Dash Callbacks for Cytoscape
Dash callbacks allow you to update your
Cytoscape graph via other components like dropdowns, buttons, and sliders.
If you have used Cytoscape.js before, you have probably used event handlers
to interactively update your graph; with Dash Cytoscape, we will instead
use callbacks.
Changing Layouts
Consider the graph containing North American cities from the layout
chapter. We have shown in that chapter how to display the same graph in
multiple layouts. But what if we want to introduce the option for the
user to interactively update the layouts?
Recall the declaration of the graph:
from dash import Dash, html
import dash_cytoscape as cyto
app = Dash(__name__)
nodes = [
{
'data': {'id': short, 'label': label},
'position': {'x': 20 * lat, 'y': -20 * long}
}
for short, label, long, lat in (
('la', 'Los Angeles', 34.03, -118.25),
('nyc', 'New York', 40.71, -74),
('to', 'Toronto', 43.65, -79.38),
('mtl', 'Montreal', 45.50, -73.57),
('van', 'Vancouver', 49.28, -123.12),
('chi', 'Chicago', 41.88, -87.63),
('bos', 'Boston', 42.36, -71.06),
('hou', 'Houston', 29.76, -95.37)
)
]
edges = [
{'data': {'source': source, 'target': target}}
for source, target in (
('van', 'la'),
('la', 'chi'),
('hou', 'chi'),
('to', 'mtl'),
('mtl', 'bos'),
('nyc', 'bos'),
('to', 'hou'),
('to', 'nyc'),
('la', 'nyc'),
('nyc', 'bos')
)
]
default_stylesheet = [
{
'selector': 'node',
'style': {
'background-color': '#BFD7B5',
'label': 'data(label)'
}
},
{
'selector': 'edge',
'style': {
'line-color': '#A3C4BC'
}
}
]
elements = nodes + edges
app.layout = html.Div([
cyto.Cytoscape(
id='cytoscape-callbacks-1',
elements=elements,
style={'width': '100%', 'height': '400px'},
layout={
'name': 'cose'
}
)
])
if __name__ == '__main__':
app.run(debug=True)
What we want to modify is the argument to layout. To do so, we could use
a dash_core_components.Dropdown with the name of the layouts as options.
We could set the default value to ‘grid’, and force it to be unclearable
(since we do not want to pass a dictionary with null value to Cytoscape).
from dash import dcc
dcc.Dropdown(
id='dropdown-update-layout',
value='grid',
clearable=False,
options=[
{'label': name.capitalize(), 'value': name}
for name in ['grid', 'random', 'circle', 'cose', 'concentric']
]
)
The construction of the callback becomes extremely easy. We simply create
a function as such:
@callback(Output('cytoscape-callbacks-1', 'layout'),
Input('dropdown-callbacks-1', 'value'))
def update_layout(layout):
return {'name': layout}
In fact, it is even possible to animate the layouts after an update!
Simply enable animate:
@callback(Output('cytoscape-callbacks-1', 'layout'),
Input('dropdown-callbacks-1', 'value'))
def update_layout(layout):
return {
'name': layout,
'animate': True
}
Piecing everything together, we get:
from dash import Dash, html, dcc, Input, Output, callback
import dash_cytoscape as cyto
app = Dash(__name__)
nodes = [
{
'data': {'id': short, 'label': label},
'position': {'x': 20*lat, 'y': -20*long}
}
for short, label, long, lat in (
('la', 'Los Angeles', 34.03, -118.25),
('nyc', 'New York', 40.71, -74),
('to', 'Toronto', 43.65, -79.38),
('mtl', 'Montreal', 45.50, -73.57),
('van', 'Vancouver', 49.28, -123.12),
('chi', 'Chicago', 41.88, -87.63),
('bos', 'Boston', 42.36, -71.06),
('hou', 'Houston', 29.76, -95.37)
)
]
edges = [
{'data': {'source': source, 'target': target}}
for source, target in (
('van', 'la'),
('la', 'chi'),
('hou', 'chi'),
('to', 'mtl'),
('mtl', 'bos'),
('nyc', 'bos'),
('to', 'hou'),
('to', 'nyc'),
('la', 'nyc'),
('nyc', 'bos')
)
]
elements = nodes + edges
app.layout = html.Div([
dcc.Dropdown(
id='dropdown-update-layout',
value='grid',
clearable=False,
options=[
{'label': name.capitalize(), 'value': name}
for name in ['grid', 'random', 'circle', 'cose', 'concentric']
]
),
cyto.Cytoscape(
id='cytoscape-update-layout',
layout={'name': 'grid'},
style={'width': '100%', 'height': '450px'},
elements=elements
)
])
@callback(Output('cytoscape-update-layout', 'layout'),
Input('dropdown-update-layout', 'value'))
def update_layout(layout):
return {
'name': layout,
'animate': True
}
if __name__ == '__main__':
app.run(debug=True)
Notice we did not include an animation for
preset. As discussed in the layout chapter, you
will need to specify the position of the nodes inside of thelayoutdictionary.
