Managing Chart Display Parts
Manager Contents
User Contents

Contents

Introduction
Settings for Chart Display Parts
Chart Types
See also: Managing Display Parts and Dashboards
See also: Managing Query Chart and Indicator templates

Introduction

Chart display parts can produce 3D charts and graphs from virtually any data source, including data that resides outside the CATSWeb system. Users can view the underlying data along with the chart, or may click visual elements in the chart (ex: pie slice) to view only the data for the clicked element.

Back to Top

Chart Types

The available chart types are:

  • Summary - A Summary chart is designed to count items in a data source and present the counts or percentages in a chart. A Pie chart that displays the number of items assigned to each member of a department is an example. Each slice represents a different department member, while the slice sizes are proportional to the number of items assigned to each member. A summary chart contains only a single data set.
  • Trend - A Trend chart is designed to show changes in data over time. The X (independent) axis represents time in various configurable units, such as week, month or quarter. Data values are collected together in bins that span the specified duration of time, and each bin is represented by a chart item. The magnitude of each chart item is proportional to the calculated value or count of the data in the time-based bin. A single trend chart may be used to represent any number of data sets, as long as the X-axis date/time values are the same for each data set.
  • XY - An XY chart is designed to plot sets of data values that use numeric X and Y values/coordinates, with or without lines or ribbons connecting the points. Formats available include Line, Ribbon and Scatter.
  • Gantt - A Gantt chart is a bar chart that depicts tasks or activities as blocks (horizontal bars) over time. The beginning and end of the horizontal bars correspond to the start and end dates of the task or activity. The Gantt chart may also be configured to indicate the percent complete for each task or activity. A Gantt chart contains only a single data set.

Back to Top

Settings for Chart Display Parts

General display part settings are described elsewhere. The following settings apply specifically to Chart display parts:

  • Auto Contents Title - If checked, a title is automatically generated and placed above data displayed in the Contents or Data pane as a result of a drill down on the chart. The title will reflect the chart items clicked on, and may also use the Legend Text value for additional clarity.
  • Calculation - This setting is available for Trend Charts. It specifies the type of summary calculation that is performed on the data specified in Field Expression for each bin of points. For example, if Field Expression is set to "Field1 {-} Field2" and Calculation is set to Average, Field1 - Field2 will first be calculated for each record in the bin, and these values will then be averaged to produce the final value displayed in the chart item (bar, point, etc.). The Record Count option does not use Field Expression, since it counts the records in the bin without accessing fields.
  • Chart Type - The type of chart (bar, pie, etc.).
  • Custom Layout Settings (section) - This section appears if you choose "Custom" in the Layout list and click the iconic reload button. Settings in this section allow precise specification of the position and size of the chart and legend areas within the chart image. Height and Width values are expressed as percentages of the overall chart image height and width. X and Y positions are expressed as percentages relative to the top-left corner of the chart image. For example, a Y setting of 20 will place the item 20% below the top of the image, and an X setting of 40 will place it 40% from the left edge of the image.
  • Data Binning - Specifies how data values are collected and binned for display in a Trend Chart. Binning works by combining values that occur within the same X-Axis (date/time) range. For example, choosing Month causes all the values from each month to be combined together in a bin and processed according to the Calculation and Field Expression settings. Select the None option to process and plot each data point individually.
  • Data Field - The name of the field (column) in the data source that is plotted in the chart. For XY charts, this determines the Y values. Memo fields may not be used as the Data Field for Summary charts since memo fields cannot appear in an SQL Order By clause.
  • Data Point Symbol - The type of symbol used to represent data points in chart types such as Line, Scatter, etc. When the chart type is Bubble, the symbol (if any) is used in addition to the Bubble.
  • Date Format - The format of the labels used for the date/time values along the horizontal axis in a Gantt Chart. Similar to the Label Format setting for Trend charts.
  • Date Label Rotation - See Label Rotation.
  • Date Scale Position - This Gantt chart setting allows the position of the date (horizontal) Axis to be specified (Top or Bottom). See also: Item Label Position
  • Decimal Places - The number of decimal places used in label values.
  • Data Point Symbol - The symbol used to mark points in a Line chart. The setting is ignored for all other chart types.
  • Drill Down Available - If checked, users may click on the chart elements to drill down to (view) the underlying data for the clicked element.
  • Drill Down Data Link - Selecting a URL Data Link from this list causes drill downs on chart elements to redirect to the data link's URL, instead of showing the underlying chart data. The value being drilled down upon may be included in the URL by using the {Field Value} token in the data link's URL Parameter Replacements. For example, if the chart is displaying Tags, a URL data link configured as follows will allow navigation to the tagged records:
    • URL - main.aspx?WCI=Main&WCE=ViewTaggedRecords&WCU=o%3dZZZ
    • URL Parameter Replacements - ZZZ={FieldValue}
  • Empty Value Label - This setting may be used to specify a label for values that are empty. For example, a Pie chart may be based on a data column that includes some empty or Null values. The empty or Null values will be combined, counted and displayed as a single pie slice. This setting specifies how that slice is labeled (ex: "No Value").
  • End Date Field - This setting is used only in Gantt charts. It specifies the name of the date/time field (column) in the data source that provides the end date/time for the chart items. See also: Start Date Field
  • Field Expression - The name of a field (column) in the data source, or an arithmetic expression combining two fields from the data source. Arithmetic operators (+, -, x, /) must be enclosed in braces (ex: "Field1{/} Field2"). The expression is evaluated for each record in the data source, and the resulting data from each record is used in the Calculation described above. The final value from the Calculation is displayed as an item in the chart. Field Expression is not required if Calculation is set to Record Count.

