Version 10.4 of the Relationship Visualizer spreadsheet introduces a powerful new addition: label templates with placeholders. You can now define reusable label formats that automatically substitute values from the 4 label columns of the data worksheet. It's a simple idea that unlocks a lot of flexibility.

Here's what's supported:

Element	Supported Placeholders
Nodes	{label}, {xlabel}
Edges	{label}, {xlabel}, {taillabel}, {headlabel}
Clusters	{label}

These placeholders are replaced during graph generation, giving you expressive, consistent labels while also making it easy to add icons, prefixes, suffixes, or other formatting without cluttering your underlying data.

Where placeholders can be used

Placeholders work anywhere a label string can appear:

• HTML-like labels
• Record shapes
• Plaintext labels
• Prefix/suffix patterns such as: label="Protocol: {label}"

Example: Add an emoji to labels

Let's say your data contains a label like Apollo 11, but you want it to appear in the graph as 🚀 Apollo 11.

Create a style named Rocket using shape=plaintext and an HTML-like label template:

<<FONT FACE="Segoe UI Emoji">🚀 {label}</FONT>>

Build this style on the style designer tab:

TIP

Checking the box next to Label tells the Style Designer to include the label text in the Format String when saving the style.

Reminder

Emoji fonts are OS‑dependent. Use any emoji‑capable font installed on your system. Windows and macOS include the following emoji fonts:

• Windows: Segoe UI Emoji
• macOS: Apple Color Emoji

Save the style to the styles worksheet:

When the graph is visualized, {label} is replaced with the actual value and the result appears on the data worksheet like this:

Color vs. Black and White

Emojis show up in full color when you publish SVG and PDF, but image formats like PNG, JPG, GIF, and BMP flatten them into black‑and‑white because those exports rasterize the emoji font.

What this means for your diagrams

• Cleaner templates - Formatting lives in your style definitions, not your data.
• More expressive diagrams - It's now much easier to add emojis, icons, prefixes, suffixes, or even mix fonts in your labels.
• Consistent output - Every node, edge, and cluster gets the same formatting automatically.

This feature opens the door to richer, more flexible styling with almost no extra work. I'm excited to see what you create with it.

If you give it a try, I'd love to hear how it works for you. Your feedback helps shape what comes next.