# Why does my chart show a different data editor?

> Because a table cannot describe every chart. Nested, connected and grid-shaped charts get an editor built for that shape, and a few unusual types fall back to raw JSON.

> **Note:** The visual editors are built by reading the chart's own configuration. If that fails you will see a short notice saying the visual editor could not be opened, and the JSON panel underneath. Your data is intact — only the friendlier editor is unavailable.

> **Tip:** The same chart type can behave differently between libraries. A treemap from ECharts gets the hierarchy editor; the Nivo one is edited as JSON. If the editor is fighting you, try the same chart in another library.

> **Note:** Charts with a specialised format cannot be linked to a live data source — the plugin will say so rather than importing something that does not fit.

## Steps

1. Open the Data tab. What you see is chosen from the chart type and the library it comes from — you do not switch it yourself.
2. Most charts get the ordinary table: a Label column and one column per series. Bar, line, area, pie, scatter, funnel, gauge and the rest of the everyday gallery all use it.
3. Charts with nesting get the hierarchy editor — an indented tree with an Add Root Node button. Tree, treemap and sunburst charts use it.
4. Charts about connections get two tables, Nodes and Links. Sankey, chord and graph charts use it.
5. Heatmaps get a grid with editable row and column headings, calendars get a date and value list, and radar charts get separate Indicators and Data tables.
6. A handful of types have no visual editor at all and show a JSON panel instead, with the expected format described at the top. Box plots, parallel coordinates, theme river, custom charts and the Nivo versions of the nested types land here.
7. In the JSON panel, edit the text and the preview follows about half a second after you stop typing. Format JSON tidies your indentation, Minify collapses it, Apply Changes commits immediately and Export saves the structure to a file.

_Topics: data editors, json, chart types_

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