7 Preferences

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With our .GXRF loaded, let’s explore how to set preferences controlling the display of nodes, edges and property data in our graph. You’ll find these functions in the Project panel’s Category* or *Relationship tabs or *Settings* tab.

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To make the changes easier to see, we’ve hidden some of the Character nodes and arranged data by category in different grid and circle layouts. Open the snapshots library and load this data view now. TIP: left click+drag to move any selection of data.

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Open the Project panel and Category tab to configure node display. The labeled bubbles at the top list the categories available in the project.
Click the Characters bubble. You’ll see a list of the properties defined so far for that category.

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The Avatar URL property checkbox lets us display an avatar image on the nodes. We’ll select the characterImage property, since we know it has URL values.
NOTE: Show Avatar* in the *Settings tab must also be checked.

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Click the Caption property checkboxes for characterName and kills properties. Captions can be either text or numerical values. By default, captions appear to the right of the node in the order you select them. NOTE: In the Settings tab, the Node Caption Position menu lets you reposition captions.

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Click the Node Size checkbox for the kills property to display Character nodes sized according to the number of kills. (Node Size works only for a property with numerical values.)
Click Exclude to hide any property so that it isn’t shown in tables or information panels.

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In either the Category* tab or the Legend, click the colored dot for a category to display the *Styling Setting dialog where you can change the color and add an icon.

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Let’s leave the color as it is but apply an icon to our House nodes.
Click the Icon tab and use the menu or the search bar to find an icon.
Click on the icon to apply it. The dialog closes automatically.

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The icon now appears in the Legend next to the category label. You can click the dot or icon next to any element in the Legend to display the Styling Setting dialog and choose a new color or icon for a category, or color for a property or relationship.

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You can also configure color and visibility of a category or relationship using the Project panel. Click the Relationship tab and the APPEARED_ON bubble. Click the color swatch to display a color picker and choose a different color. Click Visibility to show or hide edges of this relationship.

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Unique property values for categories and relationships are automatically assigned separate colors, and you can change these as well. In the Legend, click the Property tab, select a property name, and click the colored dot next to a property value to select a new color.

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Scaled color is useful for coloring property values, especially numbers or dates.
In the Property legend, select the episodeAirDate property and click the Use Scale Color checkbox, and select a color set from the dropdown menu.

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The Settings tab includes controls to configure display of all nodes and edges. Let’s go over those now.

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For nodes you can control the base node size scale and icon mode, show or hide pin icons, show or hide Avatar urls, control caption size scale and caption position, and use the more compact Truncate Caption option.

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For edges you can control the edge width scale, use curved lines, dashed lines or blended lines, show or hide directional arrows, and show or hide relationship names as a caption on all edges.

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For general 3-dimensional display, the Fog Density slider makes nodes and edges that are further away appear less visible.

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Click the Theme toggle to switch between a dark or light background for the project graph space.

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Now click the Show Hidden Nodes toolbar icon to restore the Character nodes and their connected edges that we hid for this module.

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We’ve already seen some of the layout options in action. Next, in Module 8. Layout and Pinning, we’ll delve into how to use layouts to explore and visualize the graph.