DeckGL.jl

A Julia package for visualizing data using deck.gl, a WebGL-powered framework for visual exploratory data analysis of large datasets.

Documentation

Installation

using Pkg
Pkg.add(url="https://github.com/RallypointOne/DeckGL.jl")

Quick Start

using DeckGL

# Sample data (any Tables.jl-compatible source works)
data = (
    longitude = [-122.4, -122.5, -122.3, -122.45, -122.35],
    latitude = [37.8, 37.7, 37.9, 37.75, 37.85],
    size = [100, 200, 150, 180, 120]
)

# Create a scatterplot layer
layer = ScatterplotLayer(
    data = data,
    get_position = [:longitude, :latitude],
    get_radius = :size,
    get_fill_color = [255, 140, 0, 200]
)

# Create the deck
deck = Deck(
    layer,
    initial_view_state = ViewState(longitude=-122.4, latitude=37.8, zoom=11)
)

# Display in notebook or open in browser
open_html(deck)

Features

• Tables.jl Integration: Works with DataFrames, NamedTuples, and any Tables.jl-compatible source
• Multiple Display Targets: Jupyter notebooks, VS Code, standalone HTML files
• GPU-Accelerated: Leverages deck.gl's WebGL rendering for large datasets
• Interactive: Pan, zoom, and rotate visualizations

API

Core Types

• Deck(layers; initial_view_state, map_style, controller) - Top-level visualization container
• ViewState(; longitude, latitude, zoom, pitch, bearing) - Camera configuration

Core Layers

• ScatterplotLayer - Render points/circles at coordinates
• ArcLayer - Render arcs between source and target points
• LineLayer - Render straight lines between points
• PathLayer - Render paths/polylines from coordinate sequences
• PolygonLayer - Render filled/stroked polygons
• TextLayer - Render text labels at coordinates

Aggregation Layers

• HexagonLayer - Aggregate points into hexagonal bins (3D)
• GridLayer - Aggregate points into rectangular grid cells (3D)
• HeatmapLayer - Render density heatmaps

Composite Layers

• GeoJsonLayer - Render GeoJSON data (points, lines, polygons)

Functions

• to_json(deck) - Convert to deck.gl JSON specification
• to_html(deck) - Generate standalone HTML string
• save_html(deck, path) - Save as HTML file
• open_html(deck) - Open in default browser

GeoInterface.jl Integration

Convert GeoInterface-compatible geometries to GeoJSON:

using Shapefile
shp = Shapefile.Table("boundaries.shp")
layer = geojson_layer(shp, get_fill_color=[255, 0, 0, 100])

Convenience Functions

Quick visualization helpers that return a Deck ready to display:

scatter(data, :lng, :lat; radius=:size, color=[255, 140, 0])
arcs(data, [:src_lng, :src_lat], [:dst_lng, :dst_lat])
lines(data, [:from_lng, :from_lat], [:to_lng, :to_lat])
paths(data, :path_column)
polygons(data, :polygon_column)
text(data, :lng, :lat, :label_column)
hexbin(data, :lng, :lat; radius=1000)  # 3D hexagonal binning
heatmap(data, :lng, :lat; weight=:value)  # Density heatmap
geojson(geojson_data)  # GeoJSON visualization

License

MIT