Using Bar Charts

The bar chart is commonly used to compare multiple items. Bar charts display categories or items along one of the axes and their values on the other axis. You can also group the values by another category and choose a stacked layout.

Several types of bar charts are available:

Single-measure bar chart
A single-measure bar chart shows values for a single measure for a dimension. For example, the number of jobs per printer.
Single-measure bar chart
Multi-measure bar chart
A multi-measure bar chart shows values for multiple measures for a dimension. For example, the number of jobs and number of impressions per printer.
Multi-measure bar chart
Clustered bar chart
A clustered bar chart shows values for a single measure for a dimension, grouped by another dimension. For example, the number of jobs for each printer per location.
Clustered bar chart
Stacked bar chart
A stacked bar chart is similar to a clustered bar chart in that it displays a measure for two dimensions. However, instead of clustering bars for each child dimension by the parent dimension, it displays one bar per parent dimension. It uses color blocks within the bars to show the relative values of each item in the child dimension. The color blocks reflect the value of each item in the child dimension relative to the total for the measure. A stacked bar chart uses a scale based on the maximum value for the selected measure.
Stacked bar chart
Stacked 100 percent bar chart
A stacked 100 percent bar chart is similar to a stacked bar chart. However, in a stacked 100 percent bar chart, the color blocks reflect the percentage of each item in the child dimension, out of 100 percent.
Stacked 100 percent bar chart

Bar charts show up to 10,000 data points on the axis for visuals that do not use group or color. Visuals that use group or color show up to 50 data points on the axis and up to 50 data points for group or color.

To create a bar chart:
  1. Click Dashboards tab, the Dashboards tab.
  2. Click Dashboard Designer, in the bottom-left corner.
  3. On the Analyses dialog, click New analysis or click Options button, the Options button, next to an existing analysis and select Edit.
  4. On the analysis page, click , the Add visual button, on the toolbar.
    Analysis page - Create a visual
  5. Click the icon for the type of bar chart that you want to create.
    • To create a single-measure, multi-measure, or clustered bar chart, click the Horizontal bar chart or Vertical bar chart icon.

      Horizontal bar chart iconVertical bar chart icon

    • To create a stacked bar chart, click the Horizontal stacked bar chart or Vertical stacked bar chart icon.

      Horizontal stacked bar chart iconVertical stacked bar chart icon

    • To create a stacked 100 percent bar chart, click the Horizontal stacked 100 percent bar chart or Vertical stacked 100 percent bar chart icon.

      Horizontal stacked 100 percent bar chart iconVertical stacked 100 percent bar chart icon

  6. Add data to the visual by dragging fields from the Data panel to the appropriate field wells in the Visuals panel.
    • To create a single-measure bar chart, drag a dimension to the X axis or Y axis field well and one measure to the Value field well.
    • To create a multi-measure bar chart, drag a dimension to the X axis or Y axis field well and two or more measures to the Value field well.
    • To create a clustered bar chart, drag a dimension to the X axis or Y axis field well, a measure to the Value field well, and a dimension to the Group/Color field well.
    • To create a stacked bar chart, drag a dimension to the X axis or Y axis field well, a measure to the Value field well, and a dimension to the Group/Color field well.
    • To create a stacked 100 percent bar chart, drag a dimension to the X axis or Y axis field well and two or more measures to the Value field well.
    To add drill-down layers, drag at least one more field to the X axis, Y axis, or Group/Color field wells.
  7. Optional: To divide the visual into several smaller visuals, each with a different view of the same data, drag a dimension from the Data panel to the Small Multiples field well.
    Each copy of the visual shows a different data view based on the selected dimension. This function is useful when you want to display multiple comparative visuals side by side. For example, you can create a set of visuals that show a different data view for every location.
    This function is not available for clustered and stacked bar charts or for horizontal layouts.
  8. Customize the appearance of the visual in the Properties panel on the right.
    1. Under Display Settings, format the title and subtitle.
      For more information, see Formatting Titles and Subtitles in Visuals.
    2. If you added fields to the Small Multiples field well to display multiple visuals side by side, configure the formatting settings available under Multiples Options.
      • Under Layout, set the number of rows and columns that are visible without scrolling and the maximum number of panels.
      • To specify whether the visuals use shared or independent axes, select Shared or Independent under X-axis and Y-axis.

        If the visuals use an independent x-axis, only the values that are relevant to each panel are shown on the axis. For example, if the panels display data per shift, each panel shows only the data for a specific shift. If the visuals use an independent y-axis, each panel has its own y-axis scale that depends on the range of the data it contains.

      • To set the label position for shared axes, select Outside or Inside under X-axis labels and Y-axis labels.
      • To display panel titles, enable the Panel title option and set the title size, color, style, and alignment.
      • To display panel borders, enable the Panel border option and set the border thickness, type, and color.
      • To display panel gutters, enable the Panel gutter option and set the spacing.
      • To set a background color for the panels, enable the Panel background option and select a color.
    3. Under X-axis and Y-axis, configure the axes, the grid lines, and the range and scale.
      You can enter the maximum number of data points to display in the chart in the Number of data points to show field under X-axis or Y-axis, depending on the chart orientation. The remaining data is grouped under the Other category. To hide the Other category from the chart, click Menu options button, the Menu options button, in the corner of the visual, and select Hide "other" categories.

      For information on the other available settings, see Formatting Axes and Grid Lines in Visuals and Configuring Range and Scale in Visuals.

    4. Under Group/Color, enter the maximum number of bar groups or segments to display.
      The remaining data is grouped under the Other category. To hide the Other category from the chart, click Menu options button, the Menu options button, in the corner of the visual, and select Hide "other" categories.
    5. Under Reference lines, add reference lines if there are other values that you want to display along with the chart data.
      For more information, see Adding Reference Lines to Visuals.
    6. Under Legend, format the legend.
      For more information, see Formatting Legends in Visuals.
    7. Under Data labels, format the labels.
      For more information, see Formatting Data Labels in Visuals.
    The settings available in the Properties panel depend on the bar chart type and configuration.
Parent topic: Creating Visuals