Bar and pin charts
Bar charts and pin charts are commonly used to display and compare data.
Bar charts are used to show the distribution of data within a set of categories or groups. Pin charts, also known as lollipop charts, are a variation of bar charts where a dot represents the data point and a segment connects it to the X-axis. It is often used to visualize data where the length of the bar is not as important as the value itself.
1. Adding the chart
i) Bar charts
Inforiver offers three variants of bar charts: Solid bar, Colored bar, and Invert-color bar.
In this example, we will visualize the magnitude of sales of the categories using a bar chart.
a) We have added 'Sub Category' in the 'Rows' field, and 'Sales', 'Margin', 'Margin %', and 'Total Customers' in the 'Values (AC)' field in the visualization pane.
b) Select the column for which you want to insert the bar chart. In the following image, the sales column has been selected.
The bar chart option gets enabled. From the 'Bar chart' drop-down, select the 'Solid bar chart'. i
c) The solid bar chart gets inserted as shown below. You can see the 'Customize' tab in the toolbar and the following customization options.
ii) Pin charts
Inforiver offers three variants of pin charts: Simple, Bar colored, and Marker colored.
In this example, we will visualize the 'Margin%' using a pin chart.
a) We have added 'Sub Category' in the 'Rows' field, and 'Sales', 'Margin', 'Margin %', and 'Total Customers' in the 'Values (AC)' field in the visualization pane.
b) Select the column for which you want to insert the pin chart. In the following image, the margin % column has been selected.
The pin chart option gets enabled. From the 'Pin chart' drop-down, select the 'Simple pin chart'.
c) The simple pin chart gets inserted as shown below. You can see the 'Customize' tab in the toolbar and the following customization options.
2. Customization options
Inserting a bar chart or a pin chart will open up the following configuration options.
i) Chart type
Here you can change your current chart type.
ii) Axis config
This option lets you configure the axis for the chart. Clicking on the 'Axis Config' option will open up the 'Axis modal' in which you can configure the following properties:
Axis direction - From this drop-down, you can set the direction of the axis to either 'Left to Right' or 'Right to Left'
Scaling - Using this drop-down you can set the scaling option to 'Universal' or 'By level'
Show Y Axis - Enable this check box if you want to display an axis on the Y Coordinate
Show X Axis - Enable this check box if you want to display an axis on the X coordinate
Hide ticks - With this option, you can either show/hide tick intervals
iii) Reference line
Reference lines are horizontal or vertical lines that are added to a chart to indicate a specific value or threshold. Using this option, you can add a reference line for values such as average, median or set a custom value.
Clicking on this option will open up a 'Reference line' modal to the right of the report.
Click on the 'Add New Line' button in the modal. This will open up a toolbar as shown below.
You can customize the following options in the reference line modal:
a) Value display - This option has two drop-downs.
From the first drop-down, you can select the data metric for which you want to display the reference line.
And the second drop-down lets you select the value at which the reference line needs to be inserted. You can select from the following values:
Average - Inserts a reference line at the average value of the data metric
Median - Inserts a reference line for the median value of the data metric
Standard deviation - Inserts a reference line for the standard deviation of the data metric
Mid value - Inserts a reference line at the mid value of the data metric
Constant - If you select this option, an additional 'Static value' field becomes available. Using this option, you can set the static/constant value at which you want to insert the reference line.
b) Style - This option has three drop-downs.
From the first drop-down, you can choose the style of the reference line. You can choose from any of the following options: Dotted, Dashed, Solid, Long Dashed, or Double Solid.
From the second drop-down, you can select the color of the reference line.
And from the third drop-down, you can choose the position of the reference line. It has the following two options: Front - positions the reference line in front of data values, and Back - positions the reference line to the back of the data values.
After choosing all the customizations, click on 'Apply' to insert a reference line with chosen customization options.
Add more than one reference line - To add more than one reference line, you can click on the 'add new trend line' link at the bottom of the toolbar in the reference line modal.
Delete a reference line - To delete an existing reference line, click on the trash can/delete icon.
Disable a reference line - To disable an existing reference line, click on the toggle switch button.
iv) Reference band
Reference bands are similar to reference lines, but they are represented as a shaded area between two lines. They are used to indicate a range of values.
Clicking on this option will open up a 'Reference Band' modal.
From this modal, you can customize the following options
a) Value Display - This option has two drop-downs.
From the first drop-down, you can select the data metric for which you want to display the reference band.
