Download data button

[dfernan]

Hi,

Would it be possible to add a download data button? Right now the default's option is a png image of the plot but I think it'd be very nice if one could also download the data inside the graph. Thus having a download data in graph button would be really cool.

It'd be a new button in here:
https://github.com/plotly/plotly.js/blob/2ba7bdf30d605794de42d560cab41ebbc8681d29/src/components/modebar/buttons.js

I am not familiar with JS so it's hard for me to make a pull request on this but I do think it'd be a great option.

[etpinard]

@jackparmer @chriddyp @alexcjohnson what do you think, is this within the scope of plotly.js?

[alexcjohnson]

I'm tempted to say we could add this if/when we create separate data and trace definitions, but the way plotly.js works at present this would be tricky and a bit ambiguous.

Also note that plotly cloud does this already - I realize that this is a few extra steps and not possible in all cases, but I bring it up because a) it may be useful in some cases, and b) knowing what went into its system for splitting the data out makes me more hesitant to build this into plotly.js.

[amellnik]

As a first step, we could add an optional button that dumps the JSON representation of the plot to a file. This would be easy to implement since there's already a "save and edit this plot in the cloud" button (which many of us can't use).

[jackparmer]

+1 @amellnik

What do you think of having the JSON show as indented plaintext within the plot view, that you could copy/paste, instead of downloading to file (or maybe buttons at the top of this plaintext view to download JSON or CSV)? I'd love to be able to quickly inspect the JSON in a JS or embedded graph without being required to download a file.

[jackparmer]

I'm tempted to say we could add this if/when we create separate data and trace definitions, but the way plotly.js works at present this would be tricky and a bit ambiguous.

I think even with missing data or obscure src tags this would still be useful for quickly inspecting how the plot was constructed.

[etpinard]

Is this really necessary?

Typing something like

var gd = document.getElementById('graph')
gd.data // => [{ /* ... */ }]
gd.layout // => { /* */ }

in the console should be easy enough.

[jackparmer]

I'm thinking more about non-JS users here.

[amellnik]

@jackparmer I would agree with that or even just to copy the serialized JSON to the clipboard. I also think this should be end-user friendly (and not require using any js).

[etpinard]

Oh sorry, my #2171 (comment) should have said: Is this really necessary in plotly.js proper?

[dfernan]

Hi, any updates on this issue? It'd really make my life easier since right now I add a download button at the end of all my dashboards but still not the most ideal/user_friendly...

[etpinard]

@dfernan no updates.

We're still debating (albeit not very intensively during the holidays 😉 ) whether this request has its place in the library.

[dfernan]

yes of course, makes sense, please enjoy the holidays :-)

[Cerebrock]

Please do u.u