DC js charts, crossfilter not filtering on click - dc.js

Question

*Updated with more relevant code.
*Updated again: removing chart groupings results in this error: "Unable to get property 'classed' of undefined or null reference dc.js (5575,9)". I am using dc 3.0.11.
I have an issue where my dc charts are not filtering each other upon clicking a selection on a chart. It does work if I call a function to explicitly do so, but I would like to avoid that.
This is my general approach:
I do have dc.css included (if that matters)
my crossfilter ndx and dimensions are correct
I am defining my charts WITHOUT .on renderlet (is this the reason?)
var masterData = [];
$(document).ready(function () { //UPDATED CODE START
var siteurl = 'site';
var ItemCount= GetItemCount(siteurl, 'list');
createRestUrl(siteurl,ItemCount,'list');
}); // UPDATED CODE END
function GetItemCount(siteurl, ListName){
var ItemCount='';
$.ajax({
url: siteurl+"/_api/web/lists/GetByTitle('"+ListName+"')/ItemCount",
method: "GET",
async: false,
headers: { "Accept": "application/json; odata=verbose" },
success: function (data) {
ItemCount = data.d.ItemCount;
},
error: function (data) {
console.log(data);
}
});
return ItemCount;
} // GetItemCount END
function createRestUrl(siteurl, ItemCount, ListName) {
var listServiceUrl = siteurl+ "/_api/web/lists/GetByTitle('" + ListName + "')/Items";
//Rest call to process each items of list
$.when(processList(listServiceUrl,ItemCount)).done(function () {
console.log("FINISHED");
console.log("--------");
console.log(masterData);
var ndx = crossfilter(masterData),
clientMgr = ndx.dimension(function(d) { return d.clientMgr}),
otherTeammates = ndx.dimension(function(d) { return d.otherTeammates}),
topic = ndx.dimension(function(d) { return d.topic}),
status = ndx.dimension(function(d) { return d.status}),
team = ndx.dimension(function(d) { return d.team}),
requester = ndx.dimension(function(d) { return d.requester}),
requesterBusiness = ndx.dimension(function(d) { return d.requesterBusiness}),
submitted = ndx.dimension(function(d) { return d.submitted}),
clientMgrGroup = clientMgr.group(),
otherTeammatesGroup = otherTeammates.group(),
topicGroup = topic.group(),
statusGroup = status.group(),
teamGroup = team.group(),
requesterGroup = requester.group(),
requesterBusinessGroup = requesterBusiness.group(),
submittedGroup = submitted.group();
var teamChart = dc.rowChart("#team_chart", "team");
var clientMgrChart = dc.pieChart("#mgr_chart", "mgr");
var statusChart = dc.pieChart("#status_chart", "status");
var requesterChart = dc.rowChart("#requester_chart", "request");
var requesterBusinessChart = dc.pieChart("#requesterBusiness_chart", "requestBusiness");
var timeSelect = dc.lineChart("#time_chart", "time");
var topicChart = dc.pieChart("#topic_chart", "topic");
var teamNum = dc.numberDisplay("#teamNum", "teamNum");
Date.prototype.addDays = function(days) {
var dat = new Date(this.valueOf());
dat.setDate(dat.getDate() + days);
return dat;
}
var thisDay = new Date();
var todayMinSix = thisDay.addDays(-30);
var todayPlusSix = thisDay.addDays(30);
teamChart
.dimension(team)
.group(teamGroup)
.width(800)
.height(200)
.transitionDuration(3000)
.ordering(function(d) { return -d.value })
.elasticX(true)
.x(d3.scaleLinear().domain([0, 100]))
.colors('#58D3F7')
//teamNum
//.valueAccessor(function(d) { return d})
//.formatNumber(d3.format())
//.group(teamGroup)
clientMgrChart
.dimension(clientMgr)
.group(clientMgrGroup)
.width(300)
.height(300)
.transitionDuration(3000)
statusChart
.dimension(status)
.group(statusGroup)
.height(200)
.width(500)
.innerRadius(95)
.transitionDuration(3000)
.colors(d3.scaleOrdinal().domain(["02 - Work-In-Progress", "01 - Pending Initial Review"])
.range(['#58D3F7', '#2E9AFE']))
requesterChart
.dimension(requester)
.group(requesterGroup)
.height(200)
.width(800)
.gap(10)
.transitionDuration(3000)
.ordering(function(d) { return -d.value })
.elasticX(true)
.colors('#F78181')
.x(d3.scaleLinear().domain([0, 100]));
requesterBusinessChart
.dimension(requesterBusiness)
.group(requesterBusinessGroup)
.height(300)
.width(300)
.innerRadius(117)
.transitionDuration(3000)
.colors('#F78181')
topicChart
.dimension(topic)
.group(topicGroup)
.height(200)
.width(500)
.innerRadius(95)
.transitionDuration(3000)
.colors(d3.scaleOrdinal().domain(["New Report / Interface", "General Support", "One-Time Data Set", "Recurring Data Set", "Modify Existing Report / Interface", "Production Issue"])
.range(['#F5A9A9', '#F78181', '#FA5858', '#F6CECE', '#F8E0E0', "#FBEFEF"]))
timeSelect
.width(1700)
.height(150)
.dimension(submitted)
.group(submittedGroup)
.transitionDuration(1000)
.elasticY(true)
.renderArea(true)
.x(d3.scaleTime().domain([todayMinSix, thisDay]))
.xUnits(d3.timeDays)
.mouseZoomable(false)
.xAxis();
teamChart.render();
statusChart.render();
requesterChart.render();
topicChart.render();
});
}
//Step 3: Rest call to process each items of list
function processList(nextUrl,ItemCount) {
var dfd = new $.Deferred();
if (nextUrl == undefined) {
dfd.resolve();
return;
}
getJSONDataFromUrl(nextUrl).done(function (listItems) {
TotalItemCount = TotalItemCount+listItems.d.results.length;
console.log("getJSON called");
var items = listItems.d.results;
var next = listItems.d.__next;
$.when(processList(next,ItemCount)).done(function (){
dfd.resolve();
});
$.each(items, function(index, obj){
items = {};
items.clientMgr = obj.ClientMgr; //Assigned To - might not be the right field
items.otherTeammates = obj.OtherTeammatesEngaged; //Assigned To - might not be the right field
items.topic = obj.Topic;
items.status = obj.Status;
items.team = obj.Team;
items.requester = obj.RequesterLOB;
items.submitted = obj.Submitted;
items.requesterBusiness = obj.RequesterBusinessGroup;
console.log("looping through each");
var convert = new Date(items.submitted);
items.submittedConvert = moment(convert).format('L');
items.submitted = convert;
var assignName = items.clientMgr;
items.clientMgr = assignName;
masterData.push(items);
console.log(items.requesterBusiness);
console.log(items.status);
}); //.each END
}); // getJSONDataFromUrl END
return dfd.promise();
} // processList END
I had this working long ago, but as the project became more complex, something broke along the way.

