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How to Create Focused Views Using Required Paths and Collapse Paths in the New Viewpoint Builder
How to Create Focused Views Using Required Paths and Collapse Paths in the New Viewpoint Builder

Learn how to precisely filter and simplify complex visualizations using Required Paths and Collapse Paths for clearer insights

Diana Nechita avatar
Written by Diana Nechita
Updated this week

The Viewpoint Builder offers some powerful tools to help you create focused and insightful visualizations of your data. This article gives you an overview of how to use Required Paths and Collapse Paths, two optional features, that allow you to refine your views and present information with greater clarity and control.

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Required Paths

What are Required Paths?

Required Paths is a filtering feature in the Viewpoint Builder that allows you to specify components that must be present in your graph visualizations. This ensures you only see complete paths that include the components you've designated as required, eliminating partial or disconnected components.

Why Use Required Paths?

  • Focus on Complete Relationships: Only show data that follows specific paths through your architecture.

  • Filter Out Incomplete Data: Remove partial paths that don't connect to your required components.

  • Create More Relevant Views: Ensure stakeholders only see fully connected relationships.

  • Simplify Complex Graphs: Exclude isolated components that aren't connected to your required elements.

Example of Required Paths in Use

Imagine you want to show only Integration components that connect to specific Applications. Rather than showing all Integration components, including those not connected to any Applications, Required Paths lets you filter your view to include only the complete path relationships.

How to Use Required Paths

Specifying Required Paths

  1. Navigate to the Viewpoint Builder through 'Explore data'.

  2. Select your context component and references.

  3. Go to the "Required paths" tab in the sidebar.

4. Select components in your graph to mark as required. As you hover over components, the path from the start context to that component will highlight.

5. Click a component to add it as a required path.

6. Each selected path will appear in the sidebar list.

7. As you add required paths, the component counts in your graph will automatically update to show you how many components will be included in your final visualization based on your current filters.

Setting Matching Logic (When Using Multiple Paths)

When you select two or more required paths, you can choose between:

  • "Result must match ANY required path" - Shows components that fulfill at least one of your required paths (OR logic)

  • "Result must match ALL required paths" - Shows only components that fulfill all of your required paths (AND logic)

Viewing and Understanding Results

  • In the view, you'll see only components that meet your required path criteria

  • Components that don't match your selected paths will be excluded

  • If no data fulfills your criteria, you'll be informed in the view

  • The required paths settings are saved with your viewpoint

Tips for Effectively Using Required Paths

  • Be cautious with "ALL" matching logic, as it can significantly reduce the dataset visible in your view

  • Remember that component counts in the Viewpoint Builder may not be exact when using required paths

  • Required paths settings are saved with your viewpoint and will update automatically if underlying data changes

  • Use this feature to create views that tell a more focused story about your architecture

  • Please note that Required Paths is logically complex. Applying multiple rules can sometimes lead to unexpected results. If you encounter unexpected outcomes, try simplifying your rules or removing some.

Examples of Possible Paths

Download the PDF version in Additional Resources at the end of this article for easier exploration.


Collapse Paths

What is Collapse Paths?

Collapsing Paths is a powerful feature that allows you to simplify complex graphs by creating "virtual references" between components that are connected through intermediary steps. This helps you create more focused visualizations by hiding components that aren't relevant to your specific analysis or presentation needs.

Why Use Collapse Paths?

  • Simplify Communication: Hide irrelevant components when presenting to stakeholders.

  • Focus on Key Relationships: Highlight important connections without visual clutter.

  • Create Streamlined Views: Generate cleaner, more focused graph visualizations.

  • Maintain Data Integrity: The original connections remain in the background.

Example of Collapse Paths in Use

Imagine you want to show which Business Capabilities are impacted by Risk, but the Risk is only directly connected to an Application (which is connected to the Business Capability). With Collapse Paths, you can:

  1. Hide the Applications ("collapse them away")

  2. Create a virtual direct connection between Risk and Business Capability

  3. Present a cleaner visualization that focuses on the relationship that matters most

How to Use Graph Collapsing

Creating a Collapsed Path

  1. Navigate to the Viewpoint Builder through 'Explore data'

  2. Ensure you've already selected your context component and references

  3. Look for the "Collapse paths" option in the sidebar menu

4. Click "Collapse a path"

5. Select the starting component (FROM) and ending component (TO)

6. Enter a display text for the collapsed path (this will be shown in the view)

7. Click "Save" to create the collapsed path

Rules and Limitations

When creating collapsed paths, remember:

  • Paths must have at least one intermediate component between start and end points

  • You cannot collapse paths that would hide the context component

  • You cannot create paths that would disconnect components from the context component

  • Paths with overlapping components cannot be combined in certain ways

Viewing and Managing Collapsed Paths

  1. Collapsed paths are displayed in the Dataset menu on the left side

  2. You can toggle paths on/off directly in the view

  3. Each dataset can have different collapsed paths specified

Tips for Effectively Using Path Collapsing

  • Consider the direction of your paths - from Application to Department will display differently than from Department to Application although the effect is the same

  • Combine required components with collapsing rules for fine grained control of the view

  • Use clear, descriptive text for your collapsed paths to help viewers understand the relationship

  • Review your graph after collapsing to ensure it still communicates your intended message

With Collapse Paths, you can create more focused visualizations that highlight the relationships that matter most, making your data easier to understand and present to stakeholders.

Comparing Path Collapsing and Grouping

What's the Difference?

While both Graph Collapsing and Grouping help simplify complex visualizations, they serve different purposes and work in fundamentally different ways:

Path Collapsing

  • Creates virtual connections between components that aren't directly connected

  • Hides intermediate components in a path while maintaining the logical relationship

  • Focuses on path simplification by reducing the number of visible nodes in a chain

  • Operates on paths between components, creating shortcuts between start and end points

Grouping

  • Organizes related components into visual clusters

  • Maintains all components but arranges them in a hierarchical structure

  • Focuses on structural organization by showing relationships and hierarchies more clearly

  • Operates on properties of components (workspace, parent relationship, reference types, etc.)

When to Use Path Collapsing

Use Path Collapsing when:

  • You need to create a direct visual relationship between indirectly connected components

  • Multiple intermediate components add unnecessary complexity to your visualization

  • You want to focus on specific start and end points of a relationship path

  • Your stakeholders are interested in understanding impact relationships without seeing all the technical details

  • You need to simplify views without losing the logical connections between components

When to Use Grouping

Use Grouping when:

  • You want to organize components based on their properties or relationships

  • You need to visualize hierarchical structures more clearly

  • You want to cluster related components to show organizational patterns

  • You're creating high-level architecture views that need to show logical groupings

  • You want to maintain visibility of all components while improving their organization

Combining Both Approaches

For complex architectures, you might benefit from using both techniques together:

  • Use Grouping to organize your components into logical clusters based on properties

  • Use Graph Collapsing to simplify lengthy paths between those groups

This combination provides both structural clarity and simplified relationship paths.

Remember that both features maintain the underlying data integrity while providing different visual simplifications to make your architecture more understandable to different audiences.

Additional Resources

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