R Highcharter: Different display and value for clicked category

Question

Is it possible to store a hidden values for the categories in a highcharter chart so that the hidden value is returned when the chart is clicked?

The code below (altered from this answer) displays the category that is clicked using input$canvasClicked[2], with the categories added to the chart with hc_xAxis(categories = a$b). Instead, is is possible to have a$b_alt be returned from the click event while still having a$b as the categories displayed in the chart? The purpose is to separate the formatting of the chart categories from the underlying values.

library("shiny")
library("highcharter")

ui <- shinyUI(
  fluidPage(
    column(width = 8, highchartOutput("hcontainer", height = "500px")),
    column(width = 4, textOutput("text"))
  )
)

server <- function(input, output) {      

  a <- data.frame(b = LETTERS[1:10], b_alt = LETTERS[11:20], c = 11:20, d = 21:30, e = 31:40)

  output$hcontainer <- renderHighchart({      

    canvasClickFunction <- JS("function(event) {Shiny.onInputChange('canvasClicked', [this.name, event.point.category]);}")
    legendClickFunction <- JS("function(event) {Shiny.onInputChange('legendClicked', this.name);}")

    highchart() %>% 
      hc_xAxis(categories = a$b) %>% 
      hc_add_series(name = "c", data = a$c) %>%
      hc_add_series(name = "d", data = a$d) %>% 
      hc_add_series(name = "e", data = a$e) %>%
      hc_plotOptions(series = list(stacking = FALSE, events = list(click = canvasClickFunction, legendItemClick = legendClickFunction))) %>%
      hc_chart(type = "column")

  })      

  makeReactiveBinding("outputText")

  observeEvent(input$canvasClicked, {
    outputText <<- paste0("You clicked on series ", input$canvasClicked[1], " and the bar you clicked was from category ", input$canvasClicked[2], ".") 
  })

  observeEvent(input$legendClicked, {
    outputText <<- paste0("You clicked into the legend and selected series ", input$legendClicked, ".")
  })

  output$text <- renderText({
    outputText      
  })
}

shinyApp(ui, server)

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 18 '19 at 12:27

You can put your b_alt variable to the first series as additional info:

hc_add_series(name = "c", additionalInfo = a$b_alt, data = a$c) %>%

Then you can find this additionalInfo variable in first series object here:

event.point.series.chart.series[0].options.additionalInfo[event.point.index]

Whole code:

library("shiny")
library("highcharter")

ui <- shinyUI(
  fluidPage(
    column(width = 8, highchartOutput("hcontainer", height = "500px")),
    column(width = 4, textOutput("text"))
  )
)

server <- function(input, output) {      

  a <- data.frame(b = LETTERS[1:10], b_alt = LETTERS[11:20], c = 11:20, d = 21:30, e = 31:40)

  output$hcontainer <- renderHighchart({      

    canvasClickFunction <- JS("function(event) {Shiny.onInputChange('canvasClicked', [this.name, event.point.series.chart.series[0].options.additionalInfo[event.point.index]]);}")
    legendClickFunction <- JS("function(event) {Shiny.onInputChange('legendClicked', this.name);}")

    highchart() %>% 
      hc_xAxis(categories = a$b) %>% 
      hc_add_series(name = "c", additionalInfo = a$b_alt, data = a$c) %>%
      hc_add_series(name = "d", data = a$d) %>% 
      hc_add_series(name = "e", data = a$e) %>%
      hc_plotOptions(series = list(events = list(click = canvasClickFunction, legendItemClick = legendClickFunction))) %>%
      hc_chart(type = "column")

  })      

  makeReactiveBinding("outputText")

  observeEvent(input$canvasClicked, {
    outputText <<- paste0("You clicked on series ", input$canvasClicked[1], " and the bar you clicked was from category ", input$canvasClicked[2], ".") 
  })

  observeEvent(input$legendClicked, {
    outputText <<- paste0("You clicked into the legend and selected series ", input$legendClicked, ".")
  })

  output$text <- renderText({
    outputText      
  })
}

shinyApp(ui, server)

R Highcharter: Different display and value for clicked category

1 Answers1