Question

How can you reference the absolute position of a parent group when rendering marks in Vega via Deneb?

I’m designing a custom chart in Deneb using Vega, and I want to position elements based on the absolute position of their parent group (e.g., to align annotations or shapes). I need to understand how to access or calculate absolute positions relative to the root coordinate space.

Answer 1

To reference absolute position in Vega via Deneb:

• Use scales ("x": {"scale": "xscale", "field": "value"}) for consistent global positioning.

• Avoid group() for absolute positions—it gives only local offsets.

• Use signals to capture and pass parent positions to child marks.

This ensures accurate alignment relative to the root coordinate space.