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Choosing UpSet vs Venn vs Network

Choosing UpSet vs Venn vs Network

vennDiagramLab ships three complementary visualizations of the same underlying region structure. This vignette explains when to use which.

library(vennDiagramLab)
result <- analyze(load_sample("dataset_real_cancer_drivers_4"))
length(result@dataset@set_names)

Quick guidance

# of sets Recommended primary view Why
2 Venn obvious, area-proportional possible
3 Venn classic three-circle layout reads instantly
4 Venn (Edwards) still readable as a Venn
5–6 UpSet Venn becomes hard to read; UpSet bars are clearer
7+ UpSet (primary) + Network (relationships) Venn is essentially unusable

For high set counts (5+), the Network view adds something neither representation provides: it shows the pairwise relationships as a graph, where edge weight is intersection size or significance.

Venn

svg <- render_venn_svg(result, title = "4-set Venn (cancer drivers)")
nchar(svg)

The SVG is plain text — embed it in a notebook with htmltools::HTML(svg) or save to disk and reference from Markdown.

UpSet

render_upset(result, sort_by = "size", color_mode = "depth")

(The chunk above is gated on R >= 4.6 because the CRAN release of ComplexUpset (1.3.3) is incompatible with ggplot2 >= 4.0 on older R.)

Network

render_network(result, edge_metric = "intersection")

Each node is a set, sized by inclusive cardinality. Each edge is a pair, weighted by the chosen edge_metric ("intersection", "jaccard", "fold_enrichment", or "overlap_coefficient"). Edges below the significance threshold are colored differently.

When the three views disagree

Sometimes a region looks “small” on a Venn but lights up bright on a Network because the fold-enrichment is high relative to expectation. That’s not a contradiction — Venn shows raw counts, Network can show normalized strength. Use both.

What’s next

These binaries (installable software) and packages are in development.
They may not be fully stable and should be used with caution. We make no claims about them.
Health stats visible at Monitor.