From: Maxious Date: Tue, 16 Apr 2013 01:41:12 +0000 Subject: edits X-Git-Url: https://maxious.lambdacomplex.org/git/?p=tools.git&a=commitdiff&h=f556f5321e382291eea065262d5e6ec282e5641f --- edits --- --- /dev/null +++ b/.idea/ant.xml @@ -1,1 +1,8 @@ + + + + + + + --- a/index.md +++ b/index.md @@ -1,7 +1,8 @@ #GovHack Toolkit Welcome to the GovHack toolkit. This page provides all the information you need to prepare hackfest entries. -These tools can be used to make entries like: mobile apps, web apps, data visualisations/infographics. -This toolkit is open source, licenced cc-by and improvements are encouraged ... +These tools can be used to make entries like mobile apps, web apps and data visualisations/infographics. + +The text of this toolkit is open for reuse under a Creative Commons Attribution licence and improvements are encouraged via Git http://github.com/maxious/govhack-tools or via email patches to govhack@lambdacomplex.org # How to register and submit your entry ## Registering your team @@ -19,11 +20,6 @@ # General References {#general-data-hacking-and-programming-references} -## Who can be a hack day participant -There are many roles you can play; coder, designer UX/graphics - -## Definitions - - definitions, open licence reuse permissive hacker hack data journalism data vis UX etc. ## The basics of being a data scientist @@ -45,20 +41,20 @@ **Statistics** -[http://greenteapress.com/thinkstats/html/index.html](http://greenteapress.com/thinkstats/html/index.html) + +A great guide to statistics is +[Think Stats](http://greenteapress.com/thinkstats/html/index.html) **Programming** Programming is valuable skill for manipulating and displaying data. -Basic tutorials for a variety of languages are available for free online or you can learn - -interactively with websites like [http://www.codecademy.com/](http://www.codecademy.com/#!/exercises/0). for JavaScript or [http://www.learnpython.org/ ](http://www.learnpython.org/)or [http://tryruby.org](http://tryruby.org/) - -[https://developer.mozilla.org/en/JavaScript](https://developer.mozilla.org/en/JavaScript) - especially for web applications and visualisations, you'll need a basic understanding of JS. Common libraries like prototype or jQuery can help +Basic tutorials for a variety of languages are available for free online or you can learn interactively with websites like [Codecademy for JavaScript](http://www.codecademy.com/#!/exercises/0), [Learn Python](http://www.learnpython.org/) or [Try Ruby](http://tryruby.org/) + +For web applications and visualisations, you'll need a basic understanding of JavaScript in order to configure pre made libraries like jQuery. A good source for Javascript information is the [Mozilla Development Network Javascript Page](https://developer.mozilla.org/en/JavaScript) **Accessibility/User Experience** -WCAG guidelines not only make a web app accessible but make it a better experience for all users! Even if not making an app, good to consider these things to do and not do: [http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG/](http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG/) +Following accessibility guidelines not only make a application accessible but make it a better experience for all users! Even if not making an app, good to consider these things to do and not do when designing for humans: [http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG/](http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG/) @@ -66,19 +62,15 @@ No matter what kind of application you have for the data, there are many tools you can use to better collaborate and manage your project. ### Source Control - Git / Subversion +Using a version control system like Git or Subversion allows you to keep many different versions of what you have been working on so you can collaborate with others or simply back up your files so you don't lose them! [![](img/Screenshot-at-2012-04-29-172132-300x235.png "Git Screenshot")](http://progit.org/book/) -[http://progit.org/book/](http://progit.org/book/) - -[http://svnbook.red-bean.com/](http://svnbook.red-bean.com/) - -[http://tortoisesvn.net/](http://tortoisesvn.net/) - -[http://code.google.com/p/tortoisegit/](http://code.google.com/p/tortoisegit/) - -### Task Tracking - +There are [tutorials on git](http://progit.org/book/) and [GUIs to help you](http://code.google.com/p/tortoisegit/) +There is also a [manual for Subversion](http://svnbook.red-bean.com/) and a [similar GUI for Subversion](http://tortoisesvn.net/) + + +### Task Tracking Issue/task trackers allow you to outline the tasks required for your project and assign them to people to do. @@ -86,10 +78,10 @@ ## Hosted Developer Tools {#hosted-developer-tools} -Can get many tools (source control, issue tracking) combined into one service cloud hosted so no setup required. +Can get many tools (source control, issue tracking) combined into one service cloud hosted so there's no setup required. ### Github -Git obviously but svn/hg interfaces are possible. Provide their own GUI for Windows/OSX or use the variety of Git capable tools +Git obviously but svn/hg interfaces are also available. Provide their own GUI for Windows/OSX or use a variety of Git capable tools ### Sourceforge @@ -102,6 +94,7 @@ Git, Mercurial, and Subversion code. Issue tracker, wiki, release file downloads. Unlimited free use for open source projects. You can host your Google Code project and get access to developer tools, APIs and documentation at [http://code.google.com/](http://code.google.com/) + # Applications of data hacking @@ -124,15 +117,16 @@ Atlassian have a great page on what makes a good API https://developer.atlassian.com/display/REST/Atlassian+REST+API+Design+Guidelines+version+1) -API - - howto.gov api resources about choosing SOAP vs. REST etc. http://www.howto.gov/mobile/apis-in-government - - http://training.sunlightfoundation.com/module/data-visualizations-google-docs/ - - api documentation is important too. - - WSDL or http://swagger.wordnik.com/ or https://github.com/mashery/iodocs - - Many web app frameworks can generate the documentation for you. For example Symfony for PHPhttp://symfony.com/ https://github.com/FriendsOfSymfony/FOSRestBundle http://williamdurand.fr/2012/08/02/rest-apis-with-symfony2-the-right-way/ https://github.com/nelmio/NelmioApiDocBundle better apis https://github.com/liip/LiipHelloBundle - - or for Rails https://github.com/elc/rapi_doc https://github.com/Pajk/apipie-rails - - +HowTo.gov has a bunch of api resources about choosing SOAP vs. REST etc. http://www.howto.gov/mobile/apis-in-government + +API documentation is important too! Traditionally for SOAP APIs, you use WSDL but for REST try [Swagger](http://swagger.wordnik.com/) or [iodocs](https://github.com/mashery/iodocs) +Many web app frameworks can generate the documentation for you. For example Symfony for PHP http://symfony.com/ https://github.com/FriendsOfSymfony/FOSRestBundle http://williamdurand.fr/2012/08/02/rest-apis-with-symfony2-the-right-way/ https://github.com/nelmio/NelmioApiDocBundle +Or for Ruby on Rails there is is https://github.com/elc/rapi_doc https://github.com/Pajk/apipie-rails + + better apis https://github.com/liip/LiipHelloBundle + http://amberonrails.com/building-stripes-api/ + example WeatherTree weather API @@ -144,20 +138,16 @@ You can find some data visualisation tools below: -[http://www.visualisingdata.com/index.php/2011/07/part-6-the-essential-collection-of-visualisation-resources/](http://www.visualisingdata.com/index.php/2011/07/part-6-the-essential-collection-of-visualisation-resources/) - +[Essential Colletion](http://www.visualisingdata.com/index.php/2011/07/part-6-the-essential-collection-of-visualisation-resources/) + [Drawing By Numbers Tools and Resources](http://drawingbynumbers.org/toolsandresources) + - http://selection.datavisualization.ch/ data viz tools