Documentation

Entities

Entities are the central information units at Diafunc.

Identification

Each entity is identified by a project-wide unique entity id. By default UUIDs (v4) are generated automatically.
Entity Ids can be used to directly access entities. It's also possible to use custom ids to simplify access.

Types

Entities can be typed. Either custom types or predefined types may be used.
The predefined types provide additional support through the Function Development Kit (FDK) and functionalities at 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 at 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	Layouting 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	Big data table for 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. It's possible to have large amounts of links at each entity. There can also be multiple links between two entities in the same direction.

Events

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

Content

An entity can have any kind of binary content. The data can be of any size.

Notebook

Interactive computational notebooks allow to express data science in a modern way. It's possible to mix up data, logic and visualizations to describe ideas and concepts.
This kind of Literate Programming leads to reproducible research and open access in data science.

Function

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

Table

Big Data Tables allow the utilization of large amounts of structured data.

Model

Automated analysis models automatically discover relationships and patterns.

Chart

Charts are graphical representations of data.

Scene

Scenes are particular visualizations in 2D or 3D. They can be viewed at the diafunc cockpit.

What next?

Functions