Documentation

Entities

Entities are the central information units at Diafunc.

Identification

Each entity is identified by a project-wide unique entity id. By default, Diafunc generates a UUID (v4).
An entity id gives direct access to its entity; custom ids make that access simpler.

Types

An entity has a custom type or a predefined type.
The predefined types come with additional support in the Function Development Kit (FDK) and in the user interface.

Predefined Types

Entity Type	Description	FDK API
animation	Animation of a 3D visualization	Animation
body	Physical body within a 3D scene	Body
canvas	Canvas for a 2D visualization	Canvas
chapter	Chapter of a notebook	Chapter
chart	Graphical representation of data	Chart
class	Classification unit	Clazz
contents	Contents unit (Table of contents / TOC)	Contents
directory	Cataloging structure which contains references to other entities	Directory
drawing	Drawing on a canvas	Drawing
field	Set of points within a space (e.g. vector field in 3D space)	Field
file	Binary file	File
function	Intelligent function to map the project graph	Function
heightMap	Height map for a terrain	HeightMap
image	Two-dimensional image	Image
instance	Instance of a class	Instance
layout	Layout unit in a notebook	Layout
message	Textual message for a scene	Message
metric	Numerical value	Metric
model	Automated analysis model	Model
module	Logical unit	Module
notebook	Interactive computational notebook	Notebook
object	Independent information unit	Object
point	Point within a field	Point
project	Diafunc project (root entity of the project graph)	Project
scene	Particular 2D or 3D visualization	Scene
sky	Sky within a 3D scene	Sky
spacer	Spacing unit in a notebook	Spacer
table	Table of structured data	Table
terrain	Terrain within a 3D scene	Terrain
text	Textual output in a notebook	Text
texture	Texture for terrains	Texture
visualization	Visualization of some entities within a 3D scene	Visualization

Linking

Entities can be linked to one another. An entity can have a large number of links, and two entities can have several links in the same direction.

Events

Events can be fired by functions and can also trigger the evaluation of functions. Each event is related to a particular entity.

Content

An entity can have binary content of any kind.

Notebook

An interactive notebook mixes data, logic and visualizations to describe ideas and concepts.
This style of literate programming supports reproducible research and open access in data science.

Function

Intelligent Functions are user-defined functions that can analyze and modify the project graph.

Table

Tables hold large amounts of structured data.

Model

Models are discovered automatically and describe the relationships and patterns in the data.

Chart

Charts are graphical representations of data.

Scene

A scene is a particular 2D or 3D visualization, viewed in the Diafunc Cockpit.

What next?

Functions