catalog Also check out [http://thejit.org](http://thejit.org/) & [http://www.senchalabs.org/philogl/](http://www.senchalabs.org/philogl/) (contributed by Matt Adcock) -Have to use visual art concepts, good color schemes http://www.r-bloggers.com/the-paul-tol-21-color-salute/ - - - - https://graphics.stanford.edu/wikis/cs448b-12-fall/ data viz theory - - http://drawingbynumbers.org/toolsandresources - -examples - http://sunfoundation.tumblr.com/ -## The Open Budget - -tools - http://selection.datavisualization.ch/ data viz tools catalog +A good infographic should use visual art concepts and [good color schemes](http://www.r-bloggers.com/the-paul-tol-21-color-salute/) +For more information on the theory of data visualisation check out the (Stanford CS448B notes)[https://graphics.stanford.edu/wikis/cs448b-12-fall/] + +Some examples of data visualisation can be seen on [the Sunlight Foundation tumblr](http://sunfoundation.tumblr.com/) or at the GovHack alumn [The Open Budget](http://www/.theopenbudget.org) + ## Web Applications @@ -171,7 +161,7 @@ ### Examples -## PlanningAlerts +#### PlanningAlerts [![Planning Alerts Screenshot](img/How-to-participate-in-GovHack_html_2f0199ff1-300x221.png "Planning Alerts Screenshot")](img/How-to-participate-in-GovHack_html_2f0199ff1.png)Description: Planning Alerts takes data from local government development applications and sends alerts to users based on what applications are lodged in their area. @@ -181,7 +171,7 @@ Issue Tracking: [Atlassian JIRA](http://tickets.openaustraliafoundation.org.au/browse/PA/) -## LobbyLens +#### LobbyLens [![](img/129-Screenshot-LobbyClue_-_Chromium-300x180.png "LobbyLens screenshot")](img/129-Screenshot-LobbyClue_-_Chromium.png) @@ -193,7 +183,7 @@ Issue Tracking: A whiteboard -## bus.lambdacomplex.org +#### bus.lambdacomplex.org [![](img/How-to-participate-in-GovHack_html_3789acae-300x253.jpg "Bus.lambda screenshot")](img/How-to-participate-in-GovHack_html_3789acae.jpg) @@ -207,38 +197,43 @@ ## Mobile -FRameworks, http://www.sencha.com/products/touch http://phonegap.com/ http://cordova.apache.org/ - -bom water, -nz gov budget +Frameworks, http://www.sencha.com/products/touch http://phonegap.com/ http://cordova.apache.org/ + html5 jquery mobile like directory.gov.au - - android datviz - - http://code.google.com/p/afreechart/ http://code.google.com/p/snowdon/ http://code.google.com/p/chartdroid/ http://androidplot.com/ http://code.google.com/p/achartengine/ - +For data visualisation, there are a variety of graph widgets http://code.google.com/p/afreechart/ http://code.google.com/p/snowdon/ http://code.google.com/p/chartdroid/ http://androidplot.com/ http://code.google.com/p/achartengine/ + + +Backend frameworks http://helios.io/ https://www.parse.com/ +### Examples + +Bureau of Meteorology Water Storage App http://icelab.com.au/work/bureau-of-meteorology/ + +NZ Gov budget http://www.treasury.govt.nz/budget/app # Geographical Data Tools {#geographical-data-tools} -Check out the[ GeoRabble Boundary Mapper's Cookbook](http://georabble.org/2012/05/31/the-boundary-mappers-cookbook/) to see how you can tie all these things together! +Check out the [GeoRabble Boundary Mapper's Cookbook](http://georabble.org/2012/05/31/the-boundary-mappers-cookbook/) to see how you can tie all these things together! + + ## Key datasets - - base layers like agri http://agri.openstreetmap.org/, http://irs.gis-lab.info/ wms or http://www.gdal.org/frmt_wms_openstreetmap_tms.xml - ASGS including suburbs/postcodes - - andrewharvey4.wordpress.com postgis/asgs tutorial +base layers like agri http://agri.openstreetmap.org/, http://irs.gis-lab.info/ wms or http://www.gdal.org/frmt_wms_openstreetmap_tms.xml + +ASGS from ABS including suburbs/postcodes andrewharvey4.wordpress.com postgis/asgs tutorial +You can also get KML layers for various statistical measures on the ABS TableBuilder tool. + ## Wrangling ### Converting -There are many