    Field expressions that calculate time spans may use the "{Today}" token to represent the current date. The default units for time span calculations are days, but hours, weeks, months, etc. may be specified. Here are some examples of field expressions:
      Example Result
      StandardSingle001 Returns the value of StandardSingle001 from the first record in the data source.
      {Today} {-} DateClosedGoal Returns the number of days between the current date and the goal date (the date in the DateClosedGoal field). The value will be positive if the item is overdue, negative if the goal date is in the future.
      DateClosedGoal {-} {Today} [Weeks] Same as the last example, but returns the number of weeks instead of days, and reverses the sign (overdue is negative). The available time span units are: [Seconds], [Minutes], [Days], [Weeks], [Months] and [Years].
      StandardDouble001 {x} StandardLongInteger002 Multiplies StandardDouble001 by StandardLongInteger002 and returns the result.

  • Full Page Size Multiplier - This setting enables a chart image to be generated in its original size (Height/Width) for use in Dashboards or forms, then expanded to a larger size when the user views it in a full page. The Height, Width and minimum pane width settings are all multiplied by this factor for full page displays. For example, entering a value of 2.5 means that the chart image becomes two and a half times as large when viewed in a full page.
  • Initial Data - Specifies the data that is displayed with the chart when the chart is first loaded on a page.
  • Item Label Field - This setting is used only in Gantt charts and allows a field to be specified that contains the item labels (task names). For example, the Title field would be a good choice when the data set contains Action or Subtask records. If this field is not specified, CATSWeb will automatically label the items "1", "2", etc.
  • Item Label Position - This Gantt chart setting allows the position of the item labels to be specified (Left or Right). See also: Date Scale Position
  • Item Style (Completed/Not Completed) - Gantt charts divide items (bars) into two segments, with the segment sizes proportional to the percent complete for the item. Different sets of style settings may be specified for each type of segment. Refer to this topic for more information on specifying styles. Note that if a Percent Complete Field is not specified, the Not Completed style is applied to the entire item.
  • Label Format - The format of the labels used for the date/time values along the X-Axis in a Trend Chart. The format should typically be chosen to agree with the type of binning specified by the Data Binning setting. A similar Date Format setting exists for Gantt charts.
  • Label Interval - The point interval between labels along the X-Axis. For example, a value of 2 causes every other point to be labelled, while a value of 10 causes every 10th point to be labelled.
  • Label Rotation - The rotation applied to labels along the X-Axis, in degrees. For example, 0 degrees causes the lables to be drawn as normal left-right text, 90 degrees causes them to be drawn vertically from top to bottom, and 270 degrees causes them to be drawn vertically from bottom to top. This setting is captioned Date Label Rotation for Gantt charts.
  • Layout - Defines the layout and content of the chart image. Chart images may or may not include an embedded legend, and this is determined by the Layout selection. Selecting "Custom" allows the position and size of the chart and legend to be precisely specified (click the iconic reload button after making this selection).
  • Legend - This setting determines if a color-coding data legend is shown above initial or drill down data in a Contents or Data pane, when the data comes from a saved filter, hot list or other data source that offers legends. Note that this legend is not the same as the graphical legend that can optionally be included with the chart image via the Layout setting.
  • Legend Text - This setting specifies the text used to label the data source in the chart's graphical legend, if the Layout setting causes a legend to be present. The setting is ignored for Pie charts, since Pie charts use a legend that identifies each slice. The Legend Text is also used in automatically generated contents titles when appropriate.
  • Line Color - The color used for lines in chart types such as Line, Ribbon, etc. If no color is specified, an applicable color from the Style Template is used.
  • Lines On - This setting determines if lines are drawn between data points in a Line or Scatter chart. The setting is ignored for all other chart types.
  • Margin (Left/Right/Top/Bottom) - Specifies the margin sizes as a percentage of the chart image width (left/right) or height (top/bottom). Chart labels and other annotations will extend into the margins as needed. If labels or annotations appear truncated, try increasing the margin size or increasing the height/width of the chart.
  • Percent Complete Field - This setting is used only in Gantt charts and allows a field (column) from the data source to be specified that contains the percent complete for each chart item (bar). The field can either be a numeric field that directly specifies percentages as whole numbers (ex: 50 = 50%) or decimal percentages (ex: .75 = 75%), or be a text or memo field when Percent Complete Mappings are used. If you leave this setting blank, CATSWeb assumes that all items are 0% complete and applies the Not Completed item style to all items.
  • Percent Complete Mappings - This setting is used only in Gantt charts and allows the Percent Complete Field to contain text or non-percentage numeric values that are mapped to percentage values when the chart is drawn. Replacements are defined as OriginalValue=WholeNumberPercentage pairs, with multiple pairs separated (delimited) by a pair of pipe characters ("||"). Note that this format is similar to Value Label Replacements.

