
## Section14Open Interactive Elements

When outputting Web page versions, it is possible to embed a variety of dynamic interactive elements. In a /PDF version, these will necessarily need to be replaced by some static substitute, such as a screenshot. See Section 3 for the specifics of embedding instances of the Sage Cell Server, which is more elaborate, and not entirely similar.

Interactives in this section are generally unencumbered from copyright or licensing restrictions. See Section 15 for more interactives that are not as open.

(2018-03-05) Almost everything in this section is under active development and not stable yet. Feel free to experiment and make suggestions and requests. This page takes a while to completely load, so be patient.

### Subsection14.1HTML5 Canvas

HTML5 introduced the <canvas> element, which can be thought of a blank slate, a place to draw or write on. So PreTeXt has the <slate> element for a similar purpose. Generally, but not exclusively, HTML5 writes on a <canvas> using the Javascript language. We demonstrate this approach to interactive diagrams in this subsection.

The following examples are from David Austin's excellent Understanding Linear Algebra textbook, which can be found at

merganser.math.gvsu.edu/david/linear.algebra/ula/index.html


David's contribution of examples, and assistance designing the PreTeXt elements is greatly appreciated. Alright, let's learn some linear algebra. Yes, there are some learning opportunities in this subsection.

The interactive in Figure 14.1 shows a vector $\vec{x}$ in red, and the matrix-vector product $A\vec{x}$ in grey, for a particular $2\times 2$ matrix $A\text{.}$ The four entries of the matrix $A$ are coded into the interactive. Can you deduce $A$ simply by using the interactive? Which theorem is the key?

The next example has ten <slate> elements communicating with each other, and arranged with the layout features of a <sidebyside> (see Section 22).

### Subsection14.2D3.js

D3 is a Javascript library for “Data-Driven Documents”, which might greatly enhance some data you wish to display. In short, it uses the animation capabilities of SVG. Available examples seem sensitive to the version of the library, so we have examples using different versions. Use the @version attribute on <interactive> to specify the version number. The default is 5.

The first example uses the force layout and collision detection from Version 3. (The necessary commands are very different in Version 4.) Pretend you are a working shepherding dog. Can you separate, and catch, one of the herd?

This is adapted from a block by Mike Bostock at 3231298 with a GPL license. A similar demonstration, only using an HTML5 canvas is at bl.ocks.org/mbostock/3231307.

Similar, but different, this demonstration of a graph layout uses Version 4 of the library. Technical notes:

• We have changed the size of the nodes, and their number, to fit in a smaller space.
• The Javascript script uses introspection to size itself, which would be a good general practice.

This is adapted from a block by shimizu at e6209de87cdddde38dadbb746feaf3a3 with a GPL license.

Can you move the vertices to new locations such that the resulting graph is planar? (In other words, no edges cross?)

Finally an example that actually uses some data. Here is the description from the original block by Martin Chorley at 7aa53c7bf3e411238ac8aef280bd6581, provided with an MIT License.

This visualisation uses a D3 force simulation to show the Twitter relationships between the Assembly Members in the Welsh Assembly in terms of the number of times each assembly member has mentioned another assembly member in a tweet.

Twitter relationships were mined on 22/03/2017, and are representative of the conversational relationships on that date. Links between AMs represent a conversational relationship: one AM has mentioned the other. Party colour indicates the direction of the mention.

Hover over the nodes to fade out non-connected nodes.

Rather than using intermediate nodes to create curved links (as in Mike Bostock's block), this adds curves by adding a calculated control point for each edge.

Technical notes:

• Once the nodes organize themselves (automatically in the beginning), they cannot be moved.
• We have adjusted the margins in an attempt to keep names visible on the right side, but without giving up too much space.
• We have adjust the repelling force, and the collision buffer, to better fit the available space.
• This example required its own CSS, which we have included as part of the <interactive>.
• The data collected from the Twitter analysis is contained in a JSON file, mention_network.json, and where the script loads that file, it needs a path relative to the HTML file where the interactive is viewed.

### Subsection14.3JSXGraph

JSXGraph is a “cross-browser JavaScript library for interactive geometry, function plotting, charting, and data visualization in the web browser.” Now a <slate> will be what JSXGraph calls a board. Again, you use Javascript to write onto a <slate>, but have some powerful shortcuts available from the JSXGraph library. For this reason, PreTeXt calls JSXGraph a “language”, similar in may respects to how Sage is a language, but is really a Python library. So realize that the syntax for using JSXGraph is that of Javascript.

Place Javascript inside a file that is specified with the @source attribute of the <interactive> element. Then just be certain that @xml:id of the <interactive> element is passed as the HTML id in an (early) call to JSXGraph's initBoard() method.

The plot below is the curve $r=a+b\theta$ in polar coordinates, for $0\leq\theta\leq 8\pi\text{.}$ It may be manipulated with the sliders to control the shape of the curve. Point $A$ is contrained to the curve, but may be dragged to a new location. At $A$ the tangent line and normal line are plotted as dashed red lines. Use the controls in the lower left to adjust the viewing window. This example is taken from the JSXGraph example wiki. The code could be written in 7 lines. Width is 80% and aspect ratio is 4:3.

Here is a more elaborate example, from the JSXGraph Showcase, titled Infinity.

There are two active sliders to control the shape and shading of the graphic, and hovering the mouse near one of the edges will highlight the entirety of one of the 30 quadrangles. Finally, each of the four red corners may be dragged to a new location. Code is 47 lines. Width is 60% and aspect ratio is the default, 1:1, i.e. a square.

Here are the two new examples. They have been included in a sidebyside layout element with equal widths (see Section 22) so they can be placed horizontally across the page. They are not wrapped as figures, so cannot be cross-referenced. These are again from the example wiki, the left being Fermat's Spiral and the right being a demonstration of B-splines.

Drag the slider to change the curve.

Any of the 8 red control points may be moved anywhere.

Finally, a piecewise function you can control, with traces of the domain values and range values in two other JSXGraph boards. Boards and HTML buttons have been laid out using the sidebyside layout element.

Generally, we load an interactive into an HTML iframe to sandbox (isolate) it from other interactives. We does this for your own protection. So, for example, one interactive cannot talk to another. If two <slate> need to communicate, then they are related, and should be placed into a single <interactive>, allowed to layout themselves, or grouped within a <sidebyside> allowing finer control. Even if we have this under control, you might still enjoy reading Your JS is a Mess at mikecavaliere.com/your-js-is-a-mess-javascript-namespacing/.

### Subsection14.4CalcPlot3D

CalcPlot3D is a Javascript application for creating, visualizing, and understanding plots of 3D surfaces. So it would be an ideal companion to a book on multivariate calculus, but should be useful in other courses of study.

To use it, find find the online app version at

http://www.monroecc.edu/faculty/paulseeburger/calcnsf/CalcPlot3D/

Create a plot and adjust the image to a viewpoint and scale you like. Then, click the menu icon in the upper-left and choose File. From here you can save a PNG image for the static version, but you also want to select Encode View in URL. Now your browser address bar is filled with a query string (all the stuff after the question-mark) that has all the information necessary to reproduce your plot (and view). Copy everything after the first question-mark to the interactive/code element. Be sure to replace any ampersands by &amp; (see the Author's Guide for more about certain characters in URLs). Examine the source for the examples below to see how they are authored.