Work with link chart layouts

Once you create a link chart, there are a variety of ways to arrange the nodes and links. First, you can select and move nodes in the Link Chart view. You can also use the Change Layout drop-down menu on the contextual Link Chart tab to change the layout type that is used to draw the node and links in the link chart. The default option is to arrange links in a clustered layout, which is useful for illustrating generic relationships between entities.

Any of these layouts may be effective in illustrating relationships in your data, or one layout may be the best choice.

Change the link chart layout

To change the layout of a link chart, do the following:

1. Open a link chart.
2. On the contextual Link Chart tab, click the Change Layout drop-down menu and choose a layout.

   The layout of the link chart is updated and displayed at full extent.

   Note:

   Change Layout honors selections so you can apply a different layout to the selection.

Move nodes

To manually reposition nodes in a link chart, do the following:

1. Open a link chart.
2. On the contextual Link Chart tab, click the Select tool and click a node or click and drag a rectangle that encloses the nodes you want to select. Using selection keyboard shortcuts can make the selection process more efficient.
3. While hovering over one of the selected nodes, click and drag to the new position and release.

Edit links

You can add and delete vertices to reshape links and also delete links. To edit links, do the following:

1. To add a vertex, do the following:
   1. Click Add Link on the contextual Link Chart tab.
   2. Click a link to select it.
   3. Click the link again where you want to add the vertex and drag the pointer to position the vertex and release.

      A new vertex is created.

2. To delete a vertex, do the following:
   1. Click Add Link on the contextual Link Chart tab.
   2. Click a link to select it.
   3. Hover over and click the vertex location.

      The vertex symbol is displayed.

   4. Press the Delete key.

      The vertex is deleted.

3. To delete a link, do the following:
   1. Click Add Link on the contextual Link Chart tab.
   2. Click a link to select it.
   3. Press the Delete key.

      The link is deleted.

      Note:

      The link is only deleted from the link chart view; the underlying data source is not updated. If the link chart is refreshed or reloaded, the deleted links will be re-created.

Lock the link chart

To prevent unintentionally editing a link chart or changing the layout type, do the following:

1. Open a link chart.
2. On the contextual Link Chart tab, click Lock .

   When a link chart is locked, you can still explore the chart and make selections, but you cannot edit nodes and links, draw links, or switch the layout of the chart.

3. To unlock the link chart, click Lock again.

Enable and disable link deconfliction

By default, link deconfliction is enabled so when you move nodes in the link chart and the associated links overlap other links, the shape of the links are automatically adjusted to avoid overlaps.

To turn link deconfliction on and off, do the following:

1. Open a link chart.
2. On the contextual Link Chart tab, click Pause to disable link deconfliction.
3. Click Play to enable link deconfliction.

Display links on the map

Use the Display Links On Map button on the contextual Link Chart tab to show a graphic overlay reflecting links between features.

1. Create a link chart or open an existing one.
2. Click Display Links On Map on the contextual Link Chart tab.
3. Click the map view pane containing the link chart data sources.

   Graphic overlay lines appear on the map between all nodes that have a link in the chart.

Filter by number of links

You can declutter the link chart by applying a filter based on the minimum number of links connected to each node.

To apply the filter, do the following:

1. Open a link chart.
2. Check the Minimum check box in the Filter Links group on the contextual Link Chart tab and increase the value in the spinner control or by typing a value.

Highlight connected nodes

To assist in identifying connected nodes, you can enable highlighting on a link chart. With highlighting enabled, as you hover over a node, the parent and child nodes are highlighted.

To enable highlighting, do the following:

1. Click Highlight Off on the contextual Link Chart tab.
2. To disable highlighting, click Highlight On .