LineUp for Bases

Interactive multi-attribute ranking and visualization view for Obsidian Bases. Powered by LineUp.js. Adapted to Obsidian such that it works interactively and adapts to the installed theme.

Features

• Multi-Attribute Ranking: Rank and compare notes across multiple frontmatter, file metadata, and formula properties.
• Weighted & Combined Columns: Create custom composite scores by combining multiple columns with interactive weights and live recalculation.
• Filtering & Grouping: Filter, sort, and aggregate notes with instant visual distributions and box plots.
• Bases Integration: Integrates directly into Obsidian Bases (type: lineup) as a native view.
• Layout & Column Persistence: Custom columns, weighted sums, sorting, and filter states automatically persist directly into .base view configurations.
• Direct Note Navigation: Single-click any row to immediately open the note in your workspace.

Installation

Obsidian Community Plugin

Install the plugin via the official Obsidian Community Plugin Store: [LineUp for Bases]. Alternatively, install via BRAT.

Manual Installation

1. Download main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css from the latest GitHub Release.
2. In your Obsidian vault, navigate to .obsidian/plugins/ and create a folder named obsidian-lineup.
3. Copy the three downloaded files into .obsidian/plugins/obsidian-lineup/.
4. Reload Obsidian (or reload plugins in Settings > Community plugins), then enable LineUp for Bases.

User Guide

Adding a View to Bases

LineUp for Obsidian adds a dedicated view type for Bases. Simply switch the view to "LineUp" in the view dropdown of your Base, as described in the official Obsidian Bases documentation.

It operates as a rich visual layer on top of your .base data, inheriting base-level filters while allowing independent interactive filtering, grouping, and multi-attribute sorting.

• Persistence in Base Views: Custom ranking columns (e.g., weighted sums), column arrangements, and filter adjustments configured within a Base view are automatically saved to the .base file.
• Live Embeds in Notes: Using native Bases embed syntax (![[base.base#LineUp-View]]), LineUp views can be embedded anywhere in your notes as interactive, read-only exploration views.

Core Advantages of LineUp over Standard Tables

Feature	Standard Table / Dataview	LineUp
Sorting	Single-column sort (or static secondary sort)	Hierarchical & multi-attribute weighted sorting
Numeric Comparison	Plain text digits	Bar lengths, distributions, and min/max domain scaling
Combined Scores	Requires manual formulas (rating * 0.7 + pages * 0.3)	Interactive drag & drop weighted columns with live recalculation
Categorical Data	Static tags or text	Color-coded stacked distributions with multi-select filter histograms
Filtering	Static query code (WHERE ...)	Live histogram range-sliders & visual checkboxes directly in headers
Grouping & Summary	Nested list/table sections	Hierarchical row grouping with box plots & aggregate distribution bars
Side-Panel	None	Collapsible side-panel (»/«) to inspect distributions and create composite rankings
Layout Persistence	Manual query configuration	Automatic view state serialization to .base view configuration
Data Safety	Read/write risk depending on plugins	100% Live Read-only

Technical Highlights

1. Native Bases Engine Integration:
   • Built on Obsidian 1.10+ native .base data engine.
   • Evaluates formulas (e.g., formula.stars), tags (file.hasTag("book")), and frontmatter properties.
2. Layout & State Persistence:
   • Debounced automatic synchronization of LineUp table configurations (rankings, weights, column order, filters) to .base view metadata.
3. Direct Note Navigation:
   • Single-click on any row immediately opens the corresponding note (file.name) in your active workspace leaf.
4. Auto-Type Inference & Null Handling:
   • Distinguishes numeric properties (with proper min/max domains) from categorical strings.
   • Accurately unwraps NullValue so missing properties don't corrupt numeric columns or ranking computations.
5. Drag Auto-Scrolling & Virtual Scrolling:
   • Handles large vaults smoothly with virtual row rendering and height stabilization (min-height: 480px).
   • Automatically scrolls horizontally when dragging column headers near table boundaries.
6. Theme Synchronization:
   • Seamlessly synchronizes with Obsidian CSS tokens across light and dark modes for every theme.

Limitations

• Note Embed State:
  • Interactive adjustments made inside embedded LineUp views in markdown notes are held in memory during the session. Changes made directly within the dedicated .base file view are fully persistent.
• Canvas Minimum Dimensions:
  • In Obsidian Canvas text cards, LineUp requires adequate width and height (at least 480px height) for virtual scrolling and header toolbars.
• Array / Multi-Value Tags:
  • Tag lists (tags: [book, scifi]) are unwrapped as strings by Bases; for discrete categorical filtering in LineUp, dedicated single-value scalar properties (like genre, status, format) provide the best visual experience.

Use-Cases

Analysis of a Book Base

Assume we have a Bases table called Books with the following columns:

• title
• rating
• pages
• author
• genre
• status
• format

Question A: "Which book should I read next?" (Multi-Attribute Decision)

• Problem: A book rated 5 stars with 900 pages might be too lengthy for a short holiday trip, whereas a short 100-page book rated 2 stars isn't worth reading.
• Solution in LineUp:
  1. In the LineUp table, open the side-panel using the toggle icon (») or click the column addition menu (+).
  2. Create a Weighted Sum Column.
  3. Drag and drop Rating (1-5) (e.g., 60% weight) and Pages (inverted or 40% weight) into it.
  4. The rows instantly re-rank according to the calculated composite score.

Question B: "Which long science fiction books haven't I started yet?"

• Solution in LineUp:
  1. Genre Filter: Hover over the Genre column header, click the filter icon, and check only Science-Fiction (or Science).
  2. Status Filter: In Status, filter by Wishlist.
  3. Pages Sort: Click the Pages column header to sort descending.
  4. Histogram: The header histogram immediately visualizes the page count distribution of the filtered subset.

Question C: "How is my reading progress distributed across different formats?"

• Solution in LineUp:
  1. Locate the Format column (Paperback, Hardbound, Hardcover, E-Book).
  2. Click the group icon in the Format column header to group rows by format.
  3. LineUp automatically aggregates numeric attributes (Progress (%), Pages, Price) per group into visual box plots and aggregate bars.

Credits & Related Publications

This plugin is built on the LineUp.js library by the Caleydo team.

If you use LineUp for research, please cite:

• LineUp: Visual Analysis of Multi-Attribute Rankings (Paper | Website)
  Samuel Gratzl, Alexander Lex, Nils Gehlenborg, Hanspeter Pfister, and Marc Streit.
  IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (InfoVis '13), 19(12), pp. 2277–2286, doi:10.1109/TVCG.2013.173, 2013.
  (IEEE VIS InfoVis 2013 Best Paper Award)

• Taggle: Scalable Visualization of Tabular Data through Aggregation (Paper Preprint | Website)
  Katarina Furmanova, Samuel Gratzl, Holger Stitz, Thomas Zichner, Miroslava Jaresova, Martin Ennemoser, Alexander Lex, and Marc Streit.
  Information Visualization, 19(2): 114–136, doi:10.1177/1473871619878085, 2019.

License

MIT License