What's New in Graphlytic 3.4

I'm happy to announce the release of Graphlytic 3.4. This release is focused on bringing all the configuration options from config files into the app. It's now very easy and convenient to set up and manage Neo4j connections, single sign-on, or SMTP integration directly in the app without the need to restart it. Another major change is in the way how the saved visualizations are loaded. Users can choose between different strategies and one of them is particularly useful for creating dynamic dashboards. Let's dive right into it.

Note: full release notes can be found here: Release Notes

Visualization Loading Modes

Before the 3.4 release, every time a saved visualization was loaded, the data (properties on nodes and relationships) was reloaded from the graph database, all values were compared to the saved state (snapshot state) and any detected changes were presented to the user.

We have added two additional loading modes and the option to choose an appropriate mode during visualization loading.

Available loading modes:

1. Load the graph exactly as it was saved - it's useful when you need to see the exact snapshot of the saved visualization, for instance, to verify a decision that was made in the past based on the visualization.
2. Load the graph and show what has changed since the last save - this is the mode used prior to the 3.4 release, where any changes between the saved state and current state of nodes and relationships in the graph database are computed and highlighted.
3. Reload the graph query - this option is available only when the visualization was created using a cypher query or a query template (if you want to know more about templates, please read this blog post: How to set-up Query Templates for non-technical users). The dynamic parameters of the query template can be changed before the visualization is loaded, which allows creating dashboards (example below) with predefined query templates that:
   1. can be very easily used even by non-technical users,
   2. are just one click away after the user logs in (ideal for managers with not enough time)
   3. can be shared as an URL link

Which loading mode should be used or if the user can choose it when the visualization is being opened, can be configured in every visualization separately on the Settings tab:

Dynamic dashboards

To create a dynamic dashboard from a query template we need to create a visualization using a query template first. Step by step tutorial can be found in the blog post How to set-up Query Templates for non-technical users. Then the Loading mode has to be configured to "Ask when the visualization is being opened" and the visualization saved.

Now when the user (or any other user that has access to this visualization through sharing) opens the visualization the loading options are displayed:

Here the user can change the dynamic values for the query and reload it using the "Reload the graph query" button. After that, the query is started and the result is visualized using the settings saved in this visualization (e.g. styles, timeline, and other configurations).

Other Visualization Improvements

We have added a couple of other improvements in the visualization like better support for Neo4j data types and arrays in manual graph modeling, a lot of new keyboard shortcuts (shown in tooltips), exploring filter active indicator, option to visualize all found nodes from the fulltext search with one click, and my favorite - Undo/Redo for node positions:

New Settings Options

Graphlytic's backend is undergoing a lot of major changes with the first batch of changes being released in this 3.4 version. The focus in this release was to bring all the "hidden" configuration options from the configuration files into the application. That's why the starting procedures and the Settings page were completely reworked so now it's not needed to restart the application after any of the integration options is changed.

Deployment configuration of the app using the environment variables or the graphlytic.conf file still works but these configurations are considered to be the "default" settings for the app. That means you can change the settings directly in the app and it's possible to go back to the default with the "Reset to default" buttons.

For more information about the available default settings please refer to the documentation: Configuration

New settings available in the app are:

• Graph Connections: allows to manage multiple Neo4j connections and to switch between them. Docs: Graph Connections
• Single Sign-On: integration to an Identity Provider using the SAML2 protocol. Docs: Single sign-on
• Email Server: configuration of an SMTP connection that will be used by Graphlytic to send out notifications or invitations. Docs: SMTP Email Server Connection
• Password Reset Via Email: here you can set up the self-service password reset for users. Docs: Email Invitations and Password Reset
• Password Strength Rules: rules for the minimal strength of user-entered passwords. Docs: Password Strength Rules

Contact us at info(at)graphlytic.com if you'd like to schedule a demo or leave your questions in the comments below.

Michal Habala

CEO