Sounds too much like labia which may not be a bad thing.
Labella.js – placing labels on a timeline without overlap
31–40 of 83 posts
Re: Labella.js – placing labels on a timeline without overlap
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you're looking for more general flow-chart/graph functionality, check out Graphviz[1]. It's open source and has bindings in many languages (I've used it with Ruby and Python). There are a number of layout algorithms to choose from, and I've found that for most topologies it does a great job of layout. Admittedly the default styling isn't that pretty, It's also easy to style with colors, fonts and custom node image…
I've been using GV for coming up on a decade and it has the same problem that Dia has - you can tell it was made by engineers. In the same way you can look at code written by a UX guy and just know it wasn't written by someone formally educated in CS, the converse applies when engineers try to do UI.* Engineers historically just cared about the functionality - e.g., "Does this UML depict the information as precisely…
I've been cleaning up Graphviz in Illustrator for awhile, and having pretty good success. If you're careful about the styling, it works pretty well.
The defaults are pretty wretched.
Re: Labella.js – placing labels on a timeline without overlap
#33It'd be cool if the creator used some filler text on the labels generated on the home page so that we could see what it looks like that way.
Re: Labella.js – placing labels on a timeline without overlap
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you're looking for more general flow-chart/graph functionality, check out Graphviz[1]. It's open source and has bindings in many languages (I've used it with Ruby and Python). There are a number of layout algorithms to choose from, and I've found that for most topologies it does a great job of layout. Admittedly the default styling isn't that pretty, It's also easy to style with colors, fonts and custom node image…
I've been using GV for coming up on a decade and it has the same problem that Dia has - you can tell it was made by engineers. In the same way you can look at code written by a UX guy and just know it wasn't written by someone formally educated in CS, the converse applies when engineers try to do UI.* Engineers historically just cared about the functionality - e.g., "Does this UML depict the information as precisely…
FWIW, you can import some graphviz diagrams in OmniGraffle and they instantly become beautiful :)
Sadly, osx only I think.
Re: Labella.js – placing labels on a timeline without overlap
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why am i being down voted for reporting that it wobbles, flickers and shakes (on latest Chrome) when you scroll with a large number of points? I should be up voted because this is something that needs to be pointed out to anyone who wishes to use this library. And 200 points aren't a lot of points when it comes to presenting data. It just that this attempts with futility to work with any number of points and it simpl…
I think you're being downvoted because this is when the placing algorithm is still running - it's going down the diagram and using what looks like a genetic algorithm to determine the best placing for the labels.
It's terrible UX. Why do I care that the algo is still running while the window is scrolling? Detect the scroll event and pause the algo. Anyway, it's not fit for displaying a a lot of events, so that should be noted. The resulting diagram is incomprehensible. I'm talking data vis basics here, not being clever. C'mon.
Re: Labella.js – placing labels on a timeline without overlap
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why am i being down voted for reporting that it wobbles, flickers and shakes (on latest Chrome) when you scroll with a large number of points? I should be up voted because this is something that needs to be pointed out to anyone who wishes to use this library. And 200 points aren't a lot of points when it comes to presenting data. It just that this attempts with futility to work with any number of points and it simpl…
I think you're being downvoted because this is when the placing algorithm is still running - it's going down the diagram and using what looks like a genetic algorithm to determine the best placing for the labels.
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Re: Labella.js – placing labels on a timeline without overlap
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why am i being down voted for reporting that it wobbles, flickers and shakes (on latest Chrome) when you scroll with a large number of points? I should be up voted because this is something that needs to be pointed out to anyone who wishes to use this library. And 200 points aren't a lot of points when it comes to presenting data. It just that this attempts with futility to work with any number of points and it simpl…
It's probably to do with the snark - intentional or otherwise - in your leading "Whoops!" - it comes across as "hey, everyone, I'm really clever because I found a flaw" which a) several other people found anyway b) you didn't actually report accurately; as others point out, the 'wobbling' is the positioning algorithm still running, nothing to do with scrolling c) is an edge-case; no matter what your claim that "200 p…
Positioning algo is dumb if it doesn't take UX into account. it should pause while the user is scrolling. Also, it is a futile to suggest that automatically placing labels is scalable for any number of labels beyond 40 or so.
Re: Labella.js – placing labels on a timeline without overlap
#38Wouldn't it look more readable if the connectors are straight lines with 90 degree bends instead of curves (like a neatly laid out circuit or wire diagram or tube network).
The current version is artsy. Thanks for sharing this though. Looks very cool.
Re: Labella.js – placing labels on a timeline without overlap
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't know about your machine, but on mine (8 core high end rig) it repaints horizontally in rows of 20 pixels, veeeery slowly. The end result is fine, but it definitely freaks out for a solid 3 minutes.
With the `simple` algorithm (arguably better, at least I can read the lines more easily then), 200 labels, and `rounds/tick` set to `100` or so it completes in just a few seconds on my laptop.
Yeah, 'simple' seems to be much more robust
Re: Labella.js – placing labels on a timeline without overlap
#40"Shakes, wobbles and flickers" when user is scrolling while algo is running with 200 points, which isn't a huge number of points if you consider other means of showing time series data. Positioning algo is dumb if it doesn't take UX into account when number of points is relatively large. It should pause while the user is scrolling.
Also, it is a futile to suggest that automatically placing labels is scalable for any number of labels beyond 40 or so. The resulting diagram beyond 40 or so points is incomprehensible. I tried 200, but 50 or 70 would also most likely result in messy diagram.