Version: 2021-06-07
Feature evaluation of data visualization tools
To contribute, please make a branch (e.g. named after your GitHub persona), committing to it, and issue PRs against main branch.
Please add tools (columns), and features (rows) as needed.
Suggested evaluation: + means yes, - means no, n/a means does not apply, empty means not evaluated/checked/determined yet.
| ↓ Feature / Viz Tool → | Aladin Lite | WWT / pywwt | Firefly | Glue | ESASky | Vaex | js9 | TOPCAT | yt | add others... |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interfaces | ||||||||||
| Runs in browser | + | |||||||||
| Runs in notebook (e.g., via JupyterLab extension) | + | |||||||||
| Runs as desktop application | - | |||||||||
| Exposes API | + (Python, JS, HTTPS) | |||||||||
| Scriptable (e.g. functions/buttons/menus) | + | |||||||||
| Image formats | ||||||||||
| HiPS maps | + | |||||||||
| FITS files | + | |||||||||
| PNG/JPG images | + | |||||||||
| ASDF images | - | |||||||||
| Image layer features | ||||||||||
| Measure distances and angles | + | |||||||||
| Change quantitative stretch | + | |||||||||
| Change color mapping | + | |||||||||
| Construct three-color displays from combinations of images | + | |||||||||
| Display per-pixel Boolean bit masks as image overlay | + | |||||||||
| Image layers with controllable opacity | - | |||||||||
| Number of supported layers | ||||||||||
| Zooming and panning | ||||||||||
| Zoom in/out with clickable buttons | + | |||||||||
| Zoom in/out with mouse clicks into canvas | - | |||||||||
| Zoom in/out with mouse wheel | + | |||||||||
| Zoom in/out with keyboard | - | |||||||||
| Seamless transition from HiPS to FITS when zooming | + | |||||||||
| Pan with mouse-drag | + | |||||||||
| Pan with keyboard arrows | - | |||||||||
| Overlays | ||||||||||
| Overlay catalogs on images (see below for catalog sources supported | + | |||||||||
| Display additional data associated with catalog coordinates | + | |||||||||
| Number of shown markers is progressive with zoom level | - | |||||||||
| Performance with very large number of markers | + | |||||||||
| Can a limit on number of displayed markers be configured? | - | |||||||||
| How many catalogs simultaneously? | limited to server memory | |||||||||
| Overlays on images connected to other visualizations (brushing/linking) | + | |||||||||
| Displays outlines of surveys / MOCs | + | |||||||||
| Displays outlines of instrument footprints / FOVs (and DS9-style regions) | + | |||||||||
| Mousable features (possibly web-only) | ||||||||||
| Click to center view | + | |||||||||
| Click to pop-up source/location info panel (e.g. with direct links to data) | + | |||||||||
| Click source marker to pop-up plot with light curve | - | |||||||||
| Click & drag to select sources (e.g. rectangle or circle) | + | |||||||||
| Selecting sources displays a table of these sources | + | |||||||||
| Currently displayed table of selected sources can be saved/exported | + | |||||||||
| Rows in shown table are clickable (e.g. to pull more info from catalog) | + (DataLink) | |||||||||
| Selections retrievable via API, e.g., in Python | + | |||||||||
| Can trigger callbacks in API via UI gestures (clicks, keystrokes) | + | |||||||||
| Other image display features | ||||||||||
| Choose coordinate system (RA+Dec, glat+glon, ...) | + | |||||||||
| Show coordinate grid | + | |||||||||
| Show reticle | + | |||||||||
| Show Healpix grid | + | |||||||||
| Fullscreen mode (web) | + | |||||||||
| Go-to-position box | + | |||||||||
| Name resolution in go-to box | + | |||||||||
| Image blinking (e.g., between two layers/images), with key strokes | - | |||||||||
| Image blinking (e.g., between two layers/images), with mouse gestures | + (& auto) | |||||||||
| Behavior around poles (pans / doesn't pan past poles) | + | |||||||||
| Catalog data features | ||||||||||
| Select a pre-defined catalog to load | + | |||||||||
| Perform a search via IVOA interfaces to obtain a catalog | + | |||||||||
| Upload custom catalog | + | |||||||||
| HiPS Catalog support | - | |||||||||
| Rough useful catalog size limit in rows | millions | |||||||||
| Visual filtering of catalogs (e.g., selecting regions of plots) | + | |||||||||
| Text-based filtering | + | |||||||||
| Create catalog by clicking | - | |||||||||
| Create interactive plots from catalogs (X-Y, histograms, etc.) | + | |||||||||
| Add others... | ||||||||||
| Browse contents of complex FITS files (mixed tables & images) | + |