spatial data formats and often the one your tool requires is not the one the dataset is provided in -Online - - http://converter.mygeodata.eu/vector kml exporter for shp -or locally using GDAL - -### geocoding -cloudmade, google (but you must display on a Google Map). - -Easiest way to do is with a Google Spreadsheet/Fusion Table http://williamparry.blogspot.com.au/2011/04/putting-data-into-google-fusion-tables.htm http://support.google.com/fusiontables/answer/1012281?hl=en&ref_topic=2592806 - +There are many spatial data formats and often the one your tool requires is not the one the dataset is provided in. +You can convert spatial datasets online with http://converter.mygeodata.eu/vector or locally using GDAL (which better for >10 megabyte datasets) + +### Geocoding +Google Maps APIs allow you to convert an address to map co-ordinates (geocoding) but you must display on a Google Map. The easiest way to do is with a Google Spreadsheet/Fusion Table http://williamparry.blogspot.com.au/2011/04/putting-data-into-google-fusion-tables.htm http://support.google.com/fusiontables/answer/1012281?hl=en&ref_topic=2592806 + +If you need geocoding for more than display (working out the distance between points etc) or you don't want to use Google Maps, Cloudmade offers free OpenStreetMap based geocoding http://developers.cloudmade.com/projects/show/geocoding-http-api ## Analysis @@ -254,6 +249,7 @@ ## Visualisation ### Layar and other augmented reality tools +[Layar](http://www.layar.com/) provides a platform for exploring a dataset by travelling to the actual locations of the data and looking through a smartphone. Custom markers (2D or 3D) seem to float in the air and can be clicked on for more information. You can even trigger an event like playing music when within a certain range of a location. ### Google Fusion Tables/ChartsBin/[OpenHeatMap](http://www.openheatmap.com/) @@ -263,9 +259,8 @@ ### [Cartographer.js](http://cartographer.visualmotive.com/) -[![](img/cartographerjs-300x187.png "cartographerjs screenshot")](img/cartographerjs.png)Input data as JSON and maps are produced. -See also d3 maps. - - http://bost.ocks.org/mike/map/ +[![](img/cartographerjs-300x187.png "cartographerjs screenshot")](img/cartographerjs.png)Input data as JSON and interactive maps are produced. +You can also try d3 maps: http://bost.ocks.org/mike/map/ ### OpenLayers/Google Maps/[Leaflet](http://leaflet.cloudmade.com/) @@ -273,6 +268,8 @@ [![](img/How-to-participate-in-GovHack_html_512fcbe1-300x173.jpg "OpenLayers Screenshot")](img/How-to-participate-in-GovHack_html_512fcbe1.jpg)Display points and different layers. Leaflet is the easiest to use if you just want to show points with popups when clicked on. There are wrappers for Google maps like http://hpneo.github.com/gmaps/examples.html and Mapstraction that can make it easier to use too. +If you need to customise the base map, try TileMill. + ### NASA World Wind/Google Earth [![](img/How-to-participate-in-GovHack_html_4dda24a4-300x261.jpg "WorldWind screenshot")](img/How-to-participate-in-GovHack_html_4dda24a4.jpg)Google Earth provides 3\. viewing of KML/GML files which represent points and shapes, both through a desktop application and a web plugin. These can be extended with interactive features that allow you to view by timeline or have animated tours between different points. You can also develop and customise your own viewer with the open source [NASA World Wind toolkit.](http://goworldwind.org/demos/) @@ -283,9 +280,7 @@ ## Wrangling -Converting formats json/xml/csv etc. - - http://shancarter.com/data_converter/ - +Converting between formats like json/xml or csv can be done online with http://shancarter.com/data_converter/ Tabular data may have duplicate entries or incorrect formats (varying ways to enter dates/phonenumbers etc.). There are tools to quickly fix common problems @@ -298,30 +293,29 @@ ## Analysis -### Excel / Calc - -Great basic