Check out this example
for more details.
Interactively update styles
Updating the stylesheet using Dash components is similar to updating
layouts, although it can get more complex. Indeed, you can choose to create
a default stylesheet, and append new styles to that stylesheet every time
a designated callback is fired. Let’s take the following stylesheet:
default_stylesheet = [
{
'selector': 'node',
'style': {
'background-color': '#BFD7B5',
'label': 'data(label)'
}
},
{
'selector': 'edge',
'style': {
'line-color': '#A3C4BC'
}
}
]
This is generally declared at the beginning of your script, before layout
declaration (therefore it is shared across sessions). The city graph will
look something like this:
from dash import Dash, html
import dash_cytoscape as cyto
app = Dash(__name__)
nodes = [
{
'data': {'id': short, 'label': label},
'position': {'x': 20 * lat, 'y': -20 * long}
}
for short, label, long, lat in (
('la', 'Los Angeles', 34.03, -118.25),
('nyc', 'New York', 40.71, -74),
('to', 'Toronto', 43.65, -79.38),
('mtl', 'Montreal', 45.50, -73.57),
('van', 'Vancouver', 49.28, -123.12),
('chi', 'Chicago', 41.88, -87.63),
('bos', 'Boston', 42.36, -71.06),
('hou', 'Houston', 29.76, -95.37)
)
]
edges = [
{'data': {'source': source, 'target': target}}
for source, target in (
('van', 'la'),
('la', 'chi'),
('hou', 'chi'),
('to', 'mtl'),
('mtl', 'bos'),
('nyc', 'bos'),
('to', 'hou'),
('to', 'nyc'),
('la', 'nyc'),
('nyc', 'bos')
)
]
default_stylesheet = [
{
'selector': 'node',
'style': {
'background-color': '#BFD7B5',
'label': 'data(label)'
}
},
{
'selector': 'edge',
'style': {
'line-color': '#A3C4BC'
}
}
]
elements = nodes + edges
app.layout = html.Div([
cyto.Cytoscape(
id='cytoscape-callbacks-2',
elements=elements,
stylesheet=default_stylesheet,
style={'width': '100%', 'height': '400px'},
layout={
'name': 'cose'
}
)
])
if __name__ == '__main__':
app.run(debug=True)
We might want to use text fields to input the color we want to add:
from dash import Dash, html, dcc
app = Dash(__name__)
app.layout = html.Div([
html.Div(style={'width': '50%', 'display': 'inline'}, children=[
'Edge Color:',
dcc.Input(id='input-line-color', type='text')
]),
html.Div(style={'width': '50%', 'display': 'inline'}, children=[
'Node Color:',
dcc.Input(id='input-bg-color', type='text')
])
])
if __name__ == '__main__':
app.run(debug=True)
All we need now is to assign a callback that will add new styles to the
default stylesheet in order to change the default color:
@callback(Output('cytoscape-callbacks-2', 'stylesheet'),
Input('input-line-color', 'value'),
Input('input-bg-color', 'value'))
def update_stylesheet(line_color, bg_color):
if line_color is None:
line_color = ''
if bg_color is None:
bg_color = ''
new_styles = [
{
'selector': 'node',
'style': {
'background-color': bg_color
}
},
{
'selector': 'edge',
'style': {
'line-color': line_color
}
}
]
return default_stylesheet + new_styles
Notice that we are setting the line and background color to an empty
string when they are set to None; this is to avoid feeding None to the dictionary, since it is not accepted by Cytoscape.
However, passing any string value to the dictionary is accepted, even when
the string value is not recognized. Therefore, the callback is fired every
time you type a new character, but the changes are only applied when
Cytoscape recognizes the input, which in this case could be the name of
a color, the hex code, or the rgb function.
