Link summarization

You can override the charting scheme and control how your link records are summarized into links for display on the chart.

About this task

Usually the charting scheme you are using defines what items that contain i2 Analyze records look like on the chart, including how link records are displayed. You can view your current charting scheme or choose from available charting schemes on the records bar, below the ribbon menu. If there are multiple links between the same two entities on the chart, you can override the charting scheme setting and choose how to display those links. This is useful because you have greater control over the look of your chart and how it relates to the type of analysis you want to do. You might want to examine the relationships between entities in detail by including multiple links. Alternatively, you might want to combine links with the same direction, or you might choose to use single links to represent all connections of the same type, to improve the readability of your chart. You can also change the link summarization option setting for custom link types.

You might have a number of link types on your chart representing relationships such as 'Access To', 'Associate', 'Transaction', and 'Employment', for example. When you open link summarization with no links selected on the chart, the first type in the list is selected by default. In this example, 'Access To' is the default selection. However, if one link type is selected on the chart before you open link summarization, that type is the default selection. Where multiple link types are selected, 'Associate' and 'Transaction' for example, the setting defaults to 'Associate' as it is the first type in the list.

Procedure

To change link summarization for the current charting scheme and custom link types:
  1. With your chart open, click the Link Summarization button in the records bar.
    The Link Summarization Settings window opens. Any link types from your schema and custom link types that are present on the current chart are listed, along with link summarization options. A link type is selected by default, depending on whether you already have link types selected on the chart.
  2. To change the default selection, click a link type from the list in the side panel. Custom link types have a unique identifier displayed in brackets alongside the name.
    The Link Summarization Settings window displays information that is relevant to the selected link, for example the link type's current setting and the implications of choosing a different setting.
  3. The current setting is selected by default, whether it is taken from the schema or from when the custom link was created. If you want to change the default setting, click the button next to your preferred setting. You can choose from Single, Directed or Multiple.

    The Single option combines all links records between the same two entities into a single link, with a label of the record count. The Directed option combines all links records in the same direction between the same two entities, with a label of the record count. The Multiple option charts each link between the same two entities separately, labeled with the record's label. If you have many links, the Multiple option can make your chart difficult to read. When you override a link summarization setting, the link gains a blue glyph to indicate the change. The link summarization button is highlighted in orange.

  4. If you do not want to make changes to the link summarization settings, click Cancel, or click OK to confirm your changes.