| Abstract | Over the past years, the visualization of large and complex data sets brought up various Visual Analytics (VA) tools in order to solve domain-specific tasks. These VA tools are typically implemented as individual software components in data-flow-oriented models, meaning that data is transferred from one component to the next. While most VA frameworks rely on a monolithic architecture with features for the integration of specialized analysis methods, we consider a loose coupling of independent applications, where autonomous VA tools are used in predefined analysis sequences. To this end, we provide a characterization of the data exchange process among individual VA tools in the form of a taxonomy. This taxonomy can be used as a checklist to identify characteristics and improve the data flow of one's own multi-tool VA setup. For this purpose, we conducted a systematic investigation of the individual aspects of data exchange that are commonly found across different usage scenarios. We apply our taxonomy to three existing multi-tool frameworks, the open-source library ReVize, the toolchain editor Any Proc, and the visualization and monitoring framework Plant@Hand3D. |
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