Create a link chart

Create a link chart to visualize, analyze, and explore a knowledge graph's content. You can start from any of the views in which you work with a knowledge graph: investigations, maps, scenes, and other link charts. You can select entities and relationships in the active view and add them to a new link chart.

When a link chart is created and opened in a link chart view, any entities you selected in the investigation, for example, are added. When you select and add a relationship, the relationship is added along with its origin and destination entities, even when those entities were not selected in the investigation.

Learn about adding content to an existing link chart

The entities and relationships added to the new link chart are arranged using the standard organic layout by default; this becomes the current layout for the new link chart. However, you also have the option to use an existing link chart as a template. The knowledge graph layer in the new link chart will be symbolized in the same manner as the template link chart. Also, the layout currently in use on the template link chart will be used to arrange entities and relationships on the new link chart. Whichever method you choose, you can change how graph items are arranged by applying a different layout.

Learn more about arranging items in a link chart

Add content from the Catalog pane or view

Follow these steps to add content from an investigation in the project to a new link chart.

  1. In the Catalog pane or the catalog view, double-click Investigations Closed Investigation folder.
  2. Double-click an investigation Investigation to see its contents.
  3. Identify the knowledge graph content to add to the link chart using one of the following methods:
    • Click the knowledge graph Knowledge Graph. All content in the knowledge graph is added to a new link chart.
    • Double-click the knowledge graph Knowledge Graph and click the Entity Types folder Knowledge Graph Folder or the Relationship Types folder Knowledge Graph Folder. All entities or all relationships in the knowledge graph are added to a new link chart.
    • Double-click the Entity Types folder Knowledge Graph Folder or the Relationship Types folder Knowledge Graph Folder in the knowledge graph, and click an entity type Entity Type or relationship type Relationship Type. All entities or relationships of that type are added to a new link chart.
  4. Right-click the selected item, click Add To New Add To New, and click Link Chart Add Link Chart.

The new link chart Link Chart opens and becomes the active view. The content selected in the Catalog pane or view is added. The standard organic layout is applied to the graph items in the link chart by default. The link chart appears in the Maps category Maps in the Catalog pane and the catalog view.

Add content from an investigation

From an open investigation, there are several ways to add content to a new link chart. Follow the instructions below.

  1. Open an investigation and browse its content.
  2. Select the content you want to add to a new link chart.
    • Right-click the investigation Investigation in the Contents pane to add all of its content.
    • Right-click the knowledge graph Knowledge Graph in the Contents pane to add all the entities and relationships it contains.
    • Right-click Entity Types Entity Type or Relationship Types Relationship Type in the Contents pane to add all entities or all relationships.
    • Right-click an entity type Entity Type or relationship type Relationship Type to add all items of that type.
    • Press Ctrl and click individual entities Entity and relationships Relationship in the investigation's contents list to select the items you want to add, and right-click a selected item.
    • Right-click a single entity or relationship that you want to add.
    • When you are viewing details for an entity or relationship in the details panel, right-click the display expression for the current item at the top of the panel.
  3. On the context menu that appears, click Add To New and click Link Chart Add Link Chart.

The new link chart Link Chart opens and becomes the active view. The content selected in the Catalog pane or view is added. The standard organic layout is applied to the graph items in the link chart by default. The link chart appears in the Maps category Maps in the Catalog pane and the catalog view.

Use another link chart as a template

The content for a new link chart is typically arranged using the standard organic layout and default symbols are used to visualize entities and relationships. However, if another link chart has been created for the same knowledge graph you can use it as a template. The layout currently in use on the template link chart is used to arrange the entities and relationships added to the new link chart. The new knowledge graph layer will also use the same symbols as the existing link chart to visualize entities and relationships.

You can use an existing link chart as a template even when it is closed.

  1. Open an investigation.
  2. Browse to the content you want to add to a new link chart. For example, click an entity type or relationship type in the Contents pane.

    All graph items associated with the portion of the investigation selected in the Contents pane are listed in the investigation.

  3. Press Ctrl and click the entities and relationships in the investigation's contents list that you want to add to a link chart.
  4. On the Investigation tab on the ribbon, in the Selection group, click the Create Link Chart Using Template menu Create Link Chart Using Template.
  5. On the menu that appears, click the appropriate option for the new link chart.
    • Click Default Template to create a link chart using default symbology and apply the standard organic layout to the added graph items.
    • Click the name of an existing link chart Link Chart to apply the same layout and other link chart settings to the graph items added to the new link chart.

