Module Structure
Perspective is designed for flexibility, allowing developers to pick and choose which modules they need for their specific use case. The main modules are:
-
@finos/perspective
The data engine library, as both a browser ES6 and Node.js module. Provides a WebAssembly, WebWorker (browser) and Process (node.js) runtime. -
@finos/perspective-viewer
A user-configurable visualization widget, bundled as a Web Component. This module includes the core data engine module as a dependency.
<perspective-viewer> by itself only implements a trivial debug renderer, which
prints the currently configured view() as a CSV. Plugin modules for popular
JavaScript libraries, such as d3fc, are packaged separately
and must be imported individually.
Perspective offers these plugin modules:
-
@finos/perspective-viewer-datagrid
A custom high-performance data-grid component based on HTML<table>. -
@finos/perspective-viewer-d3fc
A<perspective-viewer>plugin for the d3fc charting library.
When imported after @finos/perspective-viewer, the plugin modules will
register themselves automatically, and the renderers they export will be
available in the plugin dropdown in the <perspective-viewer> UI.
Which modules should I import?
Depending on your requirements, you may need just one, or all, Perspective modules. Here are some basic guidelines to help you decide what is most appropriate for your project:
-
For Perspective's high-performance streaming data engine (in WebAssembly), or for a purely Node.js based application, import:
@finos/perspective, as detailed here
-
For Perspective as a simple, browser-based data visualization widget, you will need to import:
-
For more complex cases, such as sharing tables between viewers and binding a viewer to a remote view in Node.js, you will likely need all Perspective modules.