Disclosed are apparatus and methods for generating displays based on a layout with inconsistent constraints. The layout specifies a set of rectangular components within a container rectangle. A plurality of grid lines is determined from the layout. Each rectangular component is associated with at least two grid lines that are based on a size of the rectangular component. A system of constraints is generated that includes inconsistent constraints. A graph including a plurality of nodes and a plurality of edges is generated from the plurality of grid lines and the system of constraints. A variant of the Bellman-Ford algorithm configured to operate with the inconsistent constraints solves a single-source path-length problem for the graph to determine locations for the grid lines. A display of the rectangular components is generated based on the locations of the grid lines.