Use case or problem
I would like to add some features to the Graph View, but unfortunately there are only a limited number of ways to do this.
Proposed solution
I read that the internals of the graph view are a bit convoluted. Maybe you could just provide something like a wrapper with simple methods? Then you wouldn’t have to reorganize the code if you don’t want to…
It might look something like this:
GraphView.Notes // All notes, that could be shown in the GV
GraphView.Tags // All tags, that could be shown in the GV
GraphView.Attachments // All attachments, that could be shown in the GV
GraphView.Files // All files in the vault (Notes, Tags, Attachments, Orphan Files), that could be shown in the GV
GraphView.Texts // All typographic elements
GraphView.Connections // All connections between the Files, that could be shown in the GV
GraphView.Elements // All visual elements (Texts, Connections, Files)
GraphView.Forces // All physical forces
All visual elements of the graph may have these attributes:
Element.Forces // All physical forces that are applied on this element
Element.physicsOn // true/false; Are the physical forces applied on this element?
Element.visible // true/false; Is this element visible in the GV?
A Force object could have these methods, which could be overridden:
Force.apply(Element emitter, Element receiver) // This applies the Force originating from emitter on receiver.
Force.getRadius(Element emitter) // This returns the effective radius of the Force originating from emitter.
Some fictional examples:
note.color = #FF3344;
connection.label = "supports";
connection.thickness = 30;
GraphView.Tags.hide(); // Hides all tags and all the connections attached to it
GraphView.Tags.show(); // Shows all tags without the connections attached to it
GraphView.Connections.show(); // Shows all the connections in the GV
GraphView.Elements.add(triangle); // Adds a triangle element. triangle inherits from the class Element.
GraphView.Tags.show(note); // Shows all tags that are connected to note
GraphView.Connections.show(note, TAGS); // Shows all connections from note to its tags
Visual Memorability
It’s helpful if you can always find your notes at almost the same place in the graph. To achieve this in a smooth, hybrid style, you might use these variables:
Node.x // Current X position of the node (for grabbing etc.)
Node.y // Current Y position of the node (for grabbing etc.)
Node.xCalc // Calculated X position of the node when the graph has reached its equilibrium (doesn't move anymore)
Node.yCalc // Calculated Y position of the node when the graph has reached its equilibrium (doesn't move anymore)
Node.xOffset // X position offset relative to xCalc when the user has moved the node to a new location
Node.yOffset // Y position offset relative to yCalc when the user has moved the node to a new location
Node.isPinned // true/false; the position of the Node (Node.x, Node.y) is pinned to it's current coordinates
When a new note/attachment is added to the graph, only as many other notes/attachments as necessary should move. For tags, it’s probably necessary to move pretty wildly to adapt to a new topology.
Automatic scaling
If there is too little space for the floating tag nodes, the whole graph might be scaled up, with the center of the graph as the scaling origin. If there is too much space between the notes/attachment nodes, the whole graph could be scaled down.
Node.x and Node.y should follow this scaling, even if Node.isPinned is true.
This way the visual structure of the graph remains almost the same.
Current workaround
Apparently, there seem to be some accessible methods like findRenderer() and renderer.px.stage.addChild(text). Maybe they are enough for some additions. But if you want to add more sophisticated features or changes, I guess they won’t be sufficient.
Related feature requests
https://forum.obsidian.md/t/api-for-writing-graph-related-plugins/815
https://forum.obsidian.md/t/understanding-the-graph-view-core/41020
https://forum.obsidian.md/t/any-plans-to-extend-the-api-to-allow-for-custom-graph-menus-or-changing-individual-nodes/62797
https://forum.obsidian.md/t/graph-link-types/74710