NodeXL FAQ

NodeXL Pro requires:

OPERATING SYSTEM: Microsoft Windows ™(XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10)

SOFTWARE: Microsoft Office™ (2007, 2010, 2013, 2016)

64 bit versions of Windows and Office are recommended (32 bit systems cannot use large amounts of RAM).

RAM: More the better!  4GB is enough to handle very small networks, 8GB for medium networks, 16GB or 32GB is recommended for very large networks (100K edges and above).

CPU: Most computers are now fast enough to handle network calculations. That said, faster CPUs are good for improving NodeXL’s performance. However, currently NodeXL is a (mostly) single threaded application that does not make use of multiple cores.

NodeXL Basic is free and open.  It is positioned as a browser for files created with NodeXL Pro which offers advanced features for professional social network and content analysis.

For a detailed feature overview to compare NodeXL Basic and NodeXL Pro please follow this link.

NodeXL is Windows and Office only.

Mac users interested in NodeXL may use a Virtual Machine.

We recommend REMOTE virtual machines like those offered by Amazon.

Here is an article about creating a virtual machine in the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2):

http://www.smrfoundation.org/2018/01/02/using-nodexl-in-the-cloud/

While it *is* possible to run a local VM on a MacBook, this is not a performant way to run the application (it can be slow!).

Further, a MacBook running Windows plus Office plus NodeXL should have no less than 16GB of RAM.

In contrast, the remote virtual machines may be accessed using the free “Remote Desktop” application from Microsoft (available for all Macs):

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/remote/remote-desktop-services/clients/remote-desktop-mac

Remote VMs place almost zero resource demands on the client machine (the Mac) and do not require special amounts of RAM or features to perform well.

All NodeXL Pro licenses are for the same application, only the type of user (Student, Academic/Govt/Non-Profit, and Commercial) is different.  The pricing structure reflects the ability of our users to pay for a license.  Please select the license appropriate to you.

You may run NodeXL Pro on any number of machines, but only one at a time.

The NodeXL Pro License Key file we send to you must be placed on any machine you would like to use to run NodeXL Pro.

Place the NodeXL Pro License Key file anywhere on the target machine’s file system.

When NodeXL Pro opens, it will ask you to locate this License Key file.  This will then authorize the use of NodeXL Pro on that machine.

When a machine is authorized for NodeXL Pro all other machines that are running NodeXL Pro are de-authorized.  NodeXL Pro will not operate on these machines until one of them is re-authorized.

To re-authorize a machine, copy the ORIGINAL license file (the one attached to the license email) to the target machine.  DO NOT use the license file from any other machine.

When a license file is authorized, the copy of the license file is imprinted with machine specific data that prevents it from running on any other machine.

Only the original license file can (re-)authorize a machine.

The original license key email is often sent within a minute of the order. If you do not receive a license key email promptly please check your “Spam” or “Junk” folders.  You should also check to see the email address that you used to pay for your license key.  In some cases the email associated with your payment is different from your main email address. If you cannot find the original license key in your emails, please send a short note to info@smrfoundation.org with the exact email address and the payment transaction ID used when purchasing the license.

If you cannot find the original license key in your emails, please send a short note to info@smrfoundation.org with the exact email address you used when purchasing the license.

The use of NodeXL Pro Twitter data importers requires a twitter account. Before your first data import you need to authorize NodeXL by entering a token number which is automatically sent to you during the authorization process.

Moreover Twitter’s public free API has many limits.  NodeXL Basic and Pro are both effected by these limits. Data is available only for 8-9 days.  Queries cannot return more than 18,000 tweets.The follower network is further restricted: the rate at which queries about who follows who can be asked is low.

NodeXL Pro does not enable the collection of data beyond these limits.  That said, NodeXL can process data from commercial data providers (like Crimson Hexagon or Radian6).  While these are expensive options, they may be the only way to get historical data from Twitter.

Commercial services like Radian6 and Crimson Hexagon provide archival data – but not cheaply!

You may be able to get a little bit more data from the public Twitter API by using the SINCE: and UNTIL: operators – example:QUERYTERM since:2016-01-21 until:2016-01-27. Since: and Until: operators scope the time frame of the query.

Twitter controls its API and throttles it based on unknowable parameters.  We notice that the more the volume of tweets == less tweets delivered. One alternative is to do day long slices and append them in order to maximize the data available from Twitter.

You may also be interested in th Connected Action Graph Server Importer which enables NodeXL to connect to the “STREAM” API from Twitter (which sometimes delivers larger volumes of data).

The use of NodeXL Pro Facebook data importers requires a Facebook account.

If you are the Admin of a Facebook Fan Page, you can analyze all comments, likes and shares based on individual users. If you are not the Admin of a Fan Page you need to use the Facebook Fan Page Importer, but then the user data is annonymized, which will result in a scattered network.

With the Facebook Fan Page Importer you can also download posts, comments and replies to create Post-Comment-Like network treemaps. You can get as much content from fan pages as you like, yet the data download may take quite a while as the download stops and resumes.

The Facebook Fan Pages Importer allows you to explore Page-likes-Page networks up to a 3.0 network for one Fan Page or a list of Fan Pages.

Please note that the download of network data from large fan pages can easily max out your system memory if you do not limit the number of reactions, likes and shares when setting up the data importer.

NOTE: Currently, the Facebook Group Network Importer is not working.

NodeXL Pro allows for 3rd party developers to create data importers that can integrate into the NodeXL Pro > Data > Data Import menu. In that menu you will also find a list of links to 3rd party importers currently available.

Flickr limits access to their API on a per key basis. You should stay under 3,600 queries per hour or Flickr may block or terminate your access.

