Network graph

Network graphs for visualising connections

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.

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:

  • current (Maximum value in data)
  • arbitrary (Arbitrary maximum value)

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).

directional boolean

Show arrows on links.

Width.

Minimum width. Any smaller links will be scaled up to the specified level. (Ignored if greater than the “Maximum width” setting.)

Maximum width.

Min: 1

Scale links relative to:.

Allowed values:

  • current (Maximum value in data)
  • arbitrary (Arbitrary maximum value)

Value. Values bigger than this maximum will have a width equal to the maximum width

Colour.

Opacity.

Max: 1

Colour (highlighted).

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

Text.

Outline.

Make popups transparent.

Allowed values:

  • always (Always)
  • both (When overlapping points or links)
  • nodes (When overlapping points)
  • never (Never)

Opacity.

Min: 0.1

Max: 1

Legend

legend_show boolean

Show legend.

legend_interaction string

When clicking a legend item.

Allowed values:

  • filter_and_layout (Hide/show groups and update layout)
  • filter_in_position (Hide/show groups in current layout)
  • none (Nothing)

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.title string

Title.

header.subtitle string

Subtitle.

header.color color

Color.

header.align string

Alignment.

Allowed values:

  • left (fa-align-left)
  • center (fa-align-center)
  • right (fa-align-right)

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.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:

  • left (fa-align-left)
  • center (fa-align-center)
  • right (fa-align-right)

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:

  • ,. (12,235.67)
  • ., (12.345,67)
  • . (12235.67)
  • , (12345,67)
  • . (12 235.67)
  • , (12 345,67)