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Welcome
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VisuaLinks News
What's New?
Did You Know?
Feature of the Month
Link Chart of the Month
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Upcoming Events
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Here are a few tips and tricks to help you use VisuaLinks quickly and more efficiently.
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Changing any display variable (e.g., object spacing, number of levels, layout format) applies immediately after making the change when the Settings / Advanced / On The Fly Rendering option is turned on (enabled by default). |
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Any table column (e.g. Query Results and Details) can be sorted by clicking on the column header. The entries will sort alphabetically or numerically and an arrow will appear to indicate this. Click the header again to reverse sort the column. |
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A data model can be automatically loaded when the VisuaLinks client is first launched. In the ClientResources.properties file, set the following variables to their respective values: vl.model.autoload.modelname
vl.model.autoload.domainname
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When using the Group By placement, you can now select the "Group By All Selected" option to create a separate group for each unique value in the selected attributes, rather than just the first default value. |
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The following three diagrams represent different VisuaLinks configurations that use "referential" data sources. A referential source is used almost exclusively to determine if specific characteristics exist for certain objects and usually do not support the ability to expose relationships or networks. Speed permitting, reference sources are often included as an additional dataset in the underlying model and are typically referenced in a passive fashion (rather than as separate models) when the analyst accesses the data. VisuaLinks can be set to override the primary image with an alternative image to convey that a match was encountered in a reference source based on Disambiguator settings in the model configuration.
In this first example, the reference database consists of all financial investigations that were conducted by the Agency and their associated document control numbers. Every case contained in this database of approximately 15,000 entries consists of one-or-more unique control numbers (referenced as the TRANSFER) that can be matched against the main data source. The control number defines the original source, the date of the filing, and a unique sequence number. When a match is found, the case-id from the reference source is added as an attribute to the TRANSFER object and its primary image is overridden with a special icon as shown.
In the second example the reference source is the Social Security Death Master Index (SSDM) that is acquired from the U. S. Government. This source has over 67,000,000 records of people who are deceased and have received a death benefit from the Government. The record format is fairly basic and contains the social security number, last/first/middle name, date of birth, date of death, and region of death. For any database utilizing a social security number (SSN) within this Agency, the SSDM is used as a reference source within VisuaLinks and matches are performed automatically to see if anyone is conducting financial transactions with the social security number of a deceased person. If a match is found the icon for the SSN is changed to reflect this fact and the analyst can investigate further.
In the last example, the Agency annually subpoenas all of the public payphones within the State to obtain their phone numbers, operating organizations, and physical locations. This database contains over 40,000 entries and is used as a reference source to determine if people conducting financial transactions have listed payphones as either their home or work phone number. When a match is encountered in the payphone reference database the PHONE icon is changed to reflect this situation and the Agency then has a well-qualified target to pursue for further investigation.
These examples represent the tip of the iceberg for utilizing referential data sources. Visual Analytics has a number of other ongoing endeavors where referential data is used for address validation, criminal histories, OFAC targeting, tax evasion, narcotics seizures, passenger qualification, border crossings, and container tracking to name a few. Although referential data sources are basically simple lists of values, they reflect extremely powerful resources when used appropriately.
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What's New?
VisuaLinks 2.0 became available this month!
The entire Visual Analytics staff has worked hard to create the best possible solution
for your data analysis needs. We are very proud of this achievement. We know that you
will find this release to be the most advanced, flexible and easy-to-use product anywhere.
Please visit the Visual Analytics website
for complete details on VisuaLinks 2.0. Specifically, you may want to review the new
features that are described on our New Features page.
With the 2.0 release, Visual Analytics has implemented changes to our software
download and evaluation processes. From this point forward, VisuaLinks is available for evaluation by permission only.
If you are currently using VisuaLinks and would like to upgrade your software,
ask your organization’s VisuaLinks Administrator to download the latest release.
If you are interested in additional information about VisuaLinks, or if you would
information on purchasing VisuaLinks, please contact us at 1-877-407-4VAI (4824) or
send an e-mail request to sales@visualanalytics.com.
Our sales team will be more than happy to provide you with the information and resources you need.
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Feature of the Month
Model Administration
Version 2.0 introduces the ability to perform offline modeling. After initially coupling to the data source,
future changes or edits to the model are less dependent on the existence of a database connection.
This provides a number of benefits: review by third party organizations, better technical support from VAI,
and easier promotion from development and test environments to production environments.
Once the model has a snapshot of the database schema, it will utilize that internal information until the
next time the database comes online. Of course, any changes to the underlying database during any offline
modeling will need to be refreshed in the model by the administrator.
There is also a new tab in the model builder called "Displayer." The Displayer provides a quick summary
of the current model. The Displayer displays a series of object and association summaries providing you an
overview the keys and attributes for each object and association in the model. This tab can be printed using
the VisuaLinks print subsystem and the hardcopy documents shared or stored for offline review and/or archive.
The Model Wizard also now includes an "Enable DISTINCT SQL Functions" option under the Data Sources tab that controls whether the SQL DISTINCT function can be used by the VisuaLinks services - specifically Summarize. Certain databases, including Microsoft Access, do not support the DISTINCT function (using this feature with such databases will cause an error). This feature provides the VisuaLinks Administrator with better control over the various data sources that are used in the models by VisuaLinks.
Finally, there is a Read Type From Column entry on the Objects Tab in the Model Wizard. This was added to handle special database schemas where individual tables or fields do not uniquely define the type associated with a value - instead the "type" is actually referenced as a data value in the schema itself. These types of data schemas are fairly efficient, compact, and generic for representing data but they do require special modeling techniques to support their format.
Changes made to any models are stored in the VisuaLinks Shared Directory (LDAP) structure and are not accessible through external mechanisms. Keep in mind that when managing models, you will want to make a back-up of the models (Admin Menu / Server Admin / Analysis Net Domain / Manage LDAP) using the Save Models To Local/Server Path option.
Models saved this way can also be loaded into VisuaLinks using the Load Models From Local/Server Path option. Always keep a backup of your models in safe place in case they need to be restored.
LDAP Management
VisuaLinks 2.0 introduces a number of enhancements to the LDAP administration module. The first is the addition of an automated backup feature. This allows you to set an interval (in hours) at which you want VisuaLinks to automatically back up your LDAP data. Simply enter an interval in the Backup Time Period Setting field and click the Reset button.
This release also allows you to save your models locally – allowing you to keep a local backup of all your data models. The Save Models To Local Path option lets you choose any directory on the local machine to store a compressed (.zip) file of each of the data models regardless of where they are stored in the LDAP. Should you ever need to restore the models from a backup, you can use the Load Models From Local Path option to reload this models.
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