Network Analysis Tool

The Network Analysis tool generates an interactive dashboard of a network, to explore relationships between the various nodes. The tool provides a visual representation of the network along with key summary statistics that characterize the network.

The network analysis tool uses the javascript library vis.js to generate the interactive force diagrams. For more information, go to: http://visjs.org/docs/network/.

This tool uses the R tool. Go to Options > Download Predictive Tools and sign in to the Alteryx Downloads and Licenses portal to install R and the packages used by the R Tool.

Connect inputs

• N anchor: A Nodes data stream that contains a field named _name_ that uniquely identifies each node in the network.
• Eanchor: An Edges data stream that contains fields named “from” and “to” identifying nodes that are connected by an edge. Note that the “from” and “to” fields must use the same unique node identifiers as described in (1) above.

Configure the tool

Nodes

• Shape: Select the shape of nodes.
• Size: Select how to size the nodes.
• Fixed: Enter a fixed size for all nodes.
• By Variable: Select a field to scale the nodes by.
• By Statistic: Select a statistical measure to scale the nodes by. For a description of different centrality measures, go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrality.
• Group Nodes:
• Variable: Select a field to group the nodes by.
• Statistic: Select a statistical algorithm to group the nodes by.

Edges

• Directed: Select the check box to indicate if the network is a directed network.
• Opacity: Enter the opacity of the edges when moused over.

Layout

• Specify Layout: Select the check box to indicate if a layout is specified.
• Choose Layout Algorithm: Select a layout algorithm. This tool uses the R package, igraph, to compute the layouts. For more information on the layouts supported, go to: https://mran.microsoft.com/package/igraph.

Outputs

• D anchor: An Alteryx data stream with network centrality measures for each node.
• I anchor: An interactive dashboard of the network that consists of:
  • An interactive force diagram to visualize the network.
  • Aggregate statistical measures that characterize the entire network.
  • A histogram of node centrality measures.