Visualizing
Visualizing
Visualizing (^)
Visualizing is the representation of information about some entity with the aim of portraying its state (situations), its links with other entities (combinations) and its working (operations).
Modes
Visualizing can be carried out by means of:
- Charts (stress on situations)
- Graphs (stress on combinations)
- Diagrams (stress on operations)
Remark
This differentiation is made only for reasons of presentation and should not be rigidly applied.
Charts (^)
Definition
A chart is the visualization of the situation of an entity at some point in time or space.
Classification
The basic types of Charts are:
- Pie Chart : e.g. allocation of funds in a budget
- Area Chart : e.g. allocation of funds in a budget over the years
- Table Chart : e.g. figures of budgets related to various years
- Bar/Column Chart : e.g. income of groups of people
- Picto Chart : using pictorial symbols to visualize Information
- Geographical Chart : a map of a region (physical map, political map, economic map, etc.)
Graphs (^)
Definition
A Graph is the visualization of some specific combination of entities.
Classification
The basic types of Graphs are:
- Line Graph (or Dots Graph) (e.g. relational variations of entities)
A Line Graph uses the Cartesian Coordinates with:
- horizontal axis : independent variable (x)
- vertical axis : dependent variable (y)
- Tree Graph (e.g. connection of entities)
- Box Graph (Matrix) (e.g. compatibility or incompatibility of entities)
- Venn Circles (e.g. association or dissociation of entities)
Diagrams (^)
Definition
A diagram is the visualization of some specific operation of entities.
Classification
The basic types of diagrams are:
- Diagram of Apparatus
(e.g. visualize the working of something, for instance a diagram depicting the working of an organization or of a device)
- Flow Diagram (or Block Diagram)
(e.g. visualize the sequence of tasks, for instance the sequential steps in a project. A Flow Diagram uses standard symbols to visualize tasks)
- Time Line Diagram
(e.g. visualize the time for performing tasks, for instance the duration of each individual phase of a project)
Note
For more information about operations see : Actuation.
Visualizing : summing up (^)
Visualizing is the representation of Information about entities concerning their:
- situation
- combination
- operation
Visualizing is also the first step towards more sophisticated representations of entities (e.g. Modelling) allowing for their manipulation (e.g. Simulating).