How to create a .gephi file in networkX

I cannot create a .graph file from Python and the only thing that I can create is a .gexf file with:

networkx.write_gexf(graph, "test.gexf")

It didn't work with:

networkx.write_gexf(graph, "test.gephi")

According to networkX documentation. The point of this function is to:

Write G in GEXF format to path.

With G being a graph.

In order to obtain a .gephi file I would suggest opening the .gexf obtained from networkX with Gephi and saving as a .gephi.

Steps in pictures(example):

1. Write your graph as a .gexf file:

some_graph = nx.path_graph(4)
nx.write_gexf(some_graph, "some_graph.gexf")

2. Open Gephi and select Open Graph File...:

3. Select File>Save As...

4. Next, choose File Format: Gephi Files (*.gephi)

Something to have in mind:

According to the Gephi Quick Start Tutorial:

Saving your project [as a .gephi file] encapsulates all data and results in a single session file.

The .gephi file format is meant to be used as a "session file", not to be used as an import file for Gephi.

Instead a specific file format(.gexf) was created by the Gephi project:

GEXF (Graph Exchange XML Format) is a language for describing complex networks structures, their associated data and dynamics.

(see further info about this file format here)

In essence...

If you need/want a graph saved as a file, use one of these formats.
With GEXF always being the most liberating one(allowing more features).

However, If you need/want to save a session after manipulating a graph using Gephi, use .gephi.

Also, take into consideration the difference in size of the file formats:

For our example above:

• the original graph in GEFX format has a size of 714 bytes.
• a blank session with the same GEFX graph imported in GEPHI format has a size of 8722 bytes.