Below, we show how the entire app is constructed:
from dash import Dash, html, dcc, Input, Output, callback
import dash_cytoscape as cyto
app = Dash(__name__)
nodes = [
{
'data': {'id': short, 'label': label},
'position': {'x': 20*lat, 'y': -20*long}
}
for short, label, long, lat in (
('la', 'Los Angeles', 34.03, -118.25),
('nyc', 'New York', 40.71, -74),
('to', 'Toronto', 43.65, -79.38),
('mtl', 'Montreal', 45.50, -73.57),
('van', 'Vancouver', 49.28, -123.12),
('chi', 'Chicago', 41.88, -87.63),
('bos', 'Boston', 42.36, -71.06),
('hou', 'Houston', 29.76, -95.37)
)
]
edges = [
{'data': {'source': source, 'target': target}}
for source, target in (
('van', 'la'),
('la', 'chi'),
('hou', 'chi'),
('to', 'mtl'),
('mtl', 'bos'),
('nyc', 'bos'),
('to', 'hou'),
('to', 'nyc'),
('la', 'nyc'),
('nyc', 'bos')
)
]
elements = nodes + edges
default_stylesheet = [
{
'selector': 'node',
'style': {
'background-color': '#BFD7B5',
'label': 'data(label)'
}
},
{
'selector': 'edge',
'style': {
'line-color': '#A3C4BC'
}
}
]
app.layout = html.Div([
html.Div([
html.Div(style={'width': '50%', 'display': 'inline'}, children=[
'Edge Color:',
dcc.Input(id='input-line-color', type='text')
]),
html.Div(style={'width': '50%', 'display': 'inline'}, children=[
'Node Color:',
dcc.Input(id='input-bg-color', type='text')
])
]),
cyto.Cytoscape(
id='cytoscape-stylesheet-callbacks',
layout={'name': 'cose'},
stylesheet=default_stylesheet,
style={'width': '100%', 'height': '450px'},
elements=elements
)
])
@callback(Output('cytoscape-stylesheet-callbacks', 'stylesheet'),
Input('input-line-color', 'value'),
Input('input-bg-color', 'value'))
def update_stylesheet(line_color, bg_color):
if line_color is None:
line_color = 'transparent'
if bg_color is None:
bg_color = 'transparent'
new_styles = [
{
'selector': 'node',
'style': {
'background-color': bg_color
}
},
{
'selector': 'edge',
'style': {
'line-color': line_color
}
}
]
return default_stylesheet + new_styles
if __name__ == '__main__':
app.run(debug=True)
In this example, we are not appending the new styles
directly to the default style, but instead concatenating
default_stylesheet with new_styles. This is because any modification
to default_stylesheet will be permanent, which is not a good thing if you
are hosting your app for many users (since default_stylesheet is shared
across all user sessions).
If you want to find more examples of styling using callbacks,
check out the usage-stylesheet.py,
example in the dash-cytoscape Github project. It presents a comprehensive
overview of techniques for manipulating stylesheets in Dash Cytoscape.
Adding and removing elements
One useful aspect of callbacks is the ability to add and remove elements.
By using elements as a state of your callback, you can decide to manipulate
it in order to add elements whenever another Dash component is updated.
Let’s take as an example a simple app where you can add and remove nodes
by clicking two html buttons (with the same graph as above):
from dash import Dash, html
import dash_cytoscape as cyto
app = Dash(__name__)
app.layout = html.Div([
html.Button('Add Node', id='btn-add-node-example', n_clicks_timestamp=0),
html.Button('Remove Node', id='btn-remove-node-example', n_clicks_timestamp=0)
])
if __name__ == '__main__':
app.run(debug=True)
The following callback would be needed:
@callback(Output('cytoscape-callbacks-2', 'elements'),
Input('btn-add-node-example', 'n_clicks_timestamp'),
Input('btn-remove-node-example', 'n_clicks_timestamp'),
State('cytoscape-callbacks-2', 'elements'))
def update_elements(btn_add, btn_remove, elements):
current_nodes, deleted_nodes = get_current_and_deleted_nodes(elements)
# If the add button was clicked most recently and there are nodes to add
if int(btn_add) > int(btn_remove) and len(deleted_nodes):
# We pop one node from deleted nodes and append it to nodes list.
current_nodes.append(deleted_nodes.pop())
# Get valid edges -- both source and target nodes are in the current graph
cy_edges = get_current_valid_edges(current_nodes, edges)
return cy_edges + current_nodes
# If the remove button was clicked most recently and there are nodes to remove
elif int(btn_remove) > int(btn_add) and len(current_nodes):
current_nodes.pop()
cy_edges = get_current_valid_edges(current_nodes, edges)
return cy_edges + current_nodes
# Neither have been clicked yet (or fallback condition)
return elements
The first conditional if int(btn_add) > int(btn_remove) verifies whether
the add button was just clicked. If it wasn’t, then the remove button is
verified with elif int(btn_remove) > int(btn_add). If neither were clicked,
then we return the default elements.
