3D Force-Directed Graph

A web component to represent a graph data structure in a 3-dimensional space using a force-directed iterative layout. Uses ThreeJS/WebGL for 3D rendering and either d3-force-3d or ngraph for the underlying physics engine.

Check out the examples:

• Basic (source)
• Asynchronous load (source)
• Larger graph (~4k elements) (source)
• Directional arrows (source)
• Directional moving particles (source)
• Curved lines and self links (source)
• Auto-colored nodes/links (source)
• Text as nodes (source)
• Custom node geometries (source)
• Orbit controls (source)
• Fly controls (source)
• Camera automatic orbitting (source)
• Click to focus on node (source)
• Highlight nodes/links (source)
• Dynamic data changes (source)
• Node collision detection (source)
• Manipulate link force distance (source)
• Add external objects to scene (source)

See also the VR version and the 2D canvas version.

And check out the React bindings.

Quick start

import ForceGraph3D from '3d-force-graph';

or

var ForceGraph3D = require('3d-force-graph');

or even

<script src="//unpkg.com/3d-force-graph"></script>

then

var myGraph = ForceGraph3D();
myGraph(<myDOMElement>)
    .graphData(<myData>);

API reference

Initialisation

ForceGraph3d({ configOptions })(<domElement>)

Config options	Description	Default
controlType: str	Which type of control to use to control the camera. Choice between trackball, orbit or fly.	trackball

Data input

Method	Description	Default
graphData([data])	Getter/setter for graph data structure (see below for syntax details). Can also be used to apply incremental updates.	{ nodes: [], links: [] }
jsonUrl([url])	URL of JSON file to load graph data directly from, as an alternative to specifying graphData directly.
nodeId([str]) (alias: idField)	Node object accessor attribute for unique node id (used in link objects source/target).	id
linkSource([str]) (alias: linkSourceField)	Link object accessor attribute referring to id of source node.	source
linkTarget([str]) (alias: linkTargetField)	Link object accessor attribute referring to id of target node.	target

Container layout

Method	Description	Default
width([px])	Getter/setter for the canvas width.	<window width>
height([px])	Getter/setter for the canvas height.	<window height>
backgroundColor([str])	Getter/setter for the chart background color.	#000011
showNavInfo([boolean])	Getter/setter for whether to show the navigation controls footer info.	true

Node styling

Method	Description	Default
nodeRelSize([num])	Getter/setter for the ratio of node sphere volume (cubic px) per value unit.	4
nodeVal([num, str or fn]) (alias: valField)	Node object accessor function, attribute or a numeric constant for the node numeric value (affects sphere volume).	val
nodeLabel([str or fn]) (alias: nameField)	Node object accessor function or attribute for name (shown in label). Supports plain text or HTML content.	name
nodeColor([str or fn]) (alias: colorField)	Node object accessor function or attribute for node color (affects sphere color).	color
nodeAutoColorBy([str or fn]) (alias: autoColorBy)	Node object accessor function (fn(node)) or attribute (e.g. 'type') to automatically group colors by. Only affects nodes without a color attribute.
nodeOpacity([num])	Getter/setter for the nodes sphere opacity, between [0,1].	0.75
nodeResolution([num])	Getter/setter for the geometric resolution of each node, expressed in how many slice segments to divide the circumference. Higher values yield smoother spheres.	8
nodeThreeObject([Object3d, str or fn])	Node object accessor function or attribute for generating a custom 3d object to render as graph nodes. Should return an instance of ThreeJS Object3d. If a falsy value is returned, the default 3d object type will be used instead for that node.	default node object is a sphere, sized according to val and styled according to color.

Link styling

Method	Description	Default
linkLabel([str or fn])	Link object accessor function or attribute for name (shown in label). Supports plain text or HTML content.	name
linkVisibility([boolean, str or fn])	Link object accessor function, attribute or a boolean constant for whether to display the link line. A value of false maintains the link force without rendering it.	true
linkColor([str or fn]) (alias: linkColorField)	Link object accessor function or attribute for line color.	color
linkAutoColorBy([str or fn])	Link object accessor function (fn(link)) or attribute (e.g. 'type') to automatically group colors by. Only affects links without a color attribute.
linkOpacity([num]) (alias: lineOpacity)	Getter/setter for line opacity of links, between [0,1].	0.2
linkWidth([num, str or fn])	Link object accessor function, attribute or a numeric constant for the link line width. A value of zero will render a ThreeJS Line whose width is constant (1px) regardless of distance. Values are rounded to the nearest decimal for indexing purposes.	0
linkResolution([num])	Getter/setter for the geometric resolution of each link, expressed in how many radial segments to divide the cylinder. Higher values yield smoother cylinders. Applicable only to links with positive width.	6
linkCurvature([num, str or fn])	Link object accessor function, attribute or a numeric constant for the curvature radius of the link line. Only applicable to links using ThreeJS Line (0 width). Curved lines are represented as 3D bezier curves, and any numeric value is accepted. A value of 0 renders a straight line. 1 indicates a radius equal to half of the line length, causing the curve to approximate a semi-circle. For self-referencing links (source equal to target) the curve is represented as a loop around the node, with length proportional to the curvature value. Lines are curved clockwise for positive values, and counter-clockwise for negative values. Note that rendering curved lines is purely a visual effect and does not affect the behavior of the underlying forces.	0
linkCurveRotation([num, str or fn])	Link object accessor function, attribute or a numeric constant for the rotation along the line axis to apply to the curve. Has no effect on straight lines. At 0 rotation, the curve is oriented in the direction of the intersection with the XY plane. The rotation angle (in radians) will rotate the curved line clockwise around the "start-to-end" axis from this reference orientation.	0
linkMaterial([Material, str or fn])	Link object accessor function or attribute for specifying a custom material to style the graph links with. Should return an instance of ThreeJS Material. If a falsy value is returned, the default material will be used instead for that link.	default link material is MeshLambertMaterial styled according to color and opacity.
linkDirectionalArrowLength([num, str or fn])	Link object accessor function, attribute or a numeric constant for the length of the arrow head indicating the link directionality. The arrow is displayed directly over the link line, and points in the direction of source > target. A value of 0 hides the arrow.	0
linkDirectionalArrowColor([str or fn])	Link object accessor function or attribute for the color of the arrow head.	color
linkDirectionalArrowRelPos([num, str or fn])	Link object accessor function, attribute or a numeric constant for the longitudinal position of the arrow head along the link line, expressed as a ratio between 0 and 1, where 0 indicates immediately next to the source node, 1 next to the target node, and 0.5 right in the middle.	0.5
linkDirectionalArrowResolution([num])	Getter/setter for the geometric resolution of the arrow head, expressed in how many slice segments to divide the cone base circumference. Higher values yield smoother arrows.	8
linkDirectionalParticles([num, str or fn])	Link object accessor function, attribute or a numeric constant for the number of particles (small spheres) to display over the link line. The particles are distributed equi-spaced along the line, travel in the direction source > target, and can be used to indicate link directionality.	0
linkDirectionalParticleSpeed([num, str or fn])	Link object accessor function, attribute or a numeric constant for the directional particles speed, expressed as the ratio of the link length to travel per frame. Values above 0.5 are discouraged.	0.01
linkDirectionalParticleWidth([num, str or fn])	Link object accessor function, attribute or a numeric constant for the directional particles width. Values are rounded to the nearest decimal for indexing purposes.	0.5
linkDirectionalParticleColor([str or fn])	Link object accessor function or attribute for the directional particles color.	color
linkDirectionalParticleResolution([num])	Getter/setter for the geometric resolution of each directional particle, expressed in how many slice segments to divide the circumference. Higher values yield smoother particles.	4

Render control

Method	Description	Default
stopAnimation()	Stops the rendering cycle of the component, effectively freezing the current view and canceling all future user interaction. This method can be used to save performance in circumstances when a static image is sufficient.
cameraPosition([{x,y,z}], [lookAt], [ms])	Getter/setter for the camera position, in terms of x, y, z coordinates. Each of the coordinates is optional, allowing for motion in just some dimensions. The optional second argument can be used to define the direction that the camera should aim at, in terms of an {x,y,z} point in the 3D space. The 3rd optional argument defines the duration of the transition (in ms) to animate the camera motion. A value of 0 (default) moves the camera immediately to the final position.	By default the camera will face the center of the graph at a z distance proportional to the amount of nodes in the system.
scene()	Access the internal ThreeJS Scene. Can be used to extend the current scene with additional objects not related to 3d-force-graph.
camera()	Access the internal ThreeJS Camera.
renderer()	Access the internal ThreeJS WebGL renderer.
tbControls()	Access the internal ThreeJS Trackball Controls.

Force engine configuration

Method	Description	Default
forceEngine([str])	Getter/setter for which force-simulation engine to use (d3 or ngraph).	d3
numDimensions([int])	Getter/setter for number of dimensions to run the force simulation on (1, 2 or 3).	3
dagMode([str])	Apply layout constraints based on the graph directionality. Only works for DAG graph structures (without cycles). Choice between td (top-down), bu (bottom-up), lr (left-to-right), rl (right-to-left), zout (near-to-far), zin (far-to-near), radialout (outwards-radially) or radialin (inwards-radially).
dagLevelDistance([num])	If dagMode is engaged, this specifies the distance between the different graph depths.	auto-derived from the number of nodes
d3AlphaDecay([num])	Getter/setter for the simulation intensity decay parameter, only applicable if using the d3 simulation engine.	0.0228
d3VelocityDecay([num])	Getter/setter for the nodes' velocity decay that simulates the medium resistance, only applicable if using the d3 simulation engine.	0.4
d3Force(str, [fn])	Getter/setter for the internal forces that control the d3 simulation engine. Follows the same interface as d3-force-3d's simulation.force. Three forces are included by default: 'link' (based on forceLink), 'charge' (based on forceManyBody) and 'center' (based on forceCenter). Each of these forces can be reconfigured, or new forces can be added to the system. This method is only applicable if using the d3 simulation engine.
warmupTicks([int])	Getter/setter for number of layout engine cycles to dry-run at ignition before starting to render.	0
cooldownTicks([int])	Getter/setter for how many build-in frames to render before stopping and freezing the layout engine.	Infinity
cooldownTime([num])	Getter/setter for how long (ms) to render for before stopping and freezing the layout engine.	15000
onEngineTick(fn)	Callback function invoked at every tick of the simulation engine.	-
onEngineStop(fn)	Callback function invoked when the simulation engine stops and the layout is frozen.	-

Interaction

Method	Description	Default
onNodeClick(fn)	Callback function for node clicks. The node object is included as single argument onNodeClick(node).	-
onNodeHover(fn)	Callback function for node mouse over events. The node object (or null if there's no node under the mouse line of sight) is included as the first argument, and the previous node object (or null) as second argument: onNodeHover(node, prevNode).	-
onNodeDrag(fn)	Callback function for node drag interactions. This function is invoked repeatedly while dragging a node, every time its position is updated. The node object is included as single argument onNodeDrag(node).	-
onNodeDragEnd(fn)	Callback function for the end of node drag interactions. This function is invoked when the node is released. The node object is included as single argument onNodeDragEnd(node).	-
onLinkClick(fn)	Callback function for link clicks. The link object is included as single argument onLinkClick(link).	-
onLinkHover(fn)	Callback function for link mouse over events. The link object (or null if there's no link under the mouse line of sight) is included as the first argument, and the previous link object (or null) as second argument: onLinkHover(link, prevLink).	-
linkHoverPrecision([int])	Whether to display the link label when gazing the link closely (low value) or from far away (high value).	1
enablePointerInteraction([boolean])	Getter/setter for whether to enable the mouse tracking events. This activates an internal tracker of the canvas mouse position and enables the functionality of object hover/click and tooltip labels, at the cost of performance. If you're looking for maximum gain in your graph performance it's recommended to switch off this property.	true
enableNodeDrag([boolean])	Getter/setter for whether to enable the user interaction to drag nodes by click-dragging. Only supported on the d3 force engine. If enabled, every time a node is dragged the simulation is re-heated so the other nodes react to the changes. Only applicable if enablePointerInteraction is true and using the d3 force engine.	true
enableNavigationControls([boolean])	Getter/setter for whether to enable the trackball navigation controls used to move the camera using mouse interactions (rotate/zoom/pan).	true

Input JSON syntax

{
    "nodes": [ 
        { 
          "id": "id1",
          "name": "name1",
          "val": 1 
        },
        { 
          "id": "id2",
          "name": "name2",
          "val": 10 
        },
        (...)
    ],
    "links": [
        {
            "source": "id1",
            "target": "id2"
        },
        (...)
    ]
}