Answer 1

I'm going to guess that the error refers to the use of .classed() a few lines up from 5575. Here are the lines leading up to 5575:
if (d3.sum(_chart.data(), _chart.cappedValueAccessor)) {
pieData = pie(_chart.data());
_g.classed(_emptyCssClass, false);
} else {
// otherwise we'd be getting NaNs, so override
// note: abuse others for its ignoring the value accessor
pieData = pie([{key: _emptyTitle, value: 1, others: [_emptyTitle]}]);
_g.classed(_emptyCssClass, true);
}
if (_g) {
https://github.com/dc-js/dc.js/blob/3.0.11/dc.js#L5565-L5575
So (except for the line number being a little off) it's a good guess that _g is null.
As I noted in my comment above, this probably indicates that the chart was redrawn before it was rendered. This can happen if you create a chart but don't render it. Rendering initializes things like the scale and parent elements like the <g> that holds the chart.
When you create a chart, you either specify a chart group or the default chart group is selected for you. The chart is registered in that group, and when any chart in the group is filtered, all the charts are redrawn.
In your code above, you render specific charts (4 of them), but there are many more charts which you initialize but don't render (8). In particular, all of the pie charts are rendered except for clientMgrChart. When you later click on a chart, it's likely that chart crashes when it tries to redraw.
It would be nice if dc.js implemented a more helpful error for this case since you currently have to guess "hmm, null, guess something hasn't been set up right" and know that render must happen before redraw.
Note: it's more robust to initialize the charts and then call
dc.renderAll();
instead of rendering each one manually.

Answer 2

Note to others: With dc.js 3.1.2, my individual rowCharts would not animate themselves when clicked. The other charts in the crossfilter did animate.
Very confused, traced all the way through the dc.js call stack and learned a lot.
Ultimately, root cause for the failure was not having dc.css linked in my page's HTML.
Another good 'tell' that you don't have dc.css properly linked is that the rowChart vertical lines do not render.
Screenshots
rowChart With CSS - Clicking any of the bars DOES trigger animation.
rowChart Without CSS - Clicking any of the bars does not trigger animation.