Advanced Chart Types

In advanced reporting scenarios, it is often necessary to create more complex and sophisticated chart types to visualize data. This can be achieved by using advanced chart types such as heat maps, bubble charts, and radar charts.

Heat Maps

Heat maps are a popular chart type used to visualize data that is organized in a grid or matrix format. They are often used to visualize large amounts of data in one view and can be particularly useful in identifying patterns or trends in the data.

Syntax:

CALL apoc.plot.heatmap(data, {key, value})

Example:

Consider the following data set of movie ratings by users:

User	Movie 1	Movie 2	Movie 3	Movie 4	Movie 5
A	1			2	5
		1		4	5
C	2	3	4	1
D	4	3	2		1

To create a heat map that visualizes this data, the following Cypher query can be used:

WITH {A: {movie1: 1, movie4: 2, movie5: 5}, B: {movie2: 1, movie4: 4, movie5: 5}, C: {movie1: 2, movie2: 3, movie3: 4, movie4: 1}, D: {movie1: 4, movie2: 3, movie3: 2, movie5: 1}} as data
CALL apoc.plot.heatmap(data, {showLegend: true})
YIELD value
RETURN value.svg as heatmap

Output:

Explanation:

In the example above, we first create a map of movie ratings by users. We then use the apoc.plot.heatmap function to create a heat map visualization of this data. The showLegend parameter is set to true to display a legend that helps interpret the colors in the heat map. The query returns a svg image of the heat map.

Bubble Charts

Bubble charts are another popular chart type used to visualize data in a three-dimensional space. They are often used to visualize data that has two numeric values and a third categorical value. Bubble charts use bubbles to represent the data points, with the size of the bubble representing the third variable.

Syntax:

CALL apoc.plot.graph(data, {chartType: 'bubbleChart'})

Example:

Consider the following data set of car sales by region:

Region	Cars Sold	Sales Amount
North	200	1000000
South	150	750000
East	100	500000
West	250	1250000

To create a bubble chart that visualizes this data, the following Cypher query can be used:

WITH [{region:'North', carsSold:200, salesAmount:1000000}, {region:'South', carsSold:150, salesAmount:750000}, {region:'East', carsSold:100, salesAmount:500000}, {region:'West', carsSold:250, salesAmount:1250000}] as data
CALL apoc.plot.graph(data, {chartType:'bubbleChart', xAxis:'region', yAxis:'carsSold', zAxis:'salesAmount'})
YIELD nodes, relationships, errors
RETURN nodes, relationships, errors

Output:

Explanation:

In the example above, we first create a list of car sales data by region. We then use the apoc.plot.graph function to create a bubble chart visualization of this data. The xAxis parameter is set to region, the yAxis parameter is set to carsSold, and the zAxis parameter is set to salesAmount. This creates a bubble chart with the regions on the x-axis, the number of cars sold on the y-axis, and the sales amount represented by the size of the bubbles.

Radar Charts

Radar charts are a type of chart that is often used to visualize data that has multiple variables. They are typically used to display performance metrics or data that is measured on different scales.

Syntax:

CALL apoc.plot.graph(data, {chartType: 'radarChart'})

Example:

Consider the following data set of performance metrics for a sales team:

Metric	Value
Sales	50%
Customer Satisfaction	70%
Turnover	10%

To create a radar chart that visualizes this data, the following Cypher query can be used:

WITH [{category:'Sales', value:0.5}, {category:'Customer Satisfaction', value:0.7}, {category:'Turnover', value:0.1}] as data
CALL apoc.plot.graph(data, {chartType:'radarChart'})
YIELD nodes, relationships, errors
RETURN nodes, relationships, errors

Output:

Explanation:

In the example above, we first create a list of performance metrics for a sales team. We then use the apoc.plot.graph function to create a radar chart visualization of this data. The query creates a radar chart with the performance metrics displayed on the axes of the chart.

Use

Advanced chart types such as heat maps, bubble charts, and radar charts are useful when you need to visualize complex data in a more meaningful and intuitive way. They can help identify patterns and trends in the data that may not be immediately apparent.

Important Points

• Heat maps can be used to visualize large amounts of data in a grid or matrix format.
• Bubble charts can be used to visualize data that has two numeric values and a third categorical value.
• Radar charts can be used to visualize data that has multiple variables.
• The apoc.plot functions can be used to create these advanced chart types in Neo4j.

Summary

Advanced chart types such as heat maps, bubble charts, and radar charts are useful when you need to visualize complex data in a more meaningful and intuitive way. They are often used to identify patterns and trends in the data that may not be immediately apparent. The apoc.plot functions in Neo4j can be used to create these advanced chart types.