Network graph
Updated 6 years ago to v4.0.2 by Flourish team
How to use this template
Network graph
A template that renders a network of points and links as a force-directed graph (AKA a “node-link diagram”).
Data requirements
The minimum data requirement is a two-column list of “Links”. Each row in the list specifies the points (displayed as circles) at either end of a link (displayed as a line). You can optionally include a third column that is used to set the width of the link. (This can be thought of as visual indicator of the strength or weight of a link.)
While the Links sheet is sufficient to create a network diagram, a second “Points” sheet allows for further flexibility. Rather than letting Flourish determine all the points to add to the network based on those listed in the Links sheet, the rows in the Points sheet define the complete collection of points. This sheet can also be used to assign groups (encoded using colour) and sizes to the points.
Tips
- Initially it is assumed that the network diagram is undirected. However, the “Network is directional” checkbox in the “Arrows” settings panel will turn each link into an arrow going from the “Source” point to the “Destination” point.
- The D3 force documentation may be useful for understanding the advanced settings.
API information
This section documents API usage specific to this template, so for an introduction we suggest you refer to the generic API documentation instead.
template: @flourish/network-graph
version: 4
Template data
There are three different formats in which you can supply data to this template. The most convenient for you to use likely depends on the source of your data, as described below.
1. Array of arrays, and a bindings object
You can supply arrays of arrays to opts.data
, which might look
like:
{ data: { links: [ [ "LinksColumn1Value1", "LinksColumn2Value1", [ "LinksColumn1Value2", "LinksColumn2Value2", [ "LinksColumn1Value3", "LinksColumn2Value3", ... ], nodes: [ [ "NodesColumn1Value1", "NodesColumn2Value1", [ "NodesColumn1Value2", "NodesColumn2Value2", [ "NodesColumn1Value3", "NodesColumn2Value3", ... ] } }
where each array of arrays represents the rows in a data sheet.
To tell the API how the values from each column should be
associated with the keys that the template is expecting, you must also supply
an object attached to opts.bindings
. (The meanings of the
keys in the bindings object are documented
below.) The minimal bindings you can
supply for this template are as shown in this example:
{ template: "@flourish/network-graph", version: "4", bindings: { links: { source: 0, // index of a column in your data target: 1, // index of a column in your data }, nodes: { } }, data: { links: [ [ "LinksColumn1Value1", "LinksColumn2Value1", [ "LinksColumn1Value2", "LinksColumn2Value2", [ "LinksColumn1Value3", "LinksColumn2Value3", ... ], nodes: [ [ "NodesColumn1Value1", "NodesColumn2Value1", [ "NodesColumn1Value2", "NodesColumn2Value2", [ "NodesColumn1Value3", "NodesColumn2Value3", ... ] } }
All possible bindings that you can supply are shown in this example:
{ template: "@flourish/network-graph", version: "4", bindings: { links: { source: 0, // index of a column in your data target: 1, // index of a column in your data value: 2, // index of a column in your data }, nodes: { id: 0, // index of a column in your data group: 1, // index of a column in your data size: 2, // index of a column in your data metadata: [3, 4, ...], // index(es) of column(s) in your data } }, data: { links: [ [ "LinksColumn1Value1", "LinksColumn2Value1", [ "LinksColumn1Value2", "LinksColumn2Value2", [ "LinksColumn1Value3", "LinksColumn2Value3", ... ], nodes: [ [ "NodesColumn1Value1", "NodesColumn2Value1", [ "NodesColumn1Value2", "NodesColumn2Value2", [ "NodesColumn1Value3", "NodesColumn2Value3", ... ] } }
2. Array of objects with arbitrary keys, and a bindings object
This format is most likely useful when you have data from an external source,
such as CSV data loaded from d3-dsv.