You may also be interested in this: http://graphserverimporter.codeplex.com which enables NodeXL to accumulate data from the Twitter API over time.

• NodeXL uses “Named Ranges” for all of the tables and worksheets.  Pasting new data in the first blank row may not extend the named range for edges, or it may break the existing named range.

• Pasting data from multiple Edges worksheets can create duplicate Edges

• Pasting data from multiple Vertices worksheets can create duplicate vertices – which NodeXL does not like : -(

This issue can be resolved by copying the original key attached to the delivery email back onto the target system.  On some systems files can be set to be read only by default.  If this happens, NodeXL Pro can then not update (and validate) its license key.    To resolve the issue, find the location of the “.LIC” file we sent to you.  This is the original license key file sent as an attachment to an email.    Save this file to the location of the current license key file (you may have created a folder for this or left it in downloads or the desktop).  When you locate the NodeXL Pro License key file (“licensePro_#.lic”) in the file browser, right-click it and select Properties.  Then uncheck “Read-Only”.  This should then allow NodeXL Pro to read and update the license key.

If you cannot resolve this issue please send an email to info@smrfoundation.org and we will help you as soon as possible.

If this message shows up, you have reached the limits of your machine. Please take a look at the system requirements above.

Issue: NodeXL Crashes and displays “Object reference not set to an instance of an object”

Issue: NodeXL will not install and displays:

The value of the property ‘type” cannot be parsed.  The error is: Could not load file or assembly “Microsoft.Offfice.Business.Applications.Fba.Version=14.0.0.0

Symptom:

NodeXL successfully starts up (NodeXL Pro menu is present in the ribbon), but “Document Actions” does not load.

Solution:

For Microsoft Office 365 Users who find that the NodeXL Pro Graph Pane does not display, please follow these steps to activate the “Document Actions” pane:

Open Excel
Go to File->Options
In the “General” tab, under “User interface options”, select the second option “Optimize for compatibility”
Close Excel
Open NodeXL

For more details please refer to this URL: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/outlook-attachment-preview-failure-88020c8e-43ae-4582-9554-511fbaf0d138

To cite NodeXL in your papers please use the following:

Smith, M., Ceni A., Milic-Frayling, N., Shneiderman, B., Mendes Rodrigues, E., Leskovec, J., Dunne, C., (2010). NodeXL: a free and open network overview, discovery and exploration add-in for Excel 2007/2010/2013/2016, from the Social Media Research Foundation: https://www.smrfoundation.org

Vertices
A vertex is an element of a network.
The vertices count is the number of people or things in the network.

Unique Edges
An edge is a connection between two vertices.
The “unique” edges is the number of connections where multiple connections between A and B are counted only once.

Edges With Duplicates
An edge is a connection between two vertices.
The “duplicate” edges count is the total number of multiple connections between two vertices.

Total Edges
An edge is a connection between two vertices.
The “total” edges count is the total number of connections where multiple connections between A and B are all counted.

Self-Loops
An edge that starts and ends in the same vertex is a self loop.

Reciprocated Vertex Pair Ratio
When two vertices both link to each other their connection is “reciprocated”.
This is the percentage of vertices that have a reciprocal relationship.

Reciprocated Edge Ratio
When an edge from A to B is joined by another edge from B to A then their connection is “reciprocated”.
This is the percentage of edges that have a reciprocal relationship.

Connected Components
A group of vertices that are all connected is a component.
This is the number of separate sets of connected vertices.

Single-Vertex Connected Components
A vertex that has zero connections is “isolated” or an “island”.
This is the count of vertices that have zero connections.

Maximum Vertices in a Connected Component
A connected component is composed of a number of vertices.
This is the count of vertices in the largest connected component.

Maximum Edges in a Connected Component
A connected component is composed of a number of edges.
This is the count of total edges in the largest connected component.

Maximum Geodesic Distance (Diameter)
A geodesic is a chain or path composed of edges that link two vertices, potentially through intermediate vertices.
A “shortest path” is the minimum number of connections needed to link two vertices.
The “longest” “shortest path” is the “maximum geodesic distance”.

Average Geodesic Distance
A geodesic is a chain or path composed of edges that link two vertices, potentially through intermediate vertices.
The average length of these paths is the “average geodesic distance”.

Graph Density
Density is the measure of the number edges among a group of vertices over the total possible number if everyone was connected to everyone.
A high graph density means that most people are connected to many others. A low graph density means that most people are not connected to many others.

Modularity
Modularity is a measure of the fitness of the groups that are created in a clustered network.
A group is a set of vertices.
Many group cluster algorithms are intended to find sets of vertices that are strongly connected and relatively separate from other strongly connected groups.
Modularity is the measure of the number of edges that leave a group to connect to vertices in a different group.
If modularity is high, the clusters or groups created may be of low quality. If modularity is low, the groups are well defined.

NodeXL Version
NodeXL updates frequently and the current version number is provided to enable troubleshooting and to ensure older datasets are properly understood.

NodeXL can manage different numbers of edges based on the available computer system resources.  The following are rough estimates:

• 4 GB of RAM: SMALL networks only less than a few thousand edges
• 8 GB of RAM: MEDIUM networks of less than 10-15 thousand edges
• 16GB of RAM: LARGE networks of less than 80-100 thousand edges
• 32 GB of RAM: VERY LARGE networks of less than 200 thousand edges

• In many networks it can be possible to count and then remove all “isolate” vertices (nodes with zero connections).
• All “singleton” or “pendant” vertices can also be counted and removed (these are vertices with just one connection to the network).
• All duplicated edges can be removed.  Optionally, duplicate edges can be counted and removed and the count added to the remaining edge as a weight representing the number of removed edges.