topic Re: Network diagram nodes in SAS Visual Analytics

Network diagram nodes

evanwilson — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 09:52:52 GMT

Is there any way to fix the position of network nodes in a network diagram visualisation? Really frustrating to layout the nodes according to to business logic (e.g by approximate geo-location) only for it to re-arrange when the filters are changed.

I also thought of using the bubble/vector custom graph but you dont seem to be able to adjust line widths based on a value.

Re: Network diagram nodes

FalkoSchulz — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 23:18:08 GMT

Hi Evan,

Unfortunately network nodes need to be re-arranged if the data changes as some nodes could have been removed or added dependent on your filter settings. Since SAS Visual Analytics uses a multi-dimensional force-directed algorithm to lay out nodes and links the diagram needs to re-arrange items as it changes. There are some more details about the network visualization and how to use it in the SAS Global Forum paper: http://support.sas.com/resources/papers/proceedings14/SAS045-2014.pdf.

I should also mention that network nodes positions are persistent (fixed) if you save the exploration - so if you re-arrange nodes before you save - you should see your adjusted layout be restored after load.

One last comment - as you mention geo-location of your nodes. The network visualization also supports geo items as source/target which will let you switch to geographical map instead. While you can't adjust the node position in a geo map view - the actual location obviously represents their exact geo location. The paper above should have some details about geo network as well.

Hope this helps. Regards, Falko

Re: Network diagram nodes

evanwilson — Fri, 27 Feb 2015 06:04:20 GMT

Thanks Falko. I think we can 'fudge' the layout using fake lat/long values to hold the nodes in place when we change filter values.

But it would be nice to have the option of freezing node locations so you can visually compare like with like when you change filters. Another example might be having nodes arranges alphabetically on a clock face A-Z clockwise, and compare relationships across fiilter conditions (like time). You would want to freeze each node so it's easily comparible across time, kind of like an animation on a bubble-plot.