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What's New?
Our latest patch release - version 3.0.2 - was posted on June 7. This patch for the 3.0 version takes care of a
few minor bugs and inconsistencies. Following are some of the items that have been addressed.
- Associate on Attribute - deactivated in 3.0.1 - now reactivated. This patch allows objects to have linkages
created between values contained in selected attributes, rather than key values.
- ChoicePoint Driver - fixed some issues regarding composite key query submissions. Also provided general
maintenance to the driver classes.
- Alias (batch query) - provided the ability to structure an unlimited number of query values presented as a batch execution.
- Reports (custom templates) - resolved some minor issues associated with saving-off customized report templates.
- Merging Nodes (details) - fixed some issues regarding the level of detail presented when viewing the data associated with merged nodes, especially when multiple levels are involved.
- Auto modeling function (added) - enabled VisuaLinks to automatically create data models for the Quick Data Load and i2 Conversion features. With this fix, the models are created based on the structure of the data.
We will continue to post patch releases, as required, to address issues identified by our user base.
Additionally, enhancement requests and suggestions will be considered for our Enterprise version.
As always, please use the Issue Report Form to submit any issues you encounter while using VisuaLinks.
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Here are a few tips and tricks to help you use VisuaLinks quickly and more efficiently.
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...auto-rendering the display with new data can occur automatically?
There are settings available within VisuaLinks that allow you to control where the results of any service are delivered.
By default, they show up in the Query Results Panel. However, they can also be drawn directly to the View, saving a
couple steps in the process.
You can activate the Auto Rendering feature from the Main Settings window. Use the Edit menu's Main Settings command
(in the View area menus) or the Main Settings icon in the Bottom Toolbar to access the Main Settings window.
On the Main Settings window, switch to the General settings. In the middle of the window, you will see an option
called Auto Render Query Results that is unselected by default. Simply click this option to activate the feature.
Once activated, any new data that is presented in the Query Results Panel will also automatically be rendered in the View.
NOTE: This feature is useful when the number of query results is fairly minimal. This setting is not recommended for use with the more advanced services such as Network Miner, Name Matcher, or Summarize.
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View Legend Feature
The 3.0 release includes a View Legend feature.
This feature lets you create and add a legend to the View area to define the displayed data. The View Legend can contain:
— Title
— Object Types - the general definition of the types of data displayed in the View
— Actual Objects - individual data displayed in the View
You may want to create a legend to provide an explanation of the various object images used in your data.
You can customize virtually every aspect of the legend.
You can access the Legend settings from the Main Settings window or you can use the View
area's Legend menu to select the Show/Hide Legend command.
From the Legend settings area, you can:
— Specify where in the View you want the legend displayed.
— Create a title for the legend and define the format of the title.
— Define the format of the text in the legend content.
— Use the Global Objects and Actual Objects tabs to define the content of the legend.
— The Global Objects tab shows the object, association and annotation types that are contained within the View. This tab lets you add images and colors to your Legend that represent the item types, generally as defined by the model from which the data is derived.
— The Actual Objects tab shows the images and colors associated with each of the individual items in the View. This tab lets you add specific images and colors to your Legend that represent actual data items in the View.
— You can use any combination of the items in both tabs to create your legend.
— In either tab, simply click the item you want to add to your legend and click the  icon.
Once you have added content to the legend, you can:
— Edit the text of any item in the legend by double-clicking the item.
— Change the order of items in the legend using the  and  icons.
— Add line separators between items in the legend using the  icon.
— Add other text to the legend using the  icon.
— Remove items from the legend using the  icon.
The Legend displays in the View until you elect to hide it.
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This month's link chart is a bit non-traditional because the model does not contain any associations (linkages).
The data analyzed comes from an accounting system used by a leading airline to review their operating costs and the
profits/losses associated with their airline routes. Rather than focus on the individual flight costs that occur daily,
the type of data represented in this model is "summary" level because it rolls-up all the costs associated with the routes
over the most recent financial period. As can be seen in the sample record below, different categories are presented
(all amounts are represented in 1000s) including passive revenue, total depreciation, and fixed costs.
The entire model consists of a single "transactional" object type that supports all of the data provided from the accounting system.
The object created for the previous record (shown at right) has the flight number, origination location, destination location,
and equipment type shown for its label.
Upon loading all of the routes for this airline, the following clusters where shown, based on the aircraft equipment type,
in order to help determine the distribution of their operations. Due to the larger number of international (inter-continental)
flights supported by this airline, the diagram shows us they maintain a fleet of larger aircrafts (e.g., 767, 777, Airbus).
Next, we looked at how each of the values contained in the accounting data could be used to help predict the profit/loss
for the route. At this point a Parallel Coordinates placement was applied using PROFIT-LOSS, TOTAL-COST, and TOTAL-REV
as the initial dimensions. In the following diagram the objects representing each route are displayed at the far left
and the selected variables are shown normalized from low-to-high (bottom to top).
The lines shown between the variables (columns) depict the co-occurrence of values within one of the objects and if more
than one object has the same set of values, the linkages will be proportionately thicker. As can be clearly seen in this
diagram, a higher PROFIT-LOSS value often indicates a lower TOTAL-COST for operating that route which in turn equates to
a lower TOTAL-REV. Keep in mind, many of the values normalized along each column run from negative to positive numbers.
Based on the emerging pattern, the EQUIPMENT-TYPE was added to the diagram to determine if there is any type of dependency
on the size of the aircraft. The attribute was placed between PROFIT-LOSS and the TOTAL-COST and the diagram (shown below)
immediately showed that there were biases based on the equipment. The highlights (blue links) in the diagram show a smaller
aircraft frame that tends to show higher profitability and lower overall operating costs.
The next diagram shows highlights for a larger aircraft frame that represents a much larger cost infrastructure. Generally,
we saw that the larger the aircraft, the more it accounted for the total overall operating costs. Each equipment type was
reviewed to see where it fell in the overall corporate cost structure.
The final diagram shows the EQUIPMENT-TYPE by TOTAL-DEPRECIATION. Certain aircraft for this airline represent a much lower
epreciation cost, most likely due to the newness of their fleet. This information can help factor into the overall analysis
of how the airline allocates it fleet and routes to help minimize operating costs and maximize profit.
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