Guide
Chart is one of the four visualization types for Reports.
For Charts, the visualization pane looks like this:
Chart types
There are six different types of charts that can be visualized: scatterplot, bar chart, line chart, stacked bar chart, area chart, stacked area chart.
Parameters
For any chart, there are 5 dotted boxes used for parameterizing the chart: x-axis, y-axis, color, size and label.
x-axis and y-axis
The dotted boxes for the x- and y-axis allow you to choose the parameters that will be plotted. For example, you might want to use a date field for the x-axis, and a number field for the y-axis.
Each axis supports multiple parameters, allowing you to split the axis into smaller facets.
The TIMELINE function is particularly useful for chart visualizations where the data set contains fields representing a date range
It's possible to reverse the axes by clicking on the double-headed arrow in the bottom left of the visualization pane.
Scale
If a date type value is used for an axis, then the parameter configuration includes a Scale option: Continuous or Period.
The main difference between these date scales is how they are rendered, and how the values are treated. Values on a period scale are treated as ordered unique categories, while the continuous scale is treated like a linear scale.
Annotations
For parameter on either axis, it is possible to add annotations. These are lines or areas which serve to provide context for the plotted data.
For example, if the x-axis is a date field, you could have an annotation line which marks an important milestone. Or for a scatterplot, you could display an area annotation to indicate the 'normal' ranges, based on minimum and maximum values for x and y values.
See Annotations for all the functions supported within annotations.
Color
The dotted box for color allows you to define a parameter by which the data points can be visually distinguished with color.
This can be particular useful if you want to see the break down within a stacked bar chart or stacked area chart, or if you want to identify specific groups within a scatterplot.
If you have multiple parameters on the x- or y-axis, using the adding colour coding will mean that the parameters can share the same axis
Size
The dotted box for size allows you to define a parameter by which the data points can be visually distinguished with size.
This is often useful to add an extra dimension of numerical information to a standard scatterplot.
Label
The dotted box for label allows you to define a labelling parameter.
Since charts are often used for visualizing numerical information, this can be useful for adding informative text.
Trendlines and interpolation
Depending on the chart type, there may be checkbox options for showing trendlines, and/or an for choosing the interpolation style between data points.
Data review
You can review the data on which the chart has been built by clicking on the Chart data button, adjacent to the Filter button in the top right of the report. You can also examine individual data points by hovering over an element within the chart.
From here you can also export the source data to CSV.