Data visualizations

Reference for the Uwazi Data visualizations feature, covering chart types, data and chart options, appearance, refresh modes, embedding, and defaults.

Overview

An admin builds a chart in Settings > Data visualizations, then adds it to a page or to an external site.

Access

Only admins reach this section. Uwazi hides the menu entry from every other role. No toggle turns the section on or off, so it shows on every instance.

Item	Value
Location	Settings > Data visualizations
Role	Admin
Charts on a new instance	None; the list starts empty

A chart built from a query needs at least one template. On an instance with no template, the editor opens with no data source and the save fails.

Visualization list

The list page shows one row per saved visualization.

Column	Holds
Name	The visualization name
Chart	The chart type
Refresh	Live, Snapshot (manual), Snapshot (scheduled), or Manual data
Last updated	The time of the last change
Action	The Edit link

Row checkboxes turn the footer into a bar with a Delete button and a Selected N of M count. With no row chosen, the footer shows Create visualization.

warning

Deleting a chart is permanent, and it breaks every page and external site that holds it.

Editor layout

The editor has a tabbed panel on the left and a preview on the right.

Panel	Tabs
Configuration	Info, Data, Chart, Appearance, Refresh
Preview	Preview, Query, Advanced

The Refresh and Query tabs drop out for manual data. The Advanced tab shows only for the chart types that use ECharts, so List and Metric never show it.

Uwazi keeps each edit in the browser. The preview redraws 300 milliseconds after the last keystroke. The Save button writes the chart.

Info tab

Field	Type	Required	Notes
Name	Text	Yes	Trimmed, and unique across all visualizations
Embed panel	—	—	Empty until the first save

The breadcrumb shows Untitled visualization while the name is empty.

Data tab

The Data tab sets where the numbers come from. An Input type toggle chooses between them.

Data source	Behaviour
Query	Uwazi builds the numbers from entities in one or more templates
Manual	Uwazi renders values typed into a JSON editor

Entity scope

Query mode only.

Field	Values	Default
Entity scope	Include all entities, Include only public	Include all entities

Uwazi applies this setting the same way to Live and Snapshot charts. Include only public filters every query to published entities. Include all entities counts every entity, everywhere the chart appears.

Data sources

Each data source names one template and has a short alias. A chart can hold any number of sources. The alias column and the remove action show only with two or more sources. Uwazi rebuilds the aliases each time the set of sources changes.

Join mode

The join mode appears only with two or more data sources.

Mode	Label	Result
Compare	Compare side by side	Each data source becomes its own series
Union	Combine counts	Uwazi merges buckets from all sources into one series

Compare side by side is the default. Joins across relationships are not supported.

Filters

A filter narrows the entities behind the chart. With two or more sources, each filter can point at one source. A filter reaches template properties only. Publication status is a state on the entity, not a template property, so no filter can reach it. The Entity scope setting decides which entities a chart counts, not a filter.

The filter picker offers these property types:

Select
Multi-select
Numeric
Date
Text

Each property type accepts a fixed set of operators. The table covers every type a stored filter can hold.

Property type	Operators
Select	Equals, Is not, Is any of, Is not any of
Multi-select	Is any of, Is not any of
Numeric	Equals, Is not, From (≥), Up to (≤), Between
Date, Date range, Multiple dates, Multiple date ranges	From (≥), Up to (≤), Between
Generated ID	Equals, Is not, Contains
Text	Contains, Equals, Is not

Contains matches any part of the value and ignores case. A numeric bound that isn't a number drops out of the filter with no error.

Dimensions

Dimensions group the entities into buckets.

Field	Label	Required
Primary dimension	Primary dimension (X-axis / categories)	Yes, unless the chart is a plain count
Second dimension	Second dimension (series / stacks)	No; None is an option

A property in use by one dimension drops out of the other list. With two or more sources, Uwazi offers only the properties that carry the same name and configuration in every source. An Entity type (template) option shows for the primary dimension with two or more sources.

Dimensions accept these property types: Select, Multi-select, Numeric, Date, Date range, Multiple dates, Multiple date ranges, and Generated ID. No other type shows in the list.

Each dimension has these controls.