You should supply this attached to the opts.data
, which might look
like:
{ links: [ { "LinksHeader1": ..., "LinksHeader2": ..., ... }, { "LinksHeader1": ..., "LinksHeader2": ..., ... }, { "LinksHeader1": ..., "LinksHeader2": ..., ... }, ... ], nodes: [ { "NodesHeader1": ..., "NodesHeader2": ..., ... }, { "NodesHeader1": ..., "NodesHeader2": ..., ... }, { "NodesHeader1": ..., "NodesHeader2": ..., ... }, ... ] }
... but with the keys being the column headers from your
source data instead. You must also supply an object attached to
opts.bindings
. The minimal bindings you can
supply for this template are as shown in this example:
{ template: "@flourish/network-graph", version: "4", bindings: { links: { source: "LinksHeader1", target: "LinksHeader2", }, nodes: { } }, data: { links: [ { "LinksHeader1": ..., "LinksHeader2": ..., ... }, { "LinksHeader1": ..., "LinksHeader2": ..., ... }, { "LinksHeader1": ..., "LinksHeader2": ..., ... }, ... ], nodes: [ { "NodesHeader1": ..., "NodesHeader2": ..., ... }, { "NodesHeader1": ..., "NodesHeader2": ..., ... }, { "NodesHeader1": ..., "NodesHeader2": ..., ... }, ... ] } }
All possible bindings that you can supply are shown in this example:
{ template: "@flourish/network-graph", version: "4", bindings: { links: { source: "LinksHeader1", target: "LinksHeader2", value: "LinksHeader3", }, nodes: { id: "NodesHeader1", group: "NodesHeader2", size: "NodesHeader3", metadata: ["NodesHeader4", "NodesHeader5", ...], } }, data: { links: [ { "LinksHeader1": ..., "LinksHeader2": ..., ... }, { "LinksHeader1": ..., "LinksHeader2": ..., ... }, { "LinksHeader1": ..., "LinksHeader2": ..., ... }, ... ], nodes: [ { "NodesHeader1": ..., "NodesHeader2": ..., ... }, { "NodesHeader1": ..., "NodesHeader2": ..., ... }, { "NodesHeader1": ..., "NodesHeader2": ..., ... }, ... ] } }
(As before, the keys containing "Header" would be replaced by column names from your data source.)
3. Array of objects with template-defined keys
There is an alternative format you can use, which is likely to be easier to
use if your data is not from a spreadsheet source. With this alternative format
you supply your data to the template as
an array of objects, attached to opts.data
, where the keys must
be those used by the template, as documented below. In this case
there is no need to supply a bindings object, since the key names are already
those expected by the template. The required properties in the data
object are as follows (scroll down for a
description of what each property is):
{ template: "@flourish/network-graph", version: "4", data: { links: [ { source: ..., target: ... }, ... ], nodes: [ { metadata: [...] }, ... ] }, ... }
And the full list of all possible properties is as follows:
{ template: "@flourish/network-graph", version: "4", data: { links: [ { source: ..., target: ..., value: ... }, ... ], nodes: [ { id: ..., group: ..., size: ..., metadata: [...] }, ... ] }, ... }
Meanings of the template data keys:
- links.source: source
- links.target: target
- links.value: A numerical value used to set the thickness of the links.
- nodes.id: A unique identifier for each point in the network. If not specified, point information will be extracted from the links sheet.
- nodes.group: A group to which the point belongs. If set, can be used to colour the points. Ignored if ID not set
- nodes.size: A numerical value used to size the points. Ignored if ID not set
- nodes.metadata: Specify additional columns to include in custom popup text (popup text must also be specified in settings panel). Ignored if ID not set
Template settings
Options for opts.state
.
General
background_color color
Background colour.
fade_opacity number
Opacity of de-emphasized items. When a point is emphasized, how opaque the rest of the network should be Max: 1
Points
constant_node_radius number
Radius.
min_node_radius number
Minimum radius. Any smaller circles will be scaled up to the specified level. (Ignored if greater than the “Maximum radius” setting.)
max_node_radius number
Maximum radius. Min: 1
node_scale_type string
Scale points relative to:. Allowed values:
max_node_value number
Value. Values bigger than this maximum will have a radius equal to the maximum radius
auto_scale boolean
Scale points down when not enough space.
max_fullness number
Max total point area. What percent of the space can the points fill before they are scaled down.