    For example, this mapping might be used with a text field that may contain values of "Not Started", "Half Done" and "Finished":

    Not Started=0||Half Done=50||Finished=100

    If the Percent Complete Field is a Status field in CATSWeb Action or Subtask records, which stores numbers to represent the status (1=Open, 4=Completed, 2=Closed), this mapping could be used:

    1=0||4=75||2=100

    If the Percent Complete Field is a Signature Control Field which stores numbers to represent the signature state (0=Signatures Not Requested, 1=Signatures Requested, 2=Signatures Completed), this mapping could be used:

    0=0||1=50||2=100
  • Pie Labels - The type of information included in the labels used to identify items (slices) in Pie charts.
  • Pie Rotation - The number of degrees that a 3D Pie chart is rotated (0 - 90 degrees). 0 degrees means the Pie chart is viewed from directly above its center, and the Pie chart appears to be flat. 90 degrees means it is viewed from its edge. The best aesthetics will typically be achieved with a setting that is somewhere between these extremes.
  • Pie Thickness - The thickness of a 3D Pie chart, in percent relative to its maximum possible thickness. Note that the actual thickness will be impacted by the Pie Rotation setting as well.
  • Pie Labels - The type of information included in the labels used to identify items (slices) in Pie charts.
  • Scale Value (min/max) - These settings specify the minimum and maximum values for the chart's scales. Some chart types allow both the X and Y axes to be scaled, and others only allow the Y axis to be scaled. If the settings' captions do not specify X or Y, the settings apply to the Y axis. Specify 0 for the min and max settings (or leave the settings blank for Gantt charts) to allow the chart to auto-scale. These settings are ignored for Pie charts.
  • Start Date Field - This setting is used only in Gantt charts. It specifies the name of the date/time field (column) in the data source that provides the start date/time for the chart items (see also: End Date Field). If not specified or if the start date value is invalid for an item, CATSWeb will set the item's start date as follows:
    • Use the Scale Value (date min) setting if it is specified.
    • Use the current date if Scale Value (min) is not specified.
    • If Scale Value (min) is not specified and the current date is later than the end date, the start date will be set to 1 week before the end date.
  • Style Template - Style templates provide the overall look and feel for the chart, including font types and sizes, colors, etc.
  • Symbol Color - The color used for Data Point Symbols. If no color is specified, an applicable color from the Style Template is used.
  • Tick Intervals - The number of date intervals, in Tick Interval Units, between date scale lines (ticks) in a Gantt chart. For example, specifying 3 when the Tick Interval Units is set to Days will place vertical tick lines at every 3rd date in the chart's date span.
  • Tick Interval Units - The date/time units for Tick Intervals.
  • Trend Lines - This multi-select setting is available for some chart types and allows trend lines to be automatically calculated and placed on charts. For example, selecting Mean causes a horizontal line to be drawn across the chart at the mean Y-axis value.
  • Units - The units used in the chart (percentages, counts, etc.).
  • Value Label Replacements - This setting may be used to substitute descriptive label values for "raw" data values in the data source. Replacements are defined as OriginalValue=NewValue pairs, with multiple pairs separated (delimited) by a pair of pipe characters ("||").

    For example, if a Pie chart is based on a Signature Control Field, the actual data will be numeric values representing the status of the signature controlled operation. The following Value Label Replacement allow the Pie chart to display descriptive labels for the slices:

    0=Signatures Not Requested||1=Signatures Requested||2=Signatures Completed
  • X-Axis Field - The name of the field (column) in the data source used to provide X-Axis values (independent axis values). In a Trend chart, this field must be a date/time field.
  • X-Axis Position - Some chart types allow the position of the X (horizontal) Axis to be specified (Top, Auto or Bottom). The Auto option allows the axis to be automatically placed at the optimum position for the chart's current data set. The setting is not available for 3D chart types such as Ribbons.
  • Y-Axis Field Expression - The name of a field (column) in the data source, or an arithmetic expression combining two fields from the data source, that determines the Y-axis value/coordinate in an XY chart. See Field Expression for more information.
  • Y-Axis Position - Some chart types allow the position of the Y (vertical) Axis to be specified (Left, Auto or Right). The Auto option allows the axis to be automatically placed at the optimum position for the chart's current data set. The setting is not available for 3D chart types such as Ribbons.

Back to Top