JavaScript Visualization Framework - JSViz and Spotfire® - Spotfire

Important Announcement

As of Spotfire 11.0, the core product now features visualization mods that overlaps to a large degree with JSViz. More on this here:

Users upgrading to or installing Spotfire 7.12 or later will need to download and install the latest version of JSViz. See the "Known Issues" section for more details.

Introduction

Within the Spotfire^® community, one area of discussion that crops up continually is that of new visualization types. Customers often ask for a visualization type during a POC that Spotfire does not currently support. Others ask for simple customizations of existing visualizations, such as moving labels around, that sounds straightforward but are almost impossible to implement without extensive coding.

There are now several JavaScript libraries available for creating rich interactive graphics within a standard web browser. One such is D3 which has a large library of example visualizations available on the D3 Website. There are many others, including Highcharts, ZoomCharts and Google Charts.

The JavaScript Visualization Framework, or JSViz, is a Custom Extension for Spotfire that allows users to create their own visualizations using JavaScript libraries such as d3 but still allows them to seamlessly integrate with the Spotfire platform. Note that although d3 was an initial driver for implementing the custom extension, it can work with any JavaScript-based code.

Samples

Included with the framework are several sample charts including:

Partner Samples

A Spotfire partner, IQVIA, has produced several high-quality samples that use a framework built on top of JSViz. You can find them here.

The samples include:

Animating Data
Bullet List
Gauges and Donuts
Image Viewer
Network Chart
Radar (Spider) Chart
Sankey Chart
Word Cloud

Download JSViz - Versions

JSViz can be downloaded from the Exchange.

JSViz is compatible with Spotfire 7.5 and later.

For an overview of the different extension and customization options that the Spotfire platform provides, see Extending Spotfire

API

The documentation for the .NET API is attached below as a zip file. This API can be used within Spotfire via IronPython or within a .NET Spotfire Custom Extension to configure JSViz visualizations.

The examples provided with JSViz also include a comprehensive scripting example showing how to use IronPython to create and configure JSViz charts.

Automating Plot Setup

It is possible to automate the creation of JSViz instances from the toolbar or the tools menu, by creating a custom extension that leverages the JSViz API:

Custom Windows forms property pages are now available from 3.5. Developers who have made use of the one-click visualization extension of pre 3.5 may need to update their add-in project to actively include any of the original property pages of JSViz property dialog as they no longer are displayed by default.

Articles on Spotfire Community

There are several articles on Spotfire Community that describe using JSViz to create different types of custom visualizations and other solutions:

https://community.spotfire.com/articles/spotfire/displaying-terr-graphics-spotfire-using-jsviz/

https://community.spotfire.com/articles/spotfire/spotfire-funnel-chart-using-jsviz/

https://community.spotfire.com/articles/spotfire/how-create-network-chart-visualization-spotfire-using-jsviz-and-zoomcharts/

Help and Support

Please note that JSViz is not supported through support.tibco.com. In the event of issues or to get help, please post questions in the Spotfire Community Forums.

Licensing

JSViz is shared with the Spotfire Community for free use by customers and partners under the Spotfire Component Exchange License.

Known Issues

Under certain circumstances, JSViz may throw the following error when opening a DXP file:
- InvalidOperationException at Spotfire.Dxp.Framework:
  
  Attempt to read from a node that is in the state 'Detached'. (HRESULT: 80131509)
- This issue is resolved in JSViz 3.5.2
When using IronPython Scripting and setting "Limit by Expression" using the FilterExpression property, in some cases, the expression was not being correctly applied.
There is a known issue with JSViz 3.4.0.13 occasionally showing incorrect results when using a Limit By Expression statement. This will be addressed in the next release.
JSViz 3.4.0.12 will cause Spotfire to crash if an invalid data configuration is created. Examples of invalid configurations include:
- Removing all Column Expressions in a group-by configuration
- Adding a non-aggregated Column Expression in a group-by configuration
- These issues are fixed in JSViz 3.4.0.13.
JSViz 3.4.0.13 or above is required when upgrading to or installing Spotfire 7.12 or later. This is due to a clash in versions of log4net.dll between JSViz and Spotfire. Versions of JSViz above 3.4.0.12 remove any dependency on log4net.dll.
Some users may encounter a problem when using JSViz with Spotfire 7.6. This is only an issue with older releases of JSViz, 3.4.0.2 and older. For detailed instructions see the following page: https://community.spotfire.com/s/article/jsviz-problems-spotfire-76. Spotfire 7.6 Hotfix 3 is also required.
JSViz visuals will work in Web Player and Automation Services as well as Spotfire Analyst (Professional). Make sure to follow the installation instructions in the documentation. Many people forget to update the Web Player after installing the plugin files.
There is an issue with the 3.4.0.8 build recently posted. Please download and use a later version.
There is an issue with the resize logic in the doughnutchart.dxp sample, which can cause the chart to appear empty occasionally when the dxp file is first opened. An updated JSViz.js javascript file that resolves this issue can be downloaded from here.
JSViz is not supported on Spotfire Desktop (not to be confused with Spotfire Analyst).

Simpler JS, Brunel

Brunel is an open source Domain Specific Language designed specifically for interactive data visualization. It allows coding complex Javascript D3 visualizations with as little as one line of code. Brunel can be integrated into Spotfire Javascript visualizations.

Attachments

Download the Attachment from resources.

jsviz_javascript_visualization_framework_for_tibco_spotfire_3.5.4.0_license.txt

release_notes_4.txt

jsviz-api-docs.zip

jsviz_javascript_visualization_framework_for_tibco_spotfire_3.5.0.0_license.txt

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JavaScript Visualization Framework - JSViz and Spotfire®