And the second drop-down lets you select the ending value of the reference band. You can select from the following options:
Average - The average value of the data metric is set as the ending value of the reference band
Median - The median value of the data metric is set as the ending value of the reference band
Standard deviation - The standard deviation of the data metric is set as the ending value of the reference band
Mid value -The mid value of the data metric is set as the ending value of the reference band
Constant - If you select this option, an additional 'Static Value' field becomes available. Using this option, you can set the static/constant value which is set as the ending value of the reference band.
b) Start From - Using this drop-down, you can select the starting value of the reference band. It has the following options:
Min - The minimum value of the data metric becomes the starting value of the reference band
Zero - Zero becomes the starting value of the reference band
3. Constant - If you select this option, a new input field becomes available where you can select the constant value which becomes the starting value of the reference band.
c) Line Style - The line style option allows you to set the style and color of the lines that get displayed at the starting and ending value of the reference band.
From the first drop-down, you can choose the style of the lines. You can choose from the following options: Dotted, Dashed, Solid, Long Dashed, and Double Solid.
And, from the second drop-down, you can select the color of the lines.
d) Background color - This color picker lets you choose the color for the shaded area in the reference band.
Delete reference band - To delete an inserted reference band, click on the 'Delete' button at the bottom of the 'Reference Band' modal.
v) Comparison band
The comparison band indicates the state of the measure depending on which band it resides in. They provide a performance rating to the value being measured where each color represents a different state.
You can add comparison bands by clicking on the 'Comparison bands' icon. The following properties are available:
Compared series - This drop-down lets you configure the range of comparison bands as values or percentages.
Dynamic - If you enable this checkbox, then the comparison band range will be added based on individual scaling.
Number of bands - Here you can set the number of bands required.
vi) Outliers
In the case of lollipop/pin charts, you can indicate the outliers that exceed the specified threshold values.
You can do this while creating a pin chart, or add them after creating a pin chart through the Customize tab.
Select the measure and then select the 'Pin Chart' drop-down menu to add any of the pin chart options available. You can also select the measure that already has one.
In the customization menu, click on the Outliers option.
In the Outliers pop-up window, check Enable Outlier. If you wish to hide the values, select the option Disable Label. Enter the required positive and negative threshold values as shown below and Click Apply.
After applying outliers, the report shows below, highlighting the profit values exceeding 15k.
vii) Data label config
This option lets you configure the properties related to the data label. You can configure the following properties:
Data label - This checkbox lets you show/hide data labels. Note that other options become available only if this option is enabled.
Bar overlap - By enabling this option, you can overlap the data labels over the bar. By default, this option is not enabled and the data labels are displayed next to the corresponding bar.
Data label flip - With this option, you can reverse/flip the positions of the data labels. By default, the labels are placed to the right of the bar. By enabling this option you can flip/reverse their position to the left with respect to the bars.
Show label - In this drop-down, you can select the format of the data label. You can display the data values as just labels (numbers), as percentages, or as both.
Percentage scaling - This drop-down gets enabled only if you have chosen 'Percentage' or 'Both' as the data format in the show label drop-down. Using this option you can configure the scaling of the percentage data label. The available scaling options are
Universal - This is the default option and it indicates the percentage contribution of the value to the grand total.
By level - Whereas 'By level' indicates the percentage contribution of the value to its parent level or category.
viii) Padding
You can configure the inner padding (the space between the bar and the top/bottom border of a cell) with this option. Increasing the padding value will increase the spacing.
ix) Fill pattern
You can customize the fill pattern to any of these IBCS notations: Solid, Outlined, or Hatched.
x) Appearance
Appearance has two sub-options - Color and Series display.
Color is applicable for both the bar and pin charts and lets you define properties such as the bar color, axis color, data label color etc.
Series display is only applicable for the pin chart and you can select the marker type and marker size.
Some of these properties/options may or may not be available depending on the inserted chart type and variant.
A) Colors
The following options can be accessed by clicking on the 'Colors' option in the case of both bar and pin charts.
a) Positive color - Using this option you can customize the positive color of the bar/marker
b) Negative color - Using this option you can customize the negative color of the bar/marker
c) Axis color - This option lets you set the axis color of the chart
d) Data label color - This option lets you set the color of the data labels in the chart
e) Bar color - This option is available only for solid bar charts and will let you customize the color of the bar
f) Gradient - Enabling this option will allow you to set a gradient color to your bar chart. If you enable this option, the Min and Max color options become available using which you can set the color for the min value and the max value.
B) Series display
The following options can be accessed by clicking on the 'Series display' option in the case of pin charts.
a) Marker type - You can set the marker type for your pin chart(s) using this option. The marker type drop-down has the following options: Square, Diamond, and Circle.
b) Marker size - This drop-down lets you configure the size of the marker in your pin charts. It has the following options: Mini, Small, Medium, and Large.
In this section, we covered bar and lollipop/pin charts. Navigate to the next section to learn more about the change/deviation charts.
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