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Blocks Todo

We have identified the following blocks as the minimum necessary:

  • Log
  • Tweet list
  • Word cloud
  • Charts:
    • rolling
    • pie
    • bar (bar per category)
    • normal x,y (this is a group of charts)

Optionally, we want to implement:

  • Map
  • Form

Actions

Block actions have been divided into three groups. The groups correspond to (pie chart, bar chart, word cloud), (log, tweet list), (rolling chart), and (normal x-y charts).

Actions are always emitted as follows:

emit('event', {
    'action': action_name,
    'argument0': value0,
    'argument1': value1
})

We note actions by their action_name. Optional argument are annotated with (optional). It is possible to emit to a block without giving a 'action' field. If you do, the default action is used: usually this will generate a warning on the development console of the browser.

Category blocks (pie, bar, word cloud)

The category blocks are all blocks that somehow operate over categories. This includes word clouds, bar charts, pie charts.

set

  • series (optional): a string indicating the series to operate on, if left out operate on default series
  • value: A pair [ category, value ] that is inserted as a new category, or replaces the existing category

Adds the given category to the block and sets its value at the given value. If the category already exists its current value is overwritten by the given value.

add

  • series (optional): a string indicating the series to operate on, if left out operate on default series
  • value: A pair [ category, value ] that is inserted as a new category, or the value is added to the existing category

Updates the block by adding the given value to the given categories current value. If the category does not exist, it is created at a value of 0 before the update is executed.

del

  • series (optional): a string indicating the series to operate on, if left out operate on default series
  • category: a string indicating the category that is to be removed

Removes a category from the block. This is different from setting a category to 0: visual elements related to the category will be completely removed.

reset

  • series (optional): a string indiciating the series to operate on, if left out will reset all series

Resets the block to its original state.

Normal X,Y chart

The normal x,y chart is the basic chart used by Flot. It plots a sequence of [x,y] pairs on a field. Configuration can be used to switch between stepped and smooth lines and bars.

It supports multiple series if the configuration includes those. The default series is the first defined series.

set

  • series (optional): a string indicating the series to operate on, if left out operates on default series
  • values: a list of the form [ [x0, y0], [x1, y1], ... ] or [ y0, y1, ...]

Replaces the current values of the given series (or the default series) with the values given in the values field. If the values in the list are given as scalars instead of pairs, the automatic numberings scheme as described with the add action is applied.

add

  • series (optional): a string indicating the series to operate on, if left out operates on default series
  • value: a pair of the form [ x0, y0 ] or a value y0

Adds the value to this block, taking into account the given series. If the value is given as a pair, it is added to the series verbatim. If it is given as a value, it is assigned an x value by incrementing the x value of the previous point by 1. If there is no previous point, the value 0 is assigned.

reset

  • series (optional): a string indicating the series to operate on, if left out operates on default series

Resets the block to its original state. Only resets the given series if a series name is given.

Rolling Chart

The rolling chart is a special case of chart. It supports series, but all series must be updated in a single action.

add

  • values: a dictionary of the form { 'series0': value0, 'series1': value1, ... } to update

Each series of the block is updated with the given value. Any series that is left out will not be updated for this interval, and will instead be shown as a break in the graph.

reset

Resets this block to its initial values.

Log and Tweet List

The log and tweet list are textual display blocks. Both blocks expect a dictionary sent at the default action.

default action

The default action for both the log and the tweets block is to append the given data to the end of the block, possibly removing earlier data.

The log block expects at least a {'text': "..."} shaped dictionary. The 'text' field is used as the content to display.

The tweets block expects at least the following fields (with the entities field being optional):

{
    'user': {
        'screen_name': "...",
        'name': "..."
    },
    'created_at': "...",
    'text': "...",
    'entities': {
        ...
    }
}

These fields are used to display the tweet in a simple format. See Twitter's API docs on Entities in Objects for information about the optional entities object.