Control	Values	Shown for
Property	Any property the picker offers, plus Entity type (template)	Always
Aggregation	Count, Sum, Average, Min, Max	A numeric property
Date interval	Year, Month, Week, Computed years	A date property
Max buckets	A number, 10 by default	Every property except entity type

The cap on the primary dimension limits the query itself. The cap on the second one trims the result after the query runs.

Uwazi orders the buckets by value, from high to low. A numeric or date dimension orders by its own value instead, from low to high.

Measures

A measure is the number the chart plots. A chart holds one measure.

Aggregation	Result
Count	The number of entities in each bucket
Sum	The total of a numeric property
Average	The mean of a numeric property
Min	The lowest value of a numeric property
Max	The highest value of a numeric property

The Aggregation control on a numeric dimension sets the measure below, not the dimension itself.

Each chart needs one data source and one measure. It also needs a dimension, unless the measure is a plain count.

Chart types

Uwazi offers 12 chart types in the order below.

Chart type	Shows as	Advanced tab
Pie	A circle split into slices	Yes
Donut	A ring split into segments	Yes
Bar	Vertical bars	Yes
Horizontal bar	Horizontal bars	Yes
Stacked bar	Bars split into segments	Yes
Heatmap	A grid shaded by value	Yes
Line	A line across the categories	Yes
Area	A line with the space below it filled	Yes
List	A table of categories and values	No
Gauge	A dial	Yes
Metric	A single number	No
Scatter	Points on two axes	Yes

List and Metric are the two types with no Advanced tab.

Chart type availability

The Chart tab disables any chart type that doesn't fit the data, and gives the reason on hover. Manual data makes every chart type available.

The next table covers a query with one dimension or none.

Chart type	Available when	Reason shown when unavailable
Pie, Donut	A Select dimension and a Count measure	Requires select dimension + count
Bar	Any dimension and a Count measure	Requires dimension + count
Horizontal bar	A Select dimension and a Count measure	Requires select dimension + count
List	A Select dimension and a Count measure	Requires select dimension + count
Gauge	Any dimension and a Count measure	Requires dimension + count
Metric	A Count measure and no dimension	Count without dimension
Line	A date or numeric dimension and a Count or Sum measure	Requires date or numeric dimension
Area	A date or numeric dimension and a Count measure	Requires date or numeric dimension
Scatter	A numeric dimension and a Sum, Average, Min, or Max measure	Requires numeric dimension
Stacked bar	Never with one dimension	Add a second categorical dimension (e.g. sex split by country)
Heatmap	Never with one dimension	Add a second categorical dimension

The table covers a query with two dimensions.

Dimension pair	Available chart types
Select by Select	Stacked bar, Heatmap, List
Date or numeric by numeric	Scatter, Heatmap, List, and Line, Area, Bar when the primary dimension is a date or numeric
Date or numeric by Select	Line, Heatmap, List, Stacked bar, and Area with a Count measure
Any other pair	Heatmap and List only

With two dimensions, an unavailable chart type gives one of these reasons.

Reason	Shown for
Requires a single dimension	Pie, Donut, and Bar, in most dimension pairs
Requires a single date dimension	Line and Area, with two Select dimensions
Requires a single categorical dimension	Horizontal bar, with a date or numeric pair
Requires two categorical dimensions	Stacked bar, outside a Select by Select pair
Requires numeric cross-tab dimensions	Scatter, with two Select dimensions
Requires date/numeric × numeric dimensions	Scatter, with any other unsupported pair
Not available with two dimensions	Gauge and Metric

Area needs a Count measure in the cases where Line also takes Sum.

Uwazi swaps the chart type on its own when an edit to the query rules the current type out. It picks the first available type, in the order shown above.

Chart tab

The Chart tab holds the chart type grid and the display options. Each option shows only for the chart types that support it.

Option	Type	Default
Show legend	Checkbox	Selected
Show tooltip	Checkbox	Selected
Show labels on chart	Checkbox	Selected, except on types that hide labels
Show empty values (No data)	Checkbox	Cleared
Exclude zero values	Checkbox	Cleared
Empty value label	Text	No data
Label format	Select	Percentage
Max number of slices	Number	10
Others label	Text	Other

Label format accepts Percentage, Value, or Value and percentage.

