Another question about importing from Excel

Question

I have read all I could find, but still don't understand, or am doing something wrong and can't get it to work.  I want to make a network diagram from Nodes and edges saved in an Excel file. I have tried the example file and had minimal success.

The properties mapper totally confuses me. I just don't know what to enter in the PM and have not been able to guess correctly. The help/manual says what to do but not how to do it.

Here is sample data I would like to use. Any help would be appreciated.

Sorry to be trouble, but I have not been able to figure it out, spent many hours trying...

----- Nodes -----
Name	Shape	Color	Size
100	Circle	#00FF00	20
102	Rectangle	#FF0000	20x50
105	Rounded Rect.	#0000FF	20x51
106	Triangle	#55AA55	20x52
112	Circle	#404040	20x53
A	Hexagon	#AA55AA	15x15
B	Hexagon	#AA55AA	15x15
C	Hexagon	#AA55AA	15x15

 

----- Edges -----
Source	Target	Weight	Source Edge Label	Target Edge  Label	Line Type	Line Width	Color	Orientation
100	102	2.00	1	2	normal	2	#00FF00	Vertical
100	105	3.50	1	3	arrow-source	2	#FF0000	Vertical
100	106	1.00	4	7	arrow-target	2	#0000FF	Vertical
102	105	1.50	3	5	normal	2	#55AA55	Vertical
102	106	2.00	2	10	arrow-source	2	#404040	Parallel
105	106	5.00	12	6	normal	2	#404040	Parallel
105	112	4.33	8	3	normal	2	#404040	Parallel
106	112	2.00	9	4	normal	2	#404040	Parallel
100	102	4.50	5	6	normal	2	#404040	Parallel
112	A	3.00	3	4	arrow-both	4	#AA55AA	Horizontal
112	B	3.00	5	6	arrow-both	4	#AA55AA	Horizontal
112	C	3.50	8	8	arrow-both	4	#AA55AA	Horizontal

 

Comments

So, what exactly did you do (what settings did you use for Excel import, what settings for properties mapper) and what was the result?

Answer 1

Please see the following links for screen shots for working import settings for your Excel file and a configuration for the Properties Mapper that assigns the data to their obvious representation:

• http://yed.yworks.com/support/qa/?qa=blob&qa_blobid=3779020243996835363
• http://yed.yworks.com/support/qa/?qa=blob&qa_blobid=8201131304692291525

This is the resulting diagram:

• http://yed.yworks.com/support/qa/?qa=blob&qa_blobid=6807092806097044463

Please note that the size has to be split into separate columns for width and height. The edge configuration can be done similarly (for the visual properties that are supported by Properties Mapper) .

 

Comments

Thanks - I'm not sure what settings need to be made in the Presentation tab on the MS Excel Import screen, but I will try some things and see what happens. The graph you made looks mostly like I wanted.

Is there a way to add a label to each end of the edge lines?

Answer 2

It is indeed possible to add a label to each end of the edge line.

Properties Mapper can create/handle up to 10 labels per item with the 'Map To Label No.' setting in the 'Selected Mapping' details panel (as you may have found out already).

Using predefined label positions is a bit more tricky and requires the use of a matching edge template from the palette. The single steps are:

• create an edge in your graph with two labels ('Add Label' twice in the context menu)
• place the labels near the source and the target respectively. You can use either the default SmartFree placement or a label placement model with discrete position like 6-Pos. The later will give better result if an automatic layout is used afterwards.
• add this edge as template to the palette with the corresponding context menu item. You need a custom palette section for this. Please see the manual page for details.
• in Properties Mapper, set this edge as 'Single' 'Template' for your edge configuration and assign the label text data to the corresponding label number. This screen shot shows the configuration that worked for me: http://yed.yworks.com/support/qa/?qa=blob&qa_blobid=2586284142913232269

Comments

That is good to hear. I want to set this up so that I can import all data from Excel and have the graph produced the correct way.  Each week I will get new data to make a new graph.

I will not be able to work on this again until the last week in June, just wanted you to know I am not giving up on the idea.