The second part of the conditional verifies whether there are nodes to add or
remove. If neither conditions are met, we simply return the current elements.
It’s important to mutate the elements object by passing it into the
callbacks as State (which is what we are doing here) rather than making
it a global variable. In general, global variables should be avoided
as they won’t work when multiple users are viewing the app or when the app
is deployed with multiple gunicorn workers.
You can find the complete app below:
from dash import Dash, html, Input, Output, State, callback
import dash_cytoscape as cyto
app = Dash(__name__)
nodes = [
{
'data': {'id': short, 'label': label},
'position': {'x': 20*lat, 'y': -20*long}
}
for short, label, long, lat in (
('la', 'Los Angeles', 34.03, -118.25),
('nyc', 'New York', 40.71, -74),
('to', 'Toronto', 43.65, -79.38),
('mtl', 'Montreal', 45.50, -73.57),
('van', 'Vancouver', 49.28, -123.12),
('chi', 'Chicago', 41.88, -87.63),
('bos', 'Boston', 42.36, -71.06),
('hou', 'Houston', 29.76, -95.37)
)
]
edges = [
{'data': {'source': source, 'target': target}}
for source, target in (
('van', 'la'),
('la', 'chi'),
('hou', 'chi'),
('to', 'mtl'),
('mtl', 'bos'),
('nyc', 'bos'),
('to', 'hou'),
('to', 'nyc'),
('la', 'nyc'),
('nyc', 'bos')
)
]
default_stylesheet = [
{
'selector': 'node',
'style': {
'background-color': '#BFD7B5',
'label': 'data(label)'
}
},
{
'selector': 'edge',
'style': {
'line-color': '#A3C4BC'
}
}
]
app.layout = html.Div([
html.Div([
html.Button('Add Node', id='btn-add-node', n_clicks_timestamp=0),
html.Button('Remove Node', id='btn-remove-node', n_clicks_timestamp=0)
]),
cyto.Cytoscape(
id='cytoscape-elements-callbacks',
layout={'name': 'cose'},
stylesheet=default_stylesheet,
style={'width': '100%', 'height': '450px'},
elements=edges+nodes
)
])
@callback(Output('cytoscape-elements-callbacks', 'elements'),
Input('btn-add-node', 'n_clicks_timestamp'),
Input('btn-remove-node', 'n_clicks_timestamp'),
State('cytoscape-elements-callbacks', 'elements'))
def update_elements(btn_add, btn_remove, elements):
current_nodes, deleted_nodes = get_current_and_deleted_nodes(elements)
# If the add button was clicked most recently and there are nodes to add
if int(btn_add) > int(btn_remove) and len(deleted_nodes):
# We pop one node from deleted nodes and append it to nodes list.
current_nodes.append(deleted_nodes.pop())
# Get valid edges -- both source and target nodes are in the current graph
cy_edges = get_current_valid_edges(current_nodes, edges)
return cy_edges + current_nodes
# If the remove button was clicked most recently and there are nodes to remove
elif int(btn_remove) > int(btn_add) and len(current_nodes):
current_nodes.pop()
cy_edges = get_current_valid_edges(current_nodes, edges)
return cy_edges + current_nodes
# Neither have been clicked yet (or fallback condition)
return elements
def get_current_valid_edges(current_nodes, all_edges):
"""Returns edges that are present in Cytoscape:
its source and target nodes are still present in the graph.
"""
valid_edges = []
node_ids = {n['data']['id'] for n in current_nodes}
for e in all_edges:
if e['data']['source'] in node_ids and e['data']['target'] in node_ids:
valid_edges.append(e)
return valid_edges
def get_current_and_deleted_nodes(elements):
"""Returns nodes that are present in Cytoscape and the deleted nodes
"""
current_nodes = []
deleted_nodes = []
# get current graph nodes
for ele in elements:
# if the element is a node
if 'source' not in ele['data']:
current_nodes.append(ele)
# get deleted nodes
node_ids = {n['data']['id'] for n in current_nodes}
for n in nodes:
if n['data']['id'] not in node_ids:
deleted_nodes.append(n)
return current_nodes, deleted_nodes
if __name__ == '__main__':
app.run(debug=True)