Wolfram Language code: SetProperty[{[image], 12}, {EdgeStyle -> Magenta, EdgeLabels -> "hello"}]

Vertex Properties  (2)

Standard vertex properties include VertexStyle:

Wolfram Language code: g = CompleteGraph[4, VertexSize -> Medium]
Wolfram Language code: SetProperty[{g, 4}, VertexStyle -> Red]

VertexLabels:

Wolfram Language code: SetProperty[{g, 1}, VertexLabels -> "one"]

VertexSize:

Wolfram Language code: SetProperty[{g, 1}, VertexSize -> Tiny]

VertexShape:

Wolfram Language code: SetProperty[{g, 1}, VertexShape -> [image]]

VertexShapeFunction:

Wolfram Language code: SetProperty[{g, 2}, VertexShapeFunction -> "Square"]

Non-visual properties include VertexWeight:

Wolfram Language code: SetProperty[{g, 1}, VertexWeight -> 100]
Wolfram Language code: PropertyValue[{%, 1}, VertexWeight]

Set a custom property:

Wolfram Language code: SetProperty[{[image], 2}, "Material" -> "Wood"]
Wolfram Language code: PropertyValue[{%, 2}, "Material"]

Edge Properties  (2)

Standard edge properties include EdgeStyle:

Wolfram Language code: g = CompleteGraph[4]
Wolfram Language code: SetProperty[{g, 12}, EdgeStyle -> Brown]

EdgeLabels:

Wolfram Language code: SetProperty[{g, 12}, EdgeLabels -> 12]

EdgeShapeFunction:

Wolfram Language code: SetProperty[{g, 34}, EdgeShapeFunction -> "HalfFilledDoubleArrow"]

Non-visual properties include EdgeWeight:

Wolfram Language code: SetProperty[{g, 12}, EdgeWeight -> 42]
Wolfram Language code: PropertyValue[{%, 12}, EdgeWeight]

Set a custom property:

Wolfram Language code: SetProperty[{[image], 24}, "Resistance" -> 50.]
Wolfram Language code: PropertyValue[{%, 24}, "Resistance"]

Applications  (3)

Use Fold to apply SetProperty repeatedly:

Wolfram Language code: g = CycleGraph[8, VertexSize -> Large]
Wolfram Language code: Fold[SetProperty[{#1, #2}, VertexStyle -> ColorData[45, #2]]&, g, Range[1, 5]]

See all the partial results:

Wolfram Language code: FoldList[SetProperty[{#1, #2}, VertexStyle -> ColorData[45, #2]]&, g, Range[1, 6]]

Create a graph:

Wolfram Language code: g = CompleteGraph[4]

Temporarily highlight one vertex:

Wolfram Language code: SetProperty[{g, 1}, VertexSize -> Medium]

Then another:

Wolfram Language code: SetProperty[{g, 2}, VertexSize -> Medium]

Highlight the edges visited during a breadth-first scan:

Wolfram Language code: g = CompleteKaryTree[4, 3, DirectedEdges -> True]
Wolfram Language code: ListAnimate[Reap[BreadthFirstScan[g, {"FrontierEdge" -> (Sow[SetProperty[{g, #}, EdgeStyle -> Red]]& )}]][[2, 1]], DefaultDuration -> Length[EdgeList[g]] / 2, SaveDefinitions -> True]

Properties & Relations  (6)

Use Property as a wrapper to specify properties in functions such as Graph:

Wolfram Language code: Graph[{Property[1, {VertexSize -> Medium, VertexStyle -> Red}], 2, 3}, {12, 23, 31}]

Use PropertyValue to extract values:

Wolfram Language code: g = CompleteGraph[4, VertexStyle -> {1 -> Red}, VertexSize -> Small]
Wolfram Language code: PropertyValue[{g, 1}, VertexStyle]

For undefined properties, the value $Failed is returned:

Wolfram Language code: PropertyValue[{g, 1}, "foo"]
Wolfram Language code: MemberQ[PropertyList[{g, 1}], "foo"]

Use PropertyValue to set properties in a graph:

Wolfram Language code: g = CompleteGraph[4]
Wolfram Language code: PropertyValue[{g, 1}, VertexSize] = Small;

The original graph has changed:

Wolfram Language code: g

Use PropertyValue to unset properties in a graph:

Wolfram Language code: g = CompleteGraph[4, VertexSize -> {1 -> Small}]
Wolfram Language code: PropertyValue[{g, 1}, VertexSize]=.;

The original graph has changed:

Wolfram Language code: g

Use PropertyList to test for the presence of a property:

Wolfram Language code: g = CompleteGraph[4, VertexLabels -> {1 -> one, 4 -> four}]
Wolfram Language code: MemberQ[PropertyList[{g, 1}], VertexLabels]

Generate a list of vertex label rules:

Wolfram Language code: Cases[VertexList[g], v_ /; MemberQ[PropertyList[{g, v}], VertexLabels] :> v -> PropertyValue[{g, v}, VertexLabels]]

Use RemoveProperty to remove a property without changing the original:

Wolfram Language code: g = CompleteGraph[4, VertexStyle -> {1 -> Red}, VertexSize -> Small]
Wolfram Language code: RemoveProperty[{g, 1}, VertexStyle]

The original graph is unchanged:

Wolfram Language code: g

Possible Issues  (1)

PropertyValue is typically faster than SetProperty:

Wolfram Language code: g = CycleGraph[1000];
Wolfram Language code: Timing@Do[PropertyValue[{g, v}, VertexWeight] = RandomReal[], {v, VertexList[g]}]
Wolfram Language code: g = CycleGraph[1000];
Wolfram Language code: Timing@Do[g = SetProperty[{g, v}, VertexWeight -> RandomReal[]], {v, VertexList[g]}]
Wolfram Research (2010), SetProperty, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/SetProperty.html.

Text

Wolfram Research (2010), SetProperty, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/SetProperty.html.

CMS

Wolfram Language. 2010. "SetProperty." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/SetProperty.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (2010). SetProperty. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/SetProperty.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2026_setproperty, author="Wolfram Research", title="{SetProperty}", year="2010", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/SetProperty.html}", note=[Accessed: 15-June-2026]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2026_setproperty, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={SetProperty}, year={2010}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/SetProperty.html}, note=[Accessed: 15-June-2026]}