[opensourcedex]

rawgraphs-app is a free, open source business intelligence & reporting project written in JavaScript and released under Apache-2.0. It has 9,031 GitHub stars, 1,842 forks and 79 open issues, and was last pushed 25 days ago. On this registry it ranks #16 of 57 tracked projects in Business Intelligence & Reporting, with 5 head-to-head comparisons available.

What is rawgraphs-app?

RAWGraphs App is the open-source web interface that turns tabular data into custom vector-based visualizations on top of the RAWGraphs core, aimed at designers, data journalists, researchers and visualization practitioners who need editable SVG output rather than a hosted dashboard.

What it is

RAWGraphs App is the browser application layer of RAWGraphs, an open web tool for building custom vector-based visualizations on top of d3.js. It was developed by the DensityDesign Research Lab at Politecnico di Milano together with Calibro and INMAGIK, and it ships under the Apache-2.0 licence. The application is written in JavaScript and lives in the Data & Analytics / Business Intelligence & Reporting category of this registry.

The concrete problem it solves is a gap in the graphics pipeline. Spreadsheets such as LibreOffice Calc, Microsoft Excel, Apple Numbers and Google Docs hold the data; vector graphics editors such as Inkscape and Adobe Illustrator refine the artwork; nothing in between converts one into the other without manual drawing. RAWGraphs App fills that missing link. It accepts tabular data, meaning spreadsheets and comma-separated values, as well as text copied and pasted from other applications, and emits SVG that can be opened in a vector editor for further refinement or embedded directly into web pages. Because the rendering happens in the browser, no server-side operations or storage are performed, which matters for anyone working with sensitive information.

Key capabilities

  • Reads tabular data from spreadsheets and comma-separated values, plus text pasted directly from other applications.
  • Produces SVG output that opens in Inkscape and Adobe Illustrator or embeds in a web page.
  • Runs entirely client-side, with no server-side operations or storage of injected data.
  • Builds visualizations on top of d3.js, the visualization library the project is layered over.
  • Accepts custom layouts defined by users, so the visualization catalogue is extensible beyond what ships with the app.
  • Documents layout authoring in the Developer Guide on the project wiki.
  • Provides an official hosted instance at app.rawgraphs.io alongside the self-hosted build.

Who uses it and how

  • Designers and visualization specialists who need a chart they can keep editing as vector artwork, rather than a fixed rendered image.
  • Researchers and teams handling sensitive or restricted datasets, who rely on the fact that data never leaves the browser.
  • Data journalists and analysts moving figures out of a spreadsheet and into an edited graphic for publication.
  • Contributors extending the tool by writing new custom layouts, following the Developer Guide and signing the Contributor License Agreement before submitting.
  • Users who want the current version without installing anything, by opening the official app page at app.rawgraphs.io.

Getting started

The simplest route is the hosted app at app.rawgraphs.io. To run a local instance, clone the repository from GitHub, install dependencies with yarn install and start the development server with yarn start, setting NODE_OPTIONS=--openssl-legacy-provider first, or produce a deployable build with yarn build; the documented requirements are Git, Node.js and Yarn.

How it compares

Among the tools it names, RAWGraphs App sits between spreadsheet applications such as Excel, LibreOffice Calc, Numbers and Google Docs, and vector graphics editors such as Inkscape and Adobe Illustrator, doing the conversion neither side performs. It is not a replacement for d3.js itself, which it uses as its rendering foundation, and it is not a vector editor, which is why the SVG it exports is meant to be refined elsewhere.

When to use it — and when not to

A self-hoster operates no database, queue or mail service, because all data processing happens in the browser, but still needs Git, Node.js and Yarn, and the current build instructions require the legacy OpenSSL provider flag, which the README marks as pending an update. The local installation guide is explicitly written for intermediate users who are comfortable at the console, so teams wanting a managed, click-to-deploy service should prefer the hosted app page or a different tool. Anyone who needs server-side storage, scheduled refreshes or governed data connectors will not find those here, and layout authoring depends on the external Developer Guide rather than the README.

project readme (upstream, from github) — read inline

About

RAWGraphs is an open web tool to create custom vector-based visualizations on top of the amazing d3.js library. It has been developed by DensityDesign Research Lab (Politecnico di Milano), Calibro and INMAGIK.

