Creating area, bar, or line graphs

You can create area, bar, or line graphs using the Graph visualization:

An area graph displays your data as a vertical or horizontal area graph. The area represents metric values for each element of an attribute.
A bar graph displays your data as a vertical or horizontal bar graph. The bars represent metric values for each element of an attribute.
A line graph displays your data as a vertical or horizontal line graph. The lines represent metric values for each element of an attribute.

Prerequisite

You should be familiar with the general workflow for adding data to a Graph visualization and splitting your data into rows and columns of graphs. For details, see Adding data to a Graph visualization and Splitting a graph into separate columns or rows with an attribute.

To create and add an area, bar, or line graph to a dashboard:

Click the name of the dashboard to run it.
From the toolbar, click the Insert Visualization icon . A new blank visualization is added to the dashboard and displayed.
If the Visualization Gallery is not displayed, from the View menu, select Visualization Gallery.
From the Visualization Gallery, select one of the following:

To create an area chart, click the Area Chart icon.
To create a bar chart, click the Bar Chart icon.
To create a line chart, click the Line Chart icon.

If the Datasets panel is not displayed, from the View menu, select Datasets Panel.
If the Editor panel is not displayed, from the View menu, select Editor Panel. If the Editor panel is hidden behind another panel, click the Editor icon to display the Editor panel.
Add data to the visualization. From the Datasets panel, click and drag objects to the Editor panel, as described in the steps below. You can also drag objects from the Datasets panel directly onto the visualization.

To view data requirements for a graph style, hover your cursor over the visualization icon in the Visualization Gallery. For example images for each graph style, see Minimum data requirements to create each Graph visualization style.

To display values along the X-axis and Y-axis of the graph, perform the following steps:

To display a vertical area, bar, or line graph:

To display attribute elements on the X-axis, place at least one attribute in the Horizontal area.
To display metric values on the Y-axis, place at least one metric in the Vertical area.

To display a horizontal area, bar, or line graph:

To display metric values on the X-axis, place at least one metric in the Horizontal area.
To display attribute elements on the Y-axis, place at least one attribute in the Vertical area.

To color the items in the graph based on attributes or metrics, place objects on the Color By area, as follows:

To color the graph items based on an attribute, place at least one attribute on the Color By area. Each element in the attribute is displayed using a different color. For example, you can display the sales data for each employee using a different bar riser color. If you add more than one attribute to the Color By area, each combination of the attribute elements is displayed using a different color.

If other graphs and heat maps are colored based on the same attribute, each attribute element will display in the same color across all the graphs and heat maps. The application automatically selects the colors based on the color palette, but you can select a color for each attribute element. For steps, see Formatting a Graph visualization.

To color graph items based on the value of a metric, place one metric on the Color By area. The graph items in the visualization are automatically shaded based on the value of the metric. For example, you can automatically color the areas in an area graph based on the value of the Profit metric, with larger profit values displayed using darker colors and smaller profit values displayed using lighter colors.
To color graph items based on the metric that each item represents, place the Metric Names attribute on the Color By area. Each metric in the visualization is displayed using a different color. For example, you can display the Revenue, Cost, and Profit metrics using a different color for each metric.

To display a separate graph item for each element in an attribute, place at least one attribute in the Break By area. For example, you can display the revenue data for each Region as a separate line, or display a bar riser for each year of data. If you add more than one attribute to the Break By area, a graph item is displayed for each combination of the attribute elements.
You can select which graph subtype to display in the visualization, or allow the subtype to be automatically chosen. Do one of the following:

To select a specific graph subtype, select Absolute, Stacked, or Percent.
To allow the application to determine the graph subtype to use to display your data, select the Automatic subtype check box.

To size the graph items based on the value of a metric, place one metric in the Size By area. Graph items corresponding to large metric values are displayed as larger in size, while graph items for small metric values are displayed as smaller in size. For example, in a line graph, lines representing larger metric values are displayed as thicker than lines representing smaller metric values. Note: The Size By option is not available for Area Charts.
If you add multiple attributes to the Vertical or Horizontal area, the attributes at the top of the area are used to split your data into rows or columns of graphs, one row or column for each attribute element. If you slice the data into both rows and columns, a table of graphs is displayed, with a graph for each combination of the attribute elements. If data is not split, one set of graphs is displayed, with a graph for each combination of attributes. For an example, see Splitting a graph into separate columns or rows with an attribute.

You can slice your data into an additional row of graphs. The last attribute in the Vertical area is displayed on the left axis, as indicated by the Left Axis icon next to the attribute name. Right-click this attribute and select Left Row.
You can slice your data into an additional column of graphs. The last attribute in the Horizontal area is displayed on the bottom axis, as indicated by the Bottom Axis icon next to the attribute name. Right-click this attribute and select Top Column.
If an attribute is displayed on a row, you can switch it to display on the left axis instead. Any attributes below it in the Vertical area are also displayed on the left axis. Right-click an attribute that displays the Left Row icon and select Left Axis.
If an attribute is displayed on a column, you can switch it to display on the bottom axis instead. Any attributes below it in the Horizontal area are also displayed on the bottom axis. Right-click an attribute that displays the Top Column icon and select Bottom Axis.

For each attribute in the Editor panel, you can select which attribute forms are displayed in the visualization. An attribute form is a descriptive category for an attribute. For a more detailed description, including how to select what attribute information to display in the headers, see Selecting which attribute forms to display in a visualization.
To select the attribute forms, in the Editor panel, right-click the attribute and point to Display Attribute Form. Select one of the following:

To display an attribute form in the visualization, select the check box next to its name.
To hide an attribute form in the visualization, clear the check box next to its name.

To display additional metrics in a tooltip when you hover the cursor over a graph item, place the metrics to display on the Tooltip area.
You can define other options, such as whether graph items are displayed as squares, lines, or circles. For steps, see Formatting a Graph visualization.
Click the Save icon to save your changes.

Creating area, bar, or line graphs

Prerequisite

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