The next table shows which options each chart type displays.

Chart type	Legend	Tooltip	Labels	Empty value options
Pie, Donut	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Bar, Horizontal bar, Stacked bar	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Line, Area	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Heatmap	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Scatter	Yes	Yes	No	No
Gauge	No	Yes	No	No
List	No	No	No	Yes
Metric	No	No	No	No

Label format, Max number of slices, and Others label show for Pie and Donut only. A switch to Scatter also clears Show labels on chart and can change the primary dimension.

Appearance tab

Colour modes

Mode	Label	Source of each colour
Theme	Chart palette	The built-in palette of eight colours, cycled by position
Template	Template colors	The brand colour of each template
Custom	Custom colors	A colour picked for each value

The built-in palette holds #4A90D9, #7B68EE, #E67E22, #2ECC71, #E74C3C, #1ABC9C, #9B59B6, and #F39C12. Uwazi falls back to this palette when a template has no brand colour, or a value has no colour of its own.

Template colors apply when the chart compares two or more data sources, or when the primary dimension is the entity type. Heatmap and Stacked bar never support Template colors.

The tab shows a warning in two cases.

Case	Message
Template colors on a chart with one source	Template colors apply when comparing data sources or when the dimension is entity type. Otherwise the chart palette is used as fallback.
Custom colors on a chart that can't use them	Custom colors are not available for this chart type. Use the chart palette or template colors instead.

Custom colour support

Custom colours cover different targets depending on the chart.

Chart type or shape	Custom colour target
Pie, Donut, Scatter, single-series Bar and Horizontal bar	Each category or slice
Stacked bar and Heatmap with a second dimension	Each stack segment
Line and Area with a second dimension, and any compare-mode chart	Each series or segment
Line and Area with one series and no second dimension	Unsupported
List, Metric, Gauge	Unsupported

The colour map stays empty until a preview loads.

Theme colours

Setting	Type	Default
Transparent background	Checkbox	Cleared
Background	Colour	Transparent until set; the picker displays `#ffffff`
Foreground	Colour	`#1a1a1a`

Selecting the transparent checkbox disables the Background picker and remembers the last solid colour.

Advanced tab

The Advanced tab holds a JSON editor for the ECharts options that the Chart tab leaves out. It sits in the preview panel, and it shows only for the chart types that use ECharts. Below the editor, a read-only panel shows the resolved option for the current preview data.

Uwazi merges the JSON deeply into the option it builds.

Behaviour	Result
Arrays	Merged by position; an entry can't be removed
Objects	Merged key by key
Scalars	Replaced
`null`	Overwrites the base value
Invalid JSON	The last valid value stays, and the editor reports the error

The JSON field carries three limits. It holds data only, so it can't carry an option that needs a function. Nothing checks the keys, so a bad option saves cleanly and can break the chart. On a Heatmap, Uwazi puts back its own colour scale, legend, and series data after the merge. Uwazi drops any change to those three keys.

The merged option drives the external embed and the preview alike. A change here forces a new snapshot on a snapshot chart.

Refresh tab

The Refresh tab appears for query-based charts only.

Mode	Label	Behaviour
Live	Live (always up to date)	Uwazi runs the query on every view
Manual snapshot	Snapshot (manual)	Uwazi stores the result and serves it until an admin refreshes it
Scheduled snapshot	Snapshot (scheduled)	Uwazi stores the result and refreshes it on a schedule

Both snapshot modes show Update from collection and the time of the last refresh.

Control	State
Update from collection	Disabled until the first save, and for 10 seconds after a refresh
Frequency	Daily, Weekly, or Monthly
Time (UTC)	A time of day, with the matching local time shown below it

Live mode limits

Uwazi disables Live and falls back to Snapshot (manual) in these cases.

Condition	Threshold
More than one data source	Two or more
Two dimensions	Both dimensions set
Relationship join	Any
Preview entity count	More than 10,000
Preview results truncated	Any
Preview duration	10,000 milliseconds or more
Preview timed out	Any

The editor lists the reasons under the option. Uwazi checks the same rules again on save.

Schedule timing

A schedule has a frequency and a time, and no day field. Uwazi takes the day from the moment of the save.