Primarily conceived as a tool for designers and vis geeks, RAWGraphs aims at providing a missing link between spreadsheet applications (e.g., LibreOffice Calc, Microsoft Excel, Apple Numbers, Google Docs) and vector graphics editors (e.g., Inkscape, Adobe Illustrator).

RAWGraphs works with tabular data (e.g., spreadsheets and comma-separated values) as well as with copied-and-pasted texts from other applications. Based on the SVG format, visualizations can be easily edited with vector graphics applications for further refinements or directly embedded into web pages.

Knowing the need to work with sensitive information, the data injected into RAWGraphs is processed only by the web browser: no server-side operations or storages are performed. No one will see, touch or copy your data!

RAWGraphs is also highly customizable and extensible, accepting new custom layouts defined by users. For more information about adding or editing layouts, see the Developer Guide.

Usage

The easiest way to use RAWGraphs is by accessing the most updated version on the official app page. However, RAWGraphs can also run locally on your machine: see the installation instructions below for know-how.

Installation

If you want to run your instance of RAWGraphs locally on your machine, be sure you have the following requirements installed. The following guide is for intermediate users (you will have to open your console and type some commands, it's better if you know what you are doing).

Requirements

If you want to run your instance of RAWGraphs locally on your machine, be sure you have the following requirements installed.

Instructions (macOS)

In the terminal, navigate to the folder where you want to install the app and clone the RAWGraphs-app GitHub repository:

git clone https://github.com/rawgraphs/rawgraphs-app.git

Browse the folder containing the repository:

cd rawgraphs-app

Install the needed dependencies through Yarn:

yarn install

Now you can run the project locally in development mode with the command:

yarn start

Ensure that you're using the legacy OpenSSL providers (to be updated):

export NODE_OPTIONS=--openssl-legacy-provider

You can also build your own version and upload it on your server by running the command:

yarn build

Contributing

Want to contribute to RAWGraphs's development? You are more than welcome! Start by forking the repository (the "Fork" button at the top-right corner of this page) and follow the instructions above to clone it and install dependencies. Then you can use Github's issues and pull requests to discuss and share your work. You will need to sign a Contributor License Agreement (CLA) before submitting. We adopted CLA to be sure that the project will remain open source. For more information, write us: .

Publications / Citing RAWGraphs

If you have found RAWGraphs helpful in your research, or if you want to reference it in your work, please consider citing the paper we presented at CHItaly 2017.

you can read the full article in Green Open Access at the following link:

oa icon RAWGraphs: A Visualisation Platform to Create Open Outputs

Cite RAWGraphs:

Mauri, M., Elli, T., Caviglia, G., Uboldi, G., & Azzi, M. (2017). RAWGraphs: A Visualisation Platform to Create Open Outputs. In Proceedings of the 12th Biannual Conference on Italian SIGCHI Chapter (p. 28:1–28:5). New York, NY, USA: ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3125571.3125585

Bibtex:

@inproceedings{Mauri:2017:RVP:3125571.3125585,
 author = {Mauri, Michele and Elli, Tommaso and Caviglia, Giorgio and Uboldi, Giorgio and Azzi, Matteo},
 title = {RAWGraphs: A Visualisation Platform to Create Open Outputs},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the 12th Biannual Conference on Italian SIGCHI Chapter},
 series = {CHItaly '17},
 year = {2017},
 isbn = {978-1-4503-5237-6},
 location = {Cagliari, Italy},
 pages = {28:1--28:5},
 articleno = {28},
 numpages = {5},
 url = {http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/3125571.3125585},
 doi = {10.1145/3125571.3125585},
 acmid = {3125585},
 publisher = {ACM},
 address = {New York, NY, USA},
 keywords = {Visualization tools, data visualization, open output, visual interface},
}

License

RAWGraphs is provided under the Apache License 2.0:

Copyright (c), 2013-2021 DensityDesign Lab, Calibro, INMAGIK 

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You may obtain a copy of the License at

	http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.

Frequently asked questions

Is rawgraphs-app free to use?

rawgraphs-app is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. There is no licence fee and no seat count — you can self-host it or, where the project offers one, pay a vendor for a managed version instead.

What does rawgraphs-app do?

A web interface to create custom vector-based visualizations on top of RAWGraphs core

What is rawgraphs-app written in?

rawgraphs-app is primarily written in JavaScript. Its source is publicly available at https://github.com/rawgraphs/rawgraphs-app, and it has 9,031 GitHub stars.