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@mbostock /.block
Last active Apr 23, 2016

General Update Pattern, I
license: gpl-3.0

This example demonstrates the general update pattern in D3, where a data-join is followed by operations on the enter, update and exit selections. Entering elements are shown in green, while updating elements are shown in black. Exiting elements are removed immediately, so they're invisible.

This example does not use a key function for the data-join, so entering elements are always added to the end: when the new data has more letters than the old data, new elements are entered to display the new letters. Likewise, exiting letters are always removed from the end when the new data has fewer letters than the old data.

Next: Key Functions

<!DOCTYPE html>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<style>
text {
font: bold 48px monospace;
}
.enter {
fill: green;
}
.update {
fill: #333;
}
</style>
<body>
<script src="//d3js.org/d3.v3.min.js"></script>
<script>
var alphabet = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz".split("");
var width = 960,
height = 500;
var svg = d3.select("body").append("svg")
.attr("width", width)
.attr("height", height)
.append("g")
.attr("transform", "translate(32," + (height / 2) + ")");
function update(data) {
// DATA JOIN
// Join new data with old elements, if any.
var text = svg.selectAll("text")
.data(data);
// UPDATE
// Update old elements as needed.
text.attr("class", "update");
// ENTER
// Create new elements as needed.
text.enter().append("text")
.attr("class", "enter")
.attr("x", function(d, i) { return i * 32; })
.attr("dy", ".35em");
// ENTER + UPDATE
// Appending to the enter selection expands the update selection to include
// entering elements; so, operations on the update selection after appending to
// the enter selection will apply to both entering and updating nodes.
text.text(function(d) { return d; });
// EXIT
// Remove old elements as needed.
text.exit().remove();
}
// The initial display.
update(alphabet);
// Grab a random sample of letters from the alphabet, in alphabetical order.
setInterval(function() {
update(d3.shuffle(alphabet)
.slice(0, Math.floor(Math.random() * 26))
.sort());
}, 1500);
</script>
@fangmdu
fangmdu commented Dec 14, 2012

//code line 68
.slice(0,Math.floor(Math.random()* 26)+1)

random from 1- 26.

@Jonahss
Jonahss commented Apr 26, 2013

I was reading this example which you linked to today in your post on Selections.
The way I understand it, it doesn't work as specified. The black updated letters in each iteration are not letter which were present in the previous step.

I think it's because the array is shuffled, but data is connected to nodes based on the index within the alphabet array?

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