InteractiVenn: a web-based tool for the analysis of sets through Venn diagrams

TLDR

Set comparisons are common in many data analysis workflows, especially in biology, where Venn diagrams are widely used but existing tools are limited. The tool provides a clean interface for constructing Venn diagrams, enabling analysis of set unions that preserve diagram shape, guided by a tree or list, and allows users to retrieve subset elements, save and load sets, and export diagrams in vector and image formats. InteractiVenn, capable of handling up to six sets, has been applied to two biological datasets and demonstrates that exploring set unions in Venn diagrams can reveal novel interactions and enhance analysis of set combinations. InteractiVenn is freely available online at www.interactivenn.net.

Abstract

Abstract Background Set comparisons permeate a large number of data analysis workflows, in particular workflows in biological sciences. Venn diagrams are frequently employed for such analysis but current tools are limited. Results We have developed InteractiVenn, a more flexible tool for interacting with Venn diagrams including up to six sets. It offers a clean interface for Venn diagram construction and enables analysis of set unions while preserving the shape of the diagram. Set unions are useful to reveal differences and similarities among sets and may be guided in our tool by a tree or by a list of set unions. The tool also allows obtaining subsets’ elements, saving and loading sets for further analyses, and exporting the diagram in vector and image formats. InteractiVenn has been used to analyze two biological datasets, but it may serve set analysis in a broad range of domains. Conclusions InteractiVenn allows set unions in Venn diagrams to be explored thoroughly, by consequence extending the ability to analyze combinations of sets with additional observations, yielded by novel interactions between joined sets. InteractiVenn is freely available online at: www.interactivenn.net.