About the Combination Chart Type for Dashboard 2.0

The combination chart is a visualization that lets you merge into one chart any combination of bar, line, and area charts.

You can also add a secondary Y-axis on the opposite side from the primary Y-axis. Adding a secondary Y-axis lets you display the scale for one measure that doesn't scale appropriately with the other measures on the chart; for example, showing a percentage measure and a currency measure on the same chart.

Dashboard 2.0 Example - Area Bar Line Combination Chart


Dashboard 2.0 Combination Area Bar and Line Chart

Dashboard designers can set these combination chart type properties:

Table 11-12 Combination Chart Type Properties

Setting Description

Value Scale

Especially useful for large numbers, you can scale how a value is displayed. For example, if the value is 1,689,000 and you select K - Thousand as the scaling option, the chart displays the value as 1,689K.

Your scaling options:

  • None: No scaling is applied.

  • Auto: The value is displayed based on its range. For example, 1,500 displays as 1.5K, 1,689,000 displays as 1.69M, 42,314,531,211 displays as 42.31B, and 1,234,567,891,234 displays as 1.23T.

  • K - Thousand: The value is displayed as thousands units. For example, 1,689,000 displays as 1689K.

  • M - Million: The value is displayed as millions units. For example, 123,456,789 displays as 123M.

  • B - Billion: The value is displayed as billions units. For example, 12,345,678,912 displays as 12B.

  • T - Trillion: The value is displayed as trillions units. For example, 1,234,567,891,234,567 displays as 1,234T.

Line Weight

Click the counter to set the line width.

Note that the default width of a line is 5 pixels. You can select from 1 to 12 pixels.

Legend Position

Choose Left, Right, Top, Bottom, or None.

Label Position

Set the position of the data labels on the chart.

Choose Outside Bar Edge, Center, Inside Bar Edge, or None.

Grid Lines

Select Hide or Show.

Logarithmic Scale

Especially useful for displaying numerical data that covers a wide range of values (typically, the largest numbers in the data are hundreds or even thousands of times larger than the smallest numbers), a logarithmic scale displays these values in a way that is more compact and readable. Select whether to use a logarithmic scale in your combination chart.

Secondary Y

Select which data to plot on a secondary Y-axis which will appear on the opposite side of the chart from the primary Y-axis.

When the data values in a chart vary widely from data series to data series, or when you have mixed types of data (for example, currency and percentages), you can plot one or more data series on a secondary vertical (Y) axis.

While the secondary Y-axis can be used with any line and bar chart type, it is more commonly used with the combination chart type, which helps to distinguish the data series that are plotted on the secondary Y-axis. For example, use a bar for the primary Y- axis, and line for the secondary Y-axis.

Series

Select the bar/line/area combination for the chart.

Color

Select Default or click data in the chart and choose a custom color for that data.

Axes

Select a Custom Range for the X-Axis, Y-Axis, and Secondary Y-Axis, or select Off.