finds a Chinese postman tour in the graph g of minimal length.
FindPostmanTour[g,k]
finds at most k Chinese postman tours.
FindPostmanTour[{vw,…},…]
uses rules vw to specify the graph g.


FindPostmanTour
finds a Chinese postman tour in the graph g of minimal length.
FindPostmanTour[g,k]
finds at most k Chinese postman tours.
FindPostmanTour[{vw,…},…]
uses rules vw to specify the graph g.
Details

- A Chinese postman tour is a tour that traverses each edge at least once.
- FindPostmanTour returns a list of edges consisting of Chinese postman tours.
- FindPostmanTour returns the list {} if no Chinese postman tours exist.
- FindPostmanTour[g] is equivalent to FindPostmanTour[g,1].
- FindPostmanTour works with undirected graphs, directed graphs, weighted graphs, and multigraphs.
Examples
open all close allBasic Examples (2)
Scope (8)
FindPostmanTour works with undirected graphs:
Find several Chinese postman tours:
Use rules to specify the graph:
FindPostmanTour returns an empty result for a graph with no Chinese postman tours:
FindPostmanTour works with large graphs:
Applications (3)
Find a shortest route that a newspaper carrier can use to distribute newspapers in a neighborhood:
Find the most efficient way for a letter carrier to deliver letters, knowing the time it takes to deliver mail on a street and the time it takes to walk a street without delivering mail (deadheading time):
A route that goes through all the streets and minimizes the total deadheading time:
Properties & Relations (2)
Related Guides
Text
Wolfram Research (2012), FindPostmanTour, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/FindPostmanTour.html (updated 2015).
CMS
Wolfram Language. 2012. "FindPostmanTour." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2015. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/FindPostmanTour.html.
APA
Wolfram Language. (2012). FindPostmanTour. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/FindPostmanTour.html
BibTeX
@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_findpostmantour, author="Wolfram Research", title="{FindPostmanTour}", year="2015", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/FindPostmanTour.html}", note=[Accessed: 14-August-2025]}
BibLaTeX
@online{reference.wolfram_2025_findpostmantour, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={FindPostmanTour}, year={2015}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/FindPostmanTour.html}, note=[Accessed: 14-August-2025]}