D3 force layout - linking nodes by name instead of index
Here is a straightforward way to do this:
var edges = [];json.Links.forEach(function(e) { var sourceNode = json.Nodes.filter(function(n) { return n.Id === e.Source; })[0], targetNode = json.Nodes.filter(function(n) { return n.Id === e.Target; })[0]; edges.push({ source: sourceNode, target: targetNode, value: e.Value });});force .nodes(json.Nodes) .links(edges) .start();var link = svg.selectAll(".link") .data(edges) ...Here is a working PLUNK. (You should fork it to be safe, in case I inadvertently delete it.)