analysis and viewing. Older versions can be limited to 6500\. or so rows. Eg [http://www.tcij.org/training-material/car/data-mining/3474](http://www.tcij.org/training-material/car/data-mining/3474) +### Excel / Google Docs + +Great basic analysis and viewing but older versions can be limited to 6500 rows. Eg [http://www.tcij.org/training-material/car/data-mining/3474](http://www.tcij.org/training-material/car/data-mining/3474) + +http://training.sunlightfoundation.com/module/data-visualizations-google-docs/ ### PostgreSQL/MySQL [![](img/How-to-participate-in-GovHack_html_209ee972.jpg "SQL screenshot")](img/How-to-participate-in-GovHack_html_209ee972.jpg)Next step up, large datasets can be manipulated/extracted efficiently for example [http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.4/static/tutorial-window.html](http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.4/static/tutorial-window.html) , no built-in data visualisation though. -### [Miso Dataset](http://misoproject.com/dataset/) - -[![](img/How-to-participate-in-GovHack_html_m53b7ee38-293x300.png "miso screenshot")](img/How-to-participate-in-GovHack_html_m53b7ee38.png)Javascript data transformation library - especially good if you want to use the output for javascript interactive visualisations because the transformations can be done on-the-fly by users. - ### R Statistical Language -[![](img/rstudio-windows-300x249.png "rstudio-windows")](img/rstudio-windows.png)Advanced data analysis, can find and visualise trends in large datasets. Some reference resources to learn the language [http://cran.r-project.org/doc/manuals/R-intro.html ](http://cran.r-project.org/doc/manuals/R-intro.html)There are also some addons that provide graphical interfaces that make it easier to use such as Rattle [http://rattle.togaware.com/](http://rattle.togaware.com/) , RStudio [http://rstudio.org/](http://rstudio.org/) or Deducer [http://www.deducer.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=Main.DeducerManual](http://www.deducer.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=Main.DeducerManual) +[![](img/rstudio-windows-300x249.png "rstudio-windows")](img/rstudio-windows.png) +R provides a platform for advanced data analysis which can find and visualise trends even in large datasets. Some reference resources to learn the language [http://cran.r-project.org/doc/manuals/R-intro.html ](http://cran.r-project.org/doc/manuals/R-intro.html)There are also some addons that provide graphical interfaces that make it easier to use such as Rattle [http://rattle.togaware.com/](http://rattle.togaware.com/) , RStudio [http://rstudio.org/](http://rstudio.org/) or Deducer [http://www.deducer.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=Main.DeducerManual](http://www.deducer.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=Main.DeducerManual) - http://blog.yhathq.com/posts/10-R-packages-I-wish-I-knew-about-earlier.html - - excel -> R/rattle/ deducer? http://www.r-bloggers.com/updates-to-the-deducer-family-of-packages/ - - http://www.twotorials.com/ for R - http://www.r-bloggers.com/gradient-word-clouds/ http://www.rstudio.com/shiny/ http://blog.ouseful.info/2012/11/28/quick-shiny-demo-exploring-nhs-winter-sit-rep-data/ https://github.com/timelyportfolio/shiny-d3-plot https://github.com/trestletech/shiny-sandbox/tree/master/grn - http://www.r-bloggers.com/video-simpler-tricks-and-tools-help-debugging-git-latex-and-workflow-with-r-by-prof-rob-hyndman/ - http://yihui.name/knitr/ makes reports including google widgets/charts/maps via http://www.r-bloggers.com/googlevis-0-3-2-is-released-better-integration-with-knitr/ - http://chartsnthings.tumblr.com/post/36978271916/r-tutorial-simple-charts http://flowingdata.com/2012/12/17/getting-started-with-charts-in-r/ - + + http://www.r-bloggers.com/to-plot-them-is-my-real-test/ + http://blog.revolutionanalytics.com/2013/04/visualize-large-data-sets-with-the-bigvis-package.html 