Working with Network Diagrams

About Network Diagrams

A network diagram displays the relationships between category values as a series of linked nodes.

You can create two types of network diagrams:

Hierarchical

creates a hierarchical structure by using a hierarchy or a set of categories.

Ungrouped

creates a structure by using a source data item and a target data item. A node is created for each value of the source data item, and a link is created from each node to the node that corresponds to the value of the target data item.

For example, if your source data item specifies the name of every employee in an organization, and your target data item specifies the manager of each employee, then the network diagram has a node for each employee that is linked to the node for the employee’s manager.

Data Roles for a Network Diagrams

Basic Data Roles for a Hierarchical Network Diagram

The basic data role for a hierarchical network diagram is Levels. Specify a hierarchy or any number of categories. The data items in the Levels role specify the nodes of the network diagram. If you add categories to the Levels role, then the order of the categories determines their hierarchical relationship. You can drag and drop the categories to arrange them.

Basic Data Roles for an Ungrouped Network Diagram

The basic data roles for an ungrouped network diagram are the Source and the Target. The Source specifies a category that contains all of the node values for the plot. The Target specifies a category that creates the links between nodes. The Target category must contain a subset of the values of the Source category.

Additional Data Roles for a Network Diagram

In addition to the basic data roles, you can specify the following additional data roles for a network diagram:

Node Size

specifies a measure that determines the size of the nodes in the diagram.

Node Color

specifies a data item that determines the color of the nodes in the diagram.

Link Width

specifies a measure that determines the width of the links in the diagram.

Link Color

specifies a data item that determines the color of the links in the diagram.

Data Tips

specifies data items whose values are included in the data tips for the diagram. Measure values are aggregated by sum.

Specify Properties for a Network Diagram

On the Properties tab, you can specify the following options:

Name

specifies the name of the visualization.

Title

specifies the title that appears above the graph.

Note: The Title option is disabled if you select Generate graph title.

Generate graph title

specifies that the graph title is generated automatically based on the data items in the visualization.

Show Map

displays the network as an overlay on a geographic map.

Note: This option is available only if geographies are assigned to all of the data roles that create nodes. For hierarchical diagrams, all of the Levels must be geographies. For ungrouped diagrams, the Source and Target must be geographies.

Show Labels

shows the node values as text inside each node.

Show Direction

shows the links in the diagram as arrows.

Map service

if your diagram contains a map, specifies the source for the background map.

Node color

selects the color gradient for the nodes in the diagram. You can click the Edit color gradient button

to select the values that are used to assign the colors. See Specify a Custom Data Range.

Note: This option is available only if you assign a measure to the Node Color data role.

Link color

selects the color gradient for the links in the diagram. You can click the Edit color gradient button

to select the values that are used to assign the colors. See Specify a Custom Data Range.

Note: This option is available only if you assign a measure to the Link Color data role.

Additional levels

for hierarchical diagrams only, specifies the number of levels that are displayed beneath the current level.

Node spacing

specifies the amount of space between nodes in the diagram.

Source node

displays the current node selection. To remove the node selection, select Reset Selection

Predecessors

selects the number of levels of predecessors (parents) of the source node to select. 0 specifies the source node. Note that you can specify a range by making multiple selections. For example, select both 0 and 1 to specify that the source node and the first level of predecessors are selected.

Successors

selects the number of levels of successors (children) of the source node to select. 0 specifies the source node. Note that you can specify a range by making multiple selections. For example, select both 0 and 1 to specify that the source node and the first level of successors are selected.

Arrange Nodes in a Network Diagram

Move Nodes

You can move any node in the diagram by clicking the node and dragging it. You can move multiple nodes in the diagram by selecting the nodes that you want to move and dragging them.

Note: The positions of the nodes in your diagram are saved with your exploration.

Refresh the Node Layout

You can refresh your node layout by clicking Layout nodes

. The network diagram creates a new node layout based on your current node layout. This is especially useful after you have moved nodes manually. Refreshing the node layout adjusts the spacing and orientation of your nodes.

Use the Spotlight Tool to View Multiple Data Tips

The spotlight tool enables you to view data tips for all of the nodes that are within a circular area around the cursor.

Click

to enable or disable the spotlight tool.

Select Nodes in a Network Diagram

You can select nodes in the diagram by using any of the following methods:

Click and drag the cursor to create a rectangular selection.
Hold down the Ctrl key and click the nodes that you want to select.
Select a series of linked nodes by setting a node as the source node.

Right-click a node, and then select Set as Source for Selection.

On the Properties tab, specify the range of levels of Predecessors (parents) and Successors (children) of the source node to select. 0 specifies that the source node is selected.

For example, if you specify a range of 0–1 for Predecessors and a range of 0–2 for Successors, then the source node, one level of predecessors, and two levels of successors are selected.

Control the View of a Network Diagram

You can control the view of a network diagram by using the following controls:

Zoom	Zoom in and out at the location of the cursor by scrolling the mouse wheel.
Pan (scroll)	Pan (scroll) the diagram by holding down the Shift key and dragging the diagram.
Reposition the view	When you have zoomed in on a diagram and scroll bars are displayed, reposition your zoomed view by holding the Shift and Alt keys and dragging the diagram.
Rotate	Rotate the diagram by holding down the Ctrl key and dragging the diagram.

Create a Hierarchy from a Network Diagram

If your network diagram contains categories in the Levels role, then you can create a new hierarchy by using the categories.

On the Roles tab, click on the drop-down list for the Levels role, and then select Create Hierarchy. A new hierarchy is created with the name of the first category in the hierarchy.