With Release 30 we are introducing the option to display attributes as nodes in the graph view and are expanding on the option to display relations as nodes as well. In this guide we will describe how to turn on these features and what the new nodes look like.
Where can I find the option to turn on this feature?
Both the option to turn on attributes as nodes as well as the option to display relations as nodes can be found in the graph filter menu. This menu is represented by the eye icon in the top left of the graph panel (see 1 in screenshot below).
Clicking this icon will open up the graph filter menu, at the bottom of this menu there are 5 options you can toggle on and off (see screenshot below).
For this functionality, we are only interested in the options to display attributes as separate nodes (1 in the screenshot above) and displaying a node on relations (3 in the screenshot above).
There is also an option to only display meta nodes (2 in screenshot above), more information on this option can be found in the section 'What are relevant meta nodes' below.
Please note that switching between spaces will reset this option.
In the next part we will show you what the new nodes look like and make it clear how the different shapes are related to the content of the graph view.
What do the different shape of nodes represent?
Now that we know how to turn on the feature and what the options are, let's look at how it looks with the different options turned on.
In this image, panel 1 represents the graph view with none of the options turned on.
In panel 2 we turned on the option for 'show attributes in graph'. We see square nodes representing the attributes. Value is used as label for the attribute node and the attribute key is used as label for the relation between node and attribute node.
In Panel 3 the option for 'show meta nodes in graph' is turned on. Now we see a hexagon meta node representing the relation between two nodes. The key for the relation is now displayed as the label on the relation meta node.
In Panel 4 both options are turned on. We now see an additional triangle node representing the meta node between a node and an attribute node. The attribute key is now used as the label for the meta node between the node and attribute node.
What are relevant meta nodes?
As mentioned earlier there is also the option to only show relevant meta nodes in the graph, but what does that mean? If you are familiar with the filter menu before Release 30, there used to be the option 'Show relations as nodes'. This has been renamed to 'Show relevant meta nodes in graph' but retains its original function.
With this option, only meta nodes that have a relation to any other node will be displayed. An example for this can be found in the image below:
In panel 1 we see the nodes with no filters turned on.
In panel 2 we see the same nodes again, but now with the 'show relevant meta nodes in graph' checked. Now we see the relation r1 displayed as meta node because this node is involved with another relation (r2) making it a relevant meta node.
In panel 3 we see the same nodes, but now have the option 'show meta nodes in graph' checked. We now see all the relations from panel 1 (other and r1) and panel 2 (r2) displayed as meta nodes.
Quick guide:
- Setting can be turned on and off in the graph filter menu (eye-icon in the graph panel)
- Turning on 'attributes as nodes' will display a square shaped node with the value of an attribute as the label
- Turning on 'meta nodes' will display relations as differently shaped node, hexagons for relations between two different nodes and triangle shaped nodes for a relation between a node and an attribute node
- Turning on meta nodes will move the key from a relation to the label of the new relation node
- Turning on 'relevant meta nodes' will only display meta nodes that are involved in multiple relations