Understanding templates
Learn what an Ataytis Vega Studio template contains, how field placeholders make it portable, and how template pages in this documentation are organised.
What is an Ataytis Vega Studio template?
A template is a portable JSON representation of a Vega Studio visual. It combines the Vega specification with Studio metadata that explains the template, identifies its required fields, preserves relevant configuration and interaction choices, and optionally includes a small preview image.
What a template contains
| Part | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Vega specification | The transforms, scales, marks, signals, and encodings that create the visual. |
| Configuration | The Vega configuration stored separately from the specification. |
| Studio and provider versions | The Ataytis Vega Studio build, template metadata version, Vega provider, and provider version used to create it. |
| Template information | Name, description, author, unique identifier, and generation time. |
| Dataset placeholders | Required columns or measures, expected data types, original field context, and author notes. |
| Interactivity metadata | Tooltip, context-menu, selection, highlighting, selection mode, and data-point-limit choices where included. |
| Optional preview image | A PNG preview capped at 150 × 150 pixels for identification in template tooling. |
Template lifecycle
- 1
Author a working visual
Build and test the specification with real Power BI fields.
- 2
Generate a template
The Studio tracks used fields and tokenizes their references into portable placeholders.
- 3
Add guidance
Provide a clear template name, description, author, field names, field purposes, and optional preview.
- 4
Download or copy JSON
Save the generated
.ataytisVegaStudio.jsonfile, or copy JSON when downloads are blocked by the host. - 5
Import into another visual
Validate the file, assign suitable columns and measures to its placeholders, and create a new working specification.
- 6
Review and adapt
Check data types, field semantics, formatting, interactions, and viewport behavior in the destination report.
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Template anatomy
Create a diagram or composite screenshot showing template information, field placeholders, configuration, interactivity metadata, and preview image.
How visual template pages are organised
Every visual template included with Ataytis Vega Studio receives its own page in the Contents menu after this overview. Each page explains the visual's purpose, required fields, data expectations, specification structure, interactions, configuration points, setup procedure, and common failure modes. The current built-in catalogue contains Blank Vega Canvas; future included visuals appear as peer pages in the Visual templates section.