The new link chart Link Chart opens and becomes the active view. The entities and relationships selected in the investigation are added and arranged using the appropriate link chart layout. The link chart appears in the Maps category Maps in the Catalog pane and the catalog view.

Add content from a knowledge graph layer in a map or scene

When you are working with a map or scene that includes a knowledge graph layer, you can add entities and relationships from that layer to a link chart following the steps below.

  1. Select the entities or relationships of interest in a knowledge graph layer on a map using any of the following methods.
    • On the Map tab on the ribbon, in the Selection group, use one of the selection tools such as Select By Rectangle Select By Rectangle to select entities associated with spatial features in a knowledge graph layer.
    • On the Map tab on the ribbon, in the Selection group, click Select By Attributes Select By Attributes. In the Select By Attributes window that appears, select entities in a knowledge graph layer or relationships in a knowledge graph table using values in their attribute tables.
    • On the Map tab on the ribbon, in the Selection group, click Select By Location Select By Location. In the Select By Location window that appears, select entities in a knowledge graph layer that have associated spatial features based on their spatial relationship to other features on the map.
    • In the map's Contents pane, right-click a knowledge graph layer or knowledge graph table and click Open Table Open Table. In the table that appears, select rows interactively such as by pressing Ctrl while clicking individual rows describing entities or relationships of interest.
  2. Click the knowledge graph layer in the Contents pane for the map or scene.

    If there are many knowledge graph layers associated with the same knowledge graph, you can select all of those layers and add them to the same link chart in one step.

    If you select many knowledge graph layers and they are associated with different knowledge graphs, one link chart will be created for each knowledge graph. All entities selected on the map or scene for each knowledge graph will be added to the appropriate link chart.

  3. Access the Knowledge Graph tab from the Knowledge Graph Layer tab on the ribbon. In the Selection group, click the appropriate option.
    • Click the Add To menu Add To and click New Link Chart New Link Chart. A new link chart is created using default symbology and the standard organic layout.
    • Click the Create Link Chart Using Template menu Create Link Chart Using Template. Click Default Template to accept all default settings. Click the name of an existing link chart Link Chart to use the same layout and settings for the new link chart.

The new link charts Link Chart open. One of the new link charts becomes the active view. The entities and relationships selected in the map are added and arranged using the appropriate link chart layout. The new link charts appear in the Maps category Maps in the Catalog pane and the catalog view.

Add content from an existing link chart

You can select entities and relationships in an existing link chart and add that content to a new link chart following the steps below.

  1. Open the link chart from which you want to create another link chart and make it the active view.
  2. Select the entities or relationships you want to add to a new link chart.
    • On the Link Chart tab, in the Selection group, use one of the selection tools such as Select By Rectangle Select to select entities or relationships.
    • On the Link Chart tab, in the Selection group, click Select By Attributes Select By Attributes. In the Select By Attributes window that appears, select entities or relationships in a link chart layer or a link chart aggregation layer using values in their attribute tables.
    • In the Contents pane, right-click a link chart layer or a link chart aggregation layer and click Open Table Open Table. In the table that appears, select rows interactively such as by pressing Ctrl while clicking individual rows describing entities or relationships of interest.

    If any entity group is selected in the link chart, the grouped entities will be ungrouped when they are added to the new link chart. Consequently, any relationship group connected to an entity group is also ungrouped if the relationship group is selected and added to the new link chart.

  3. On the Link Chart tab, click the Add To menu Add To and click New Link Chart New Link Chart.

The new link chart opens and becomes the active view. The standard organic layout is applied to the graph items in the link chart by default and default symbology will be used. The link chart appears in the Maps category Maps in the Catalog pane and the catalog view.

Tip:

If no graph items are selected in the link chart and you follow the workflow above, a new link chart with all the same entities or relationships is created.

Alternatively, browse to the Maps category Maps in the Catalog pane or the catalog view, copy the existing link chart and paste it to the Maps category.

Add content from the Search and Filter pane

After querying a knowledge graph in the Search and Filter pane, you can add entities and relationships result from the query results to a link chart.

  1. Open the Search and Filter pane and query the knowledge graph.

    The results of the query appear in the Results list.

  2. In the query results, press Ctrl and click the entities and relationships you want to view in a link chart.
  3. Right-click anywhere in the results list, click Add To New Add To New, and click Link Chart Add Link Chart.

The new link chart opens and becomes the active view. The standard organic layout is applied to the graph items in the link chart by default and default symbology is used. The link chart appears in the Maps category Maps in the Catalog pane and the catalog view.

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