Why does Dgraph shortest path return more hops than Neo4j for the same data and how to get Neo4j-like paths in Dgraph?

[janakmistry]

I'm working with both Dgraph and Neo4j to find the shortest path between two nodes in a graph. However, I'm seeing different results in terms of path length (number of hops) for what should be the same data and relationships.

Dgraph Query

{ 
  var(func: eq(nt, "People")) @filter(eq(title, "person1")) { 
    start as uid 
  } 

  var(func: eq(nt, "Initiative")) @filter(eq(title, "test")) { 
    end as uid 
  } 

  path as shortest(from: uid(start), to: uid(end)) { 
    CONNECTED 
    OWNER 
    ~CONNECTED 
    ~OWNER 
  } 

  path(func: uid(path)) { 
    uid 
    nt 
    title 
  } 
}

Dgraph Result (5 hops):

"path": [
  { "uid": "0x972107", "nt": "People", "title": "person1" },
  { "uid": "0x9d3b7f", "nt": "Entity", "title": "abc llc" },
  { "uid": "0xbecd37", "nt": "People", "title": "person23" },
  { "uid": "0xa97091", "nt": "Function", "title": "admistrative assistant" },
  { "uid": "0xb8b27b", "nt": "Entity", "title": "test entity" },
  { "uid": "0xc053ee", "nt": "Initiative", "title": "test" }
]

So, Dgraph returns a path with 5 hops.

---

Neo4j Query

MATCH p=shortestPath((x:People {title: "person1"})-[*1..4]-(y:Initiative {title: "test"})) 
WHERE x <> y 
RETURN 
  extract(x IN nodes(p) | x.title) as titles, 
  extract(i IN relationships(p)| type(i)) as edge_titles, 
  extract(j IN nodes(p) | j.nt) as node_types

Neo4j Result (3 hops):

titles = [ "person1", "rfp", "test entity", "test" ]
edge_titles = [ "CONNECTED", "CONNECTED", "CONNECTED" ]
node_types = [ "People", "Function", "Entity", "Initiative" ]

Neo4j returns a path with 3 hops.

---

My Questions

• Why is Dgraph returning a longer path (more hops) than Neo4j for what should be the same data and relationships?
• How can I get Dgraph to return the same (shortest) path as Neo4j?
• Is there something about how Dgraph's shortest function works, or about the way I’m specifying the edges, that causes this difference?
• Are there any best practices for modeling or querying in Dgraph to ensure shortest path queries behave like Neo4j's?

---

Additional Info

• Both databases have the same data and relationships.
• In Dgraph, I’m using both forward and reverse edges in the shortest block.
• In Neo4j, I’m using an undirected variable-length path.

Any insights or suggestions would be appreciated!

[linear]

DGR-893 Why does Dgraph shortest path return more hops than Neo4j for the same data and how to get Neo4j-like paths in Dgraph?

[ryanfoxtyler]

conversation: https://discuss.hypermode.com/t/why-does-dgraph-shortest-path-return-more-hops-than-neo4j-for-the-same-data-and-how-to-get-neo4j-like-paths-in-dgraph/19922/6

[kalvdans]

DGR-893 Why does Dgraph shortest path return more hops than Neo4j for the same data and how to get Neo4j-like paths in Dgraph?

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