Frequency	First run	Later runs
Daily	The chosen time, today if it hasn't passed	Every day
Weekly	The chosen time on the weekday of the save	The same weekday
Monthly	The chosen time on the day of the month of the save	The same day each month

Every schedule runs in UTC. A weekly schedule saved before its time runs the same day. A monthly schedule set near the end of a month moves to the last day of a short month. It then stays on that earlier day, because each run sets the next one. A late run shifts the day in the same way.

Snapshots and publication status

The Entity scope setting on the Data tab decides whether unpublished entities count, the same way for a Live chart and a Snapshot chart. See Entity scope.

Manual data

Manual data swaps the query for JSON typed into the editor. A switch to Manual fills the editor with an example. The Load example action then loads one that fits the current chart type.

{
  "series": [
    {
      "id": "main",
      "label": "Series 1",
      "points": [
        { "key": "a", "label": "Category A", "value": 10 },
        { "key": "b", "label": "Category B", "value": 25 },
        { "key": "c", "label": "Category C", "value": 15 }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "meta": { "totalEntities": 50, "truncated": false }
}

The block above holds one series of three points. The meta block is optional, and Uwazi works it out when it's absent.

Field	Type	Required
`series`	Array	Yes, and non-empty
`series[].id`	String	Yes, and non-empty
`series[].label`	String	Yes, and non-empty
`series[].points`	Array	Yes, and non-empty
`points[].label`	String	Yes
`points[].value`	Number	Yes
`points[].key`	Any	No
`points[].breakdown`	Array of points	No; needed for stacked and cross-tab charts
`meta`	Object	No

A point value that isn't a number fails the save. When meta.totalEntities is absent, Uwazi adds up the top point values. It skips the ones under breakdown.

The Load example action offers five shapes across the 12 chart types.

Example shape	Chart types
Five flat points	Pie, Donut, Bar, Horizontal bar, Gauge
Three points with a breakdown each	List, Stacked bar, Heatmap
Five points keyed by year	Line, Area
Three points with numeric breakdown keys	Scatter
One point	Metric

Embedding

The embed panel sits in the Info tab. It stays empty until the first save.

Target	Snippet
An Uwazi page	`<Dataviz id="<id>" />`
An external site	An `iframe` element pointing at `/embed/dataviz/<id>`

<iframe
  src="https://example.org/embed/dataviz/abc123?locale=en"
  width="100%"
  height="400"
  frameborder="0"
  loading="lazy"
></iframe>

The snippet above adds a chart to an external page at a height of 400 pixels.

Setting	Applies to	Effect
Allow public embedding without login	Private instances	Serves the chart to anonymous viewers

On a public instance the external snippet always shows. On a private instance it shows only when the toggle is on. Otherwise the panel reads "Enable public embedding to use this chart in external sites on private instances."

warning

Public embedding hands the chart to anyone with the link, with no login and no permission check.

The embed page loads its chart library from a public content delivery network. An instance that blocks external scripts draws List and Metric embeds, and nothing else. The locale value in the address sets the language of the data, not the language of the page.

Filters from the surrounding page

A page or an external site can filter a chart at view time. An Uwazi page sends a uwazi:dataviz-filter event. An external site posts a message of the same type to the frame.

Both carry the same detail object.

Field	Holds
`targets`	The chart identifiers to filter, or `*` for all; omit it to reach every chart
`property`	The property name to filter on
`properties`	A property name for each chart, which overrides `property`
`value`	`{min, max}`, `{from, to}`, `{values: []}`, `{value}`, or `null` to clear

A chart identifier is the same value the embed panel puts in its snippet. A date range takes ISO dates or timestamps in seconds. Filters build up one property at a time, so clearing one leaves the others in place.

A filter of this kind forces the chart to run live and bypasses the snapshot. A manual data chart ignores it.

On an Uwazi page

The page content holds the chart and the controls.

<Dataviz id="6706f4a1d2b3c40012ab34cd" />

<button type="button" id="ages-20-40">Ages 20 to 40</button>
<button type="button" id="ages-clear">Clear</button>

The Javascript tab of the page editor holds the code that sends the event.

const sendFilter = value => {
  document.dispatchEvent(
    new CustomEvent('uwazi:dataviz-filter', {
      detail: { property: 'age', value },
    })
  );
};

document.getElementById('ages-20-40').addEventListener('click', () => {
  sendFilter({ min: 20, max: 40 });
});

document.getElementById('ages-clear').addEventListener('click', () => {
  sendFilter(null);
});

The example above filters every chart on the page, because it omits targets. To reach one chart, add targets: ['6706f4a1d2b3c40012ab34cd'] to the detail object.

On an external site

The page needs the parentOrigin parameter on the frame address, and the Uwazi address as the second argument to postMessage.

<iframe
  id="cases-chart"
  src="https://uwazi.example.org/embed/dataviz/6706f4a1d2b3c40012ab34cd?locale=en&parentOrigin=https://mysite.example.org"
  width="100%"
  height="400"
  frameborder="0"
></iframe>

<button type="button" id="since-2020">From 2020</button>
<button type="button" id="dates-clear">Clear</button>

<script>
  const chart = document.getElementById('cases-chart');
  const uwaziOrigin = 'https://uwazi.example.org';

  const sendFilter = value => {
    chart.contentWindow.postMessage(
      { type: 'uwazi:dataviz-filter', detail: { property: 'date', value } },
      uwaziOrigin
    );
  };

  document.getElementById('since-2020').addEventListener('click', () => {
    sendFilter({ from: '2020-01-01', to: '2024-12-31' });
  });

  document.getElementById('dates-clear').addEventListener('click', () => {
    sendFilter(null);
  });
</script>

The example above sends a date range to one chart in a frame.

Three things stop a message from arriving. The frame ignores a message from any address other than its own or the one in parentOrigin, and that value has to match the site address exactly. The frame also ignores a message that arrives before it finishes loading, so sending from a button is safer than sending as the page loads. A property that matches no property on the chart's template drops out, unless the template holds exactly one property of a matching type.

Limits

Limit	Value
Buckets per dimension	50 when the dimension sets no cap
Live entity count	10,000
Live query duration	10,000 milliseconds
Live query timeout	30,000 milliseconds
Snapshot refresh cooldown	10 seconds
Data sources per chart	No limit
Measures per chart	One

Defaults

A new visualization starts with these values.

Setting	Default
Name	Untitled visualization
Data source	Query
Entity scope	Include all entities, for a chart created after this control shipped
Data sources	The first template in the instance
Dimensions	None
Measure	Count
Chart type	Pie
Show legend, Show tooltip, Show labels on chart	Selected
Show empty values, Exclude zero values	Cleared
Empty value label	No data
Label format	Percentage
Max number of slices	10
Others label	Other
Colour mode	Chart palette
Background	Transparent
Foreground	`#1a1a1a`
Refresh mode	Live
Frequency	Daily
Time (UTC)	A random time between 01:00 and 08:00 local, in 15-minute steps
Allow public embedding without login	Cleared

Errors and unsupported cases

Condition	Result
Empty name	"Dataviz name is required"
Duplicate name	Uwazi switches to the Info tab and marks the Name field
No data source	"At least one data source is required"
No measure	"At least one measure is required"
No dimension on a chart that needs one	"At least one dimension is required for this measure"
Relationship join	"Relationship joins are not supported yet"
Live mode against a blocked condition	The save fails
A refresh in progress	Viewers see an error until it finishes
A snapshot chart with no snapshot yet	Viewers see an error
A private instance, an anonymous viewer, and public embedding off	The embed refuses to load
A snapshot built from an older query	The chart still renders, with the older numbers

Overview​

Access​

Visualization list​

Editor layout​

Info tab​

Data tab​

Entity scope​

Data sources​

Join mode​

Filters​

Dimensions​

Measures​

Chart types​

Chart type availability​

Chart tab​

Appearance tab​

Colour modes​

Custom colour support​

Theme colours​

Advanced tab​

Refresh tab​

Live mode limits​

Schedule timing​

Snapshots and publication status​

Manual data​

Embedding​

Filters from the surrounding page​

On an Uwazi page​

On an external site​

Limits​

Defaults​

Errors and unsupported cases​

Related​