Line plot with several groups





This post describes how to build a line chart with several groups. Mind the Spaghetti chart: it becomes unreadable when too many lines are displayed. More examples of line charts in the dedicated section. This example works with d3.js v4 and v6


React version Line chart section

Steps:

  • First of all, it is important to understand how to build a basic line chart with d3.js.

  • Here, the data is in long (or tidy) format: one numerical columns provides the information of each group.

  • Thus, the first step is to use the d3.nest function to group the variable. Read more about it here.

  • Next steps are pretty usual: building axis, color scales and lines.
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<!DOCTYPE html>
<meta charset="utf-8">

<!-- Load d3.js -->
<script src="https://d3js.org/d3.v4.js"></script>

<!-- Create a div where the graph will take place -->
<div id="my_dataviz"></div>

<!DOCTYPE html>
<meta charset="utf-8">

<!-- Load d3.js -->
<script src="https://d3js.org/d3.v6.js"></script>

<!-- Create a div where the graph will take place -->
<div id="my_dataviz"></div>

<script>

// set the dimensions and margins of the graph
var margin = {top: 10, right: 30, bottom: 30, left: 60},
    width = 460 - margin.left - margin.right,
    height = 400 - margin.top - margin.bottom;

// append the svg object to the body of the page
var svg = d3.select("#my_dataviz")
  .append("svg")
    .attr("width", width + margin.left + margin.right)
    .attr("height", height + margin.top + margin.bottom)
  .append("g")
    .attr("transform",
          "translate(" + margin.left + "," + margin.top + ")");

//Read the data
d3.csv("https://raw.githubusercontent.com/holtzy/data_to_viz/master/Example_dataset/5_OneCatSevNumOrdered.csv", function(data) {

  // group the data: I want to draw one line per group
  var sumstat = d3.nest() // nest function allows to group the calculation per level of a factor
    .key(function(d) { return d.name;})
    .entries(data);

  // Add X axis --> it is a date format
  var x = d3.scaleLinear()
    .domain(d3.extent(data, function(d) { return d.year; }))
    .range([ 0, width ]);
  svg.append("g")
    .attr("transform", "translate(0," + height + ")")
    .call(d3.axisBottom(x).ticks(5));

  // Add Y axis
  var y = d3.scaleLinear()
    .domain([0, d3.max(data, function(d) { return +d.n; })])
    .range([ height, 0 ]);
  svg.append("g")
    .call(d3.axisLeft(y));

  // color palette
  var res = sumstat.map(function(d){ return d.key }) // list of group names
  var color = d3.scaleOrdinal()
    .domain(res)
    .range(['#e41a1c','#377eb8','#4daf4a','#984ea3','#ff7f00','#ffff33','#a65628','#f781bf','#999999'])

  // Draw the line
  svg.selectAll(".line")
      .data(sumstat)
      .enter()
      .append("path")
        .attr("fill", "none")
        .attr("stroke", function(d){ return color(d.key) })
        .attr("stroke-width", 1.5)
        .attr("d", function(d){
          return d3.line()
            .x(function(d) { return x(d.year); })
            .y(function(d) { return y(+d.n); })
            (d.values)
        })

})

</script>
<script>

// set the dimensions and margins of the graph
const margin = {top: 10, right: 30, bottom: 30, left: 60},
    width = 460 - margin.left - margin.right,
    height = 400 - margin.top - margin.bottom;

// append the svg object to the body of the page
const svg = d3.select("#my_dataviz")
  .append("svg")
    .attr("width", width + margin.left + margin.right)
    .attr("height", height + margin.top + margin.bottom)
  .append("g")
    .attr("transform", `translate(${margin.left},${margin.top})`);

//Read the data
d3.csv("https://raw.githubusercontent.com/holtzy/data_to_viz/master/Example_dataset/5_OneCatSevNumOrdered.csv").then( function(data) {

  // group the data: I want to draw one line per group
  const sumstat = d3.group(data, d => d.name); // nest function allows to group the calculation per level of a factor

  // Add X axis --> it is a date format
  const x = d3.scaleLinear()
    .domain(d3.extent(data, function(d) { return d.year; }))
    .range([ 0, width ]);
  svg.append("g")
    .attr("transform", `translate(0, ${height})`)
    .call(d3.axisBottom(x).ticks(5));

  // Add Y axis
  const y = d3.scaleLinear()
    .domain([0, d3.max(data, function(d) { return +d.n; })])
    .range([ height, 0 ]);
  svg.append("g")
    .call(d3.axisLeft(y));

  // color palette
  const color = d3.scaleOrdinal()
    .range(['#e41a1c','#377eb8','#4daf4a','#984ea3','#ff7f00','#ffff33','#a65628','#f781bf','#999999'])

  // Draw the line
  svg.selectAll(".line")
      .data(sumstat)
      .join("path")
        .attr("fill", "none")
        .attr("stroke", function(d){ return color(d[0]) })
        .attr("stroke-width", 1.5)
        .attr("d", function(d){
          return d3.line()
            .x(function(d) { return x(d.year); })
            .y(function(d) { return y(+d.n); })
            (d[1])
        })

})
</script>

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