delay(fn) staggers elements, and transition() called on a transition chains one that starts when the first ends. Transitions fire start, end, interrupt and cancel events (transition.end() wraps them in a promise), and selection.interrupt() stops the running transition and cancels queued ones:
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/d3@7.9.0/dist/d3.min.js"></script>
<script src="booknest-sales.js"></script><script src="booknest-prep.js"></script>
<svg width="620" height="110"></svg>
<script>
const { books } = prepareSales(SALES), y = d3.scaleLinear([0, 1300], [110, 0]);
d3.select('svg').selectAll('rect').data(books).join('rect').attr('fill', '#cfd8dc')
.attr('x', (d, i) => 10 + i * 100).attr('width', 80).attr('y', 110).attr('height', 0)
.transition().duration(300).delay((d, i) => i * 100) // staggered
.attr('y', d => y(d.units)).attr('height', d => 110 - y(d.units))
.transition().duration(300).attr('fill', d => d.color); // then, chained
d3.timeout(() => { d3.selectAll('rect').interrupt(); window.__done = true; }, 700);
</script>
In this single frame, stopped at 700 ms, the first bars have finished both stages, the middle ones are changing color and the last still grows. A new transition interrupts the running one of the same name, so a hover effect named transition('hover') cannot cut short a data update.
<!doctype html>
<style>
body { margin: 0; padding: 8px; background: #fafaf7; font: 12px system-ui, sans-serif; color: #263238; }
svg { width: 100%; max-width: 600px; display: block; }
</style>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/d3@7.9.0/dist/d3.min.js"></script>
<p><button id="play">Replay</button> <button id="stop">Interrupt</button> <span id="log"></span></p>
<svg viewBox="0 0 600 150" font-size="11"></svg>
<script>
// BookNest sample data, invented for these examples (not real sales)
const SALES = (() => {
const books = [
{ id: 1, key: 'harbor', title: 'The Quiet Harbor', author: 'Elena Marsh', genre: 'Fiction', color: '#1f5f8b', price: 18.99, rating: 4.6 },
{ id: 2, key: 'deepweb', title: 'Patterns of the Deep Web', author: 'Ravi Menon', genre: 'Technology', color: '#5b3f99', price: 39.5, rating: 4.3 },
{ id: 3, key: 'saffron', title: 'Salt and Saffron', author: 'Leila Haddad', genre: 'Cooking', color: '#e09a10', price: 24, rating: 4.8 },
{ id: 4, key: 'summit', title: 'Small Steps to Big Summits', author: 'Tom Okafor', genre: 'Self-Help', color: '#3f7d3a', price: 14.99, rating: 4.1 },
{ id: 5, key: 'clock', title: "The Clockmaker's Paradox", author: 'Iris Vale', genre: 'Science Fiction', color: '#b5452f', price: 16.2, rating: 4.5 },
{ id: 6, key: 'glass', title: 'Gardens in Glass', author: 'June Park', genre: 'Gardening', color: '#2a9d8f', price: 22.5, rating: 4.4 },
];
const units = { // units sold per month, January 2025 to August 2026
1: [40, 47, 46, 47, 57, 51, 46, 54, 60, 60, 71, 111, 52, 42, 49, 56, 59, 48, 53, 51],
2: [40, 37, 35, 41, 48, 43, 40, 42, 50, 53, 53, 84, 42, 35, 38, 41, 45, 41, 46, 46],
3: [46, 45, 41, 46, 53, 49, 46, 45, 60, 51, 63, 100, 48, 48, 49, 48, 53, 49, 48, 52],
4: [100, 80, 72, 70, 66, 66], // released March 2026
5: [48, 47, 54, 52, 65, 55, 57, 58, 64, 66, 75, 124, 58, 49, 59, 56, 63, 57, 54, 57],
6: [31, 30, 28, 35, 31, 32, 29, 30, 41, 36, 45, 64, 31, 30, 30, 38, 40, 38, 36, 38],
};
const months = d3.utcMonths(new Date('2025-01-01'), new Date('2026-09-01')).map(d3.utcFormat('%Y-%m'));
const sales = books.flatMap(b => units[b.id].map((n, i) =>
({ month: months[i + months.length - units[b.id].length], book: b.id, units: n })));
const ratings = [[4, 8, 20, 87, 293], [6, 10, 22, 95, 147], [2, 3, 8, 45, 342], [2, 3, 8, 24, 28],
[4, 8, 20, 90, 228], [4, 7, 20, 82, 147]].map((counts, i) => ({ book: i + 1, counts })); // 1 to 5 stars
const regions = [{ id: '826', name: 'United Kingdom', units: 1480 }, { id: '276', name: 'Germany', units: 1120 },
{ id: '250', name: 'France', units: 760 }, { id: '372', name: 'Ireland', units: 540 },
{ id: '528', name: 'Netherlands', units: 410 }, { id: '724', name: 'Spain', units: 320 }];
const links = [[5, 1, 38], [1, 3, 24], [2, 5, 18], [3, 6, 21], [4, 1, 12], [2, 6, 9], [4, 3, 15], [5, 6, 14]]
.map(([source, target, value]) => ({ source, target, value })); // customers who bought both
return { books, sales, ratings, regions, links };
})();
// prepareSales(raw): parsed dates, sales linked to book objects, revenue and totals
function prepareSales(raw) {
const parse = d3.utcParse('%Y-%m'), books = raw.books.map(b => ({ ...b }));
const byId = d3.index(books, b => b.id);
const sales = raw.sales.map(s => ({ date: parse(s.month), book: byId.get(s.book),
units: s.units, revenue: s.units * byId.get(s.book).price }));
for (const [book, rows] of d3.group(sales, s => s.book)) {
book.units = d3.sum(rows, s => s.units);
book.revenue = d3.sum(rows, s => s.revenue);
}
const months = d3.rollups(sales, v => ({ units: d3.sum(v, s => s.units),
revenue: d3.sum(v, s => s.revenue) }), s => +s.date).map(([t, v]) => ({ date: new Date(t), ...v }))
.sort((a, b) => a.date - b.date);
const ratings = raw.ratings.map(r => ({ ...r, book: byId.get(r.book) }));
return { ...raw, books, sales, months, ratings };
}
const { books } = prepareSales(SALES), y = d3.scaleLinear([0, 1300], [130, 0]);
const svg = d3.select('svg'), log = d3.select('#log');
svg.selectAll('text').data(books).join('text').attr('x', (d, i) => 50 + i * 100).attr('y', 146)
.attr('text-anchor', 'middle').text(d => d.key);
function play() {
let ended = 0;
svg.selectAll('rect').data(books).join('rect')
.attr('fill', '#cfd8dc').attr('x', (d, i) => 10 + i * 100).attr('width', 80)
.attr('y', 130).attr('height', 0)
.transition().duration(600).delay((d, i) => i * 250) // staggered
.attr('y', d => y(d.units)).attr('height', d => 130 - y(d.units))
.transition().duration(500).attr('fill', d => d.color) // chained: starts when the first ends
.on('end', () => { if (++ended === books.length) log.text('all transitions ended'); })
.on('interrupt', () => log.text('interrupted: bars stop where they are'));
log.text('growing, then coloring…');
}
d3.select('#play').on('click', play);
d3.select('#stop').on('click', () => svg.selectAll('rect').interrupt()); // stops the running one, cancels queued ones
play();
</script>