Colour
color.palette colors
Palette.
color.extend boolean
Auto-extend. Automatically generate additional colours when needed to avoid the palette colours being used more than once. Added colours are based on the average lightness and chroma values of the palette. This works best if the palette’s colours do not have very high or low saturation.
color.advanced boolean
Fine tune. Fine tune how additional colours are added to the palette.
color.hue_rotation_angle number
Hue rotation for added colours. Angle, in degrees in HCL colourspace, between one generated colour and the next. The default value, ~360/(Golden ratio), ensures adjacent hues are not too similar. Max: 360
color.custom_palette text
Custom overrides. Type the name of the entity whose colour you want to set, a colon and then a colour (using a name, hex-code or rgb declaration). Multiple colours can be set using multiple lines. For example:
Party 1: red
Party 2: #4455AA
Party 3: rgb(30,168,26)
node_stroke_width number
Width. Max: 5
node_stroke_color color
Colour.
node_highlight_stroke_color color
Colour (highlighted).
Links
directional boolean
Show arrows on links.
constant_link_width number
Width.
min_link_width number
Minimum width. Any smaller links will be scaled up to the specified level. (Ignored if greater than the “Maximum width” setting.)
max_link_width number
Maximum width. Min: 1
link_scale_type string
Scale links relative to:. Allowed values:
max_link_value number
Value. Values bigger than this maximum will have a width equal to the maximum width
link_color color
Colour.
link_opacity number
Opacity. Max: 1
link_highlight_color color
Colour (highlighted).
link_highlight_opacity number
Opacity (highlighted). Max: 1
Popups
show_popup boolean
Show popup on points.
custom_popup boolean
Use custom text in popups.
custom_popup_text text
Custom popup text. Use HTML markup, plus column names inside {{brackets}}, to include data
popup_text_color color
Text.
popup_box_color color
Outline.
popup_opacity_mode string
Make popups transparent. Allowed values:
popup_opacity number
Opacity. Min: 0.1 Max: 1
Legend
legend_show boolean
Show legend.
legend_interaction string
When clicking a legend item. Allowed values:
Animations
animate_simulation boolean
Animate network simulation. Display the initial animation of the network
simulation_speed number
Animation speed. Min: 1 Max: 10
Advanced
many_body_strength number
Repulsion between points. How strongly the points repulse each others. Known as “many-body force”. Measured in arbitrary units. Max: 50
collision_strength number
Collision-force strength. How strongly the points push away from each other when colliding. In arbitrary units. Max: 10
Header
header.title string
Title.
header.subtitle string
Subtitle.
header.color color
Color.
header.align string
Alignment. Allowed values:
header.margin number
Margin.
header.margin_advanced boolean
Advanced margin settings.
header.margin_top number
Top.
header.margin_right number
Right.
header.margin_bottom number
Bottom.
header.margin_left number
Left.
Footer
footer.source_name string
Source name.
footer.source_url string
Source url.
footer.multiple_sources boolean
Multiple sources.
footer.source_name_2 string
Source name.
footer.source_url_2 string
Source url.
footer.source_name_3 string
Source name.
footer.source_url_3 string
Source url.
footer.source_label string
Source label.
footer.note string
Note.
footer.size number
Size.
footer.color color
Color.
footer.align string
Alignment. Allowed values:
footer.margin number
Overall.
footer.margin_top number
Top.
footer.margin_right number
Right.
footer.margin_bottom number
Bottom.
footer.margin_left number
Left.
footer.margin_advanced boolean
Advanced.
Number formatting
localization.input_decimal_separator string
Decimal separator in data sheet. Used for interpreting your data. Only change if data is not displaying on the chart as expected. Allowed values:
localization.output_separators string
Number format to display. How the numbers should appear on chart labels Allowed values: