1. Install Nodechart in your target database (see install.sql)
2. Insert a row into NODECHART_NETWORK_METADATA to define a logical network
3. Create a userid/password protected OracleAS DAD to serve Nodechart
4. Point a browser to the "<DAD>/nodechart.listCharts" page.

Browsers need to support Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 1.1 and also be javascript enabled. Current browsers/combinations that largely support SVG 1.1 are;

• Firefox 1.5, 2.0
• Opera 9.10
• Internet Explorer 7 with the Adobe SVG Viewer (version 3 or 6)

Mouse over tooltips (annotations), which is enabled by default, has been noted to cause Firefox 1.5, and 2.0, to occasionally freeze. Refer to the Reference Manual "Known issues" for a detailed explanation. There is a Nodechart global parameter that will disable all charting annotations to circumvent this problem.

Adding new chart nodes ("Add Node" popup screen) has been noted to leave the current chart in a status of "processing" and the new nodes do not appear whenever using Firefox 1.5, and 2.0. Refer to the Reference Manual "Known Issues" for a detailed explanation. As a workaround, reload the chart each time after adding new nodes.

Zoom and Navigate functionality, of Nodechart v1.0.0, has been noted not to work correctly in Opera 9.10. There is no current workaround.

Nodechart provides Expansion/Search Filtering for node types, nodes costs, link types and link costs. Customised filtering based on other non-key attributes can be achieved by the use of database views. For example, if you are using SDO_NET node and link tables where an ACTIVE column is present you may wish to create database views that perform the desired filtering. Then construct Nodechart networks based on those views.

For example;

    create view MY_ACTIVE_NODES as select * from MY_NODES where ACTIVE='Y';

    create view MY_ACTIVE_LINKS as select * from MY_LINKS where ACTIVE='Y';

    insert into NODECHART_NETWORK_METADATA(NETWORK_ID, 
                                           NETWORK, 
                                           NODE_TABLE_NAME, 
                                           LINK_TABLE_NAME, 
                                           ....)
                                   values (1, 
                                           'My Network', 
                                           'MY_ACTIVE_NODES', 
                                           'MY_ACTIVE_LINKS', 
                                           ....);

  

Nodechart provides Expansion/Search Filtering for node types, nodes costs, link types and link costs. Customised filtering based on other non-key attributes can be achieved by the use of database views. For example, if you are using SDO_NET node and link tables where a LINK_LEVEL column is present you may wish to create multiple database views based on that column values. Then construct Nodechart networks based on those views. That is, a Nodechart network for each custom LINK_LEVEL that you have defined.

For example;

    create view MY_LINKS_LEVEL1 as select * from MY_LINKS where LINK_LEVEL=1;

    create view MY_LINKS_LEVEL2 as select * from MY_LINKS where LINK_LEVEL=2;

    insert into NODECHART_NETWORK_METADATA(NETWORK_ID, 
                                           NETWORK, 
                                           NODE_TABLE_NAME, 
                                           LINK_TABLE_NAME, 
                                           ....)
                                   values (1, 
                                           'My Network - level 1', 
                                           'MY_NODES', 
                                           'MY_LINKS_LEVEL1', 
                                           ....);

    insert into NODECHART_NETWORK_METADATA(NETWORK_ID, 
                                           NETWORK, 
                                           NODE_TABLE_NAME, 
                                           LINK_TABLE_NAME, 
                                           ....)
                                   values (2, 
                                           'My Network - level 2', 
                                           'MY_NODES', 
                                           'MY_LINKS_LEVEL2', 
                                           ....);

  

For example:

    insert into NODECHART_NETWORK_METADATA(....,
                                           LINK_NAME_COLUMN,
                                           LINK_ANNOTATION_EXPR,
                                           ....)
                                   values (....,
                                           NULL,
                                           'LINK_NAME',
                                           ....);