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begins with a pitch:
Any data should be visualized. Visualized well.
follows with a mission:
Today, a dataset needs more than line graphs, pie charts, etc.. to be visualized. Our understanding improves significantly only when the dataset is visualized with the correct form, design and interaction. OpenVisuals aims to provide an Open Source Visualization Framework, in which the datasets can find their best visualizations, and visualizations already out there can be shared to be used with other datasets.
Dataset owners and Visualization artists - datasets and visualizations - in the same pot.
Simply put, OpenVisuals provide a framework for different visualizations and datasets to work with each other. It hosts open source visualizations, which can work through the website with any compatible datasets that are uploaded. Framework includes two major components:
- OpenVisuals.org website embodies and hosts the visualizations and datasets that are uploaded. The website provides the structure and interaction to enable dataset owners to find interesting visualizations, and to map their datasets to these visualizations easily. At the same time, website provides the hosting and categorization of the visualizations uploaded, creates a portfolio for the visualization artists, and simplifies the mapping process of datasets to visualizations. It provides the open source development platform to make visualizations better, together. Serving for the mission of OpenVisuals, website tries to get people involved in visualizing information better, finding visualization solutions faster, and creating connections between people in this field.
- OpenVisuals API provides an easy to use library for Processing/Java programming environment. It enables visualization artists to easily import and access a dataset, use common functions (sort, count, etc..) that are needed often in visualizing a dataset. It provides an interaction panel that visualization artist can use to add user customization to his/her visualization (color of the chart, font size of labels, etc..). When a visualization is uploaded to the website, OpenVisuals API also carries the role of introducing the visualization to the website (the maximum of rows&columns it can handle, the type of data it requires, etc..), and communicating with other datasets to be visualized within. Latest version of the API can be downloaded from here.
API has two major roles, and three different sections (see advanced learning for details on this). Details coming soon..
Currently, you need comma separated values (csv), which is a data table standard in every Excel like table, chart software. You can save or export your data as csv in Excel, OpenOffice, NeoOffice, iWorks Numbers, and many other major applications. Copy-paste feature is coming soon...
Having the cvs version of your dataset, you can upload your dataset (no need to register or login) in upload dataset page. After uploading make sure it looks fine in the same page, to see if OpenVisuals software got it right. Make sure you don't have shifted columns, or all-empty rows in the table shown.
OpenVisuals supports visualizations created in Java/Processing.
- In Processing, choose File - Export from the menu or click the export button on the toolbar. Processing will create a web compatible version of your application in a folder called "Applet". Then compress (make a .zip file) the applet folder created.
- Eclipse explanation coming soon.. But simply, put your exported jar file into a zip file, along all the other files that would be necessary, then upload the .zip file.