10 Million Points in 5 seconds. ## Visualisation @@ -329,9 +323,10 @@ Create visualisations from various data formats by dragging and dropping. Free trial available on website. [![](img/Tableau-Screenshot-300x190.jpg "Tableau Screenshot")](img/Tableau-Screenshot.jpg) -### [Flotr2](http://www.humblesoftware.com/flotr2/)/[Google Chart Tools](https://developers.google.com/chart/) - +### Web page (Javascript) graphs +[Flotr2](http://www.humblesoftware.com/flotr2/)/[Google Chart Tools](https://developers.google.com/chart/) [![](img/How-to-participate-in-GovHack_html_m11006fce-300x199.jpg "flotr2 screenshot")](img/How-to-participate-in-GovHack_html_m11006fce.jpg)Javascript based charts for webpages. +http://www.polychartjs.com/ Allows facetting and easy use of JSON data sets. ### D3.js (Data-Driven Documents) @@ -346,26 +341,34 @@ ### Processing.js # Unstructured (Text) Data Tools -MOPst of thw world's dat isn't structured because it is contained in documents (webpages, tweets etc.). Sometimes it is possible to structure it, sometimes there are tools that are better suited it unstructured data. -## wrangling -Scraperwiki pytemplate scrapy -regex - -## analysing - - opennlp/nltk / https://github.com/clips/pattern - - lucene/solr - - http://www.r-bloggers.com/simple-text-mining-with-r/ - - http://blog.josephwilk.net/ruby/latent-semantic-analysis-in-ruby.html similar terms usually found together - -## visualising - -Overviewer/ Jigsaw -http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/ii/jigsaw/ - -http://www.jasondavies.com/wordtree/ +Most of the world's data isn't structured because it is contained in documents (webpages, tweets etc.). Sometimes it is possible to structure it, sometimes there are tools that are better suited it unstructured data. +## Wrangling +For extracting data from webpages, checkout Scraperwiki pytemplate scrapy + +PDFs - http://source.mozillaopennews.org/en-US/articles/introducing-tabula/ for text PDFs or http://www.reporterslab.org/dochive/ for images (common in scanned document PDFs) + +If there is no way to form a table structure to be able to apply tabular data techniques , you need a more sophisticated analysis as detailed below. + +## Analysing +Natural Language Processing libraries like OpenNLP for Java or NLTK / [Pattern](https://github.com/clips/pattern) for Python allow you to extract information from text. +One of the most useful techniques found in these libraries is Named entity recognition which extracts the subjects named in a piece of text. + +A search engine just for your dataset can also help. Tools like Apache Lucene/Solr or ElasticSearch can help you index and search large datasets in new ways. + +For light weight analysis, try R or Ruby: http://www.r-bloggers.com/simple-text-mining-with-r/ http://blog.josephwilk.net/ruby/latent-semantic-analysis-in-ruby.html + +## Visualising + +You can make word trees of blocks of text, webpages or twitter account and share them http://www.jasondavies.com/wordtree/ + +"Overview automatically sorts thousands of documents into topics and sub-topics, by reading the full text of each one." Simply make a CSV file with two columns, id and text. 10,000 documents is a good limit for the current state of the system. https://www.overviewproject.org/ + +For larger document sets or for alternative visualisations, try Jigsaw a desktop based application. http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/ii/jigsaw/ + + # Graph (relationships and networks) Data Tools {#graph-relationships-and-networks-data-tools} - +Graph data can be very valuable for finding communities, hubs and connections between entities (the 6 degrees of separation). This is through the techniques of Social Network Analysis. - http://www.slideshare.net/OReillyStrata/visualizing-networks-beyond-the-hairball - http://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-554179-622011.html SNA tools catalog - https://github.com/jacomyal/osdc2012-sigmajs-demo sigmajs filtering/searching @@ -374,20 +377,17 @@ ## Analysis ### R - +http://www.slideshare.net/ianmcook/social-network-analysis-in-r - http://is-r.tumblr.com/post/38240018815/making-prettier-network-graphs-with-sna-and-igraph -### Neo4j / OrientDB - -[![](img/webadmin-data-300x127.png "Neo4\. web admin screenshot")](img/webadmin-data.png)Help understand relationships - how is X connected to Y and via what other entities they both are connected to. Imports and exports - - - http://www.slideshare.net/maxdemarzi/etl-into-neo4j - http://blog.neo4j.org/2013/03/importing-data-into-neo4j-spreadsheet.html - -http://www.orientdb.org/ - -Both can be accessed using a preexisting tool like Gremlin or by writing a simple Java/Python/Ruby application. Queries can be tested in the built in data browser. +### Graph Databases + +[![](img/webadmin-data-300x127.png "Neo4\. web admin screenshot")](img/webadmin-data.png)Help understand relationships - how is X connected to Y and via what other entities they both are connected to. +Imports and exports can be done by [writing a java program](http://www.slideshare.net/maxdemarzi/etl-into-neo4j) or [spreadsheet](http://blog.neo4j.org/2013/03/importing-data-into-neo4j-spreadsheet.html) + +There are other graph databases worth considering like [OrientDB](http://www.orientdb.org/) or [Titan](http://thinkaurelius.github.com/titan/) +Major graph databases like these can be accessed using a common syntax called Gremlin or by writing a simple Java/Python/Ruby application. Queries can be tested in the built in data browser. @@ -396,16 +396,20 @@ [![](img/chess_masters-300x300.png "NetworkX")](img/chess_masters.png) NetworkX is a social network analysis library for python. Many advanced analyses built in like finding communities within a graph. Also good for converting data into graphs. + +See this [introduction to Social Network Analysis with NetworkX](http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~cm542/teaching/2011/stna-pdfs/stna-lecture11.pdf) ## Visualisation ### Tree/Hierarchy visualisation -Sometimes what you actually have is a tree/hierarchy with no interconnections. - http://www.randelshofer.ch/treeviz/ http://thejit.org/demos/ http://mbostock.github.com/protovis/ex/treemap.html http://blog.pixelingene.com/2011/07/building-a-tree-diagram-in-d3-js/d3 for Trees and Hierarchies - http://mbostock.github.com/d3/ex/pack.html http://mbostock.github.com/d3/ex/tree.html +Sometimes when you analyse a network what you actually have is a tree/hierarchy with no interconnections. +In these cases, it's faster and more visually effective to use a Tree visualisation. +You can run [TreeViz](http://www.randelshofer.ch/treeviz/) locally or use [d3 on a website](http://bl.ocks.org/mbostock/4063550), [step by step instructions for creating tree data for d3](http://blog.pixelingene.com/2011/07/building-a-tree-diagram-in-d3-js/) +d3 also includes [treemaps - bubbles inside bubbles](http://bl.ocks.org/mbostock/4063530) ### NodeXL for Microsoft Excel - - http://nodexl.codeplex.com/ network graphs for excel +[![](img/ExcelWindow.png "NodeXL Screenshot")](img/ExcelWindow.png) + [NodeXL](http://nodexl.codeplex.com/) allows you to visualise networks/graphs quickly inside Excel. ### [Graphviz](http://www.graphviz.org/) @@ -417,5 +421,5 @@ ### [sigma.js](http://sigmajs.org/) -[![](img/How-to-participate-in-GovHack_html_m6006eaf3-300x130.jpg "Sigma.js Screenshot")](img/How-to-participate-in-GovHack_html_m6006eaf3.jpg)Javascript graph viewer, can use GEXF files exported from tools like neo4j, gephi and NetworkX. - +[![](img/How-to-participate-in-GovHack_html_m6006eaf3-300x130.jpg "Sigma.js Screenshot")](img/How-to-participate-in-GovHack_html_m6006eaf3.jpg)Javascript graph viewer for displaying graphs on webpages without any other plugins/applications required. It can use GEXF files exported from tools like neo4j, gephi or NetworkX. +