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versago:chart_configuration

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Introduction (Charts)

This document describes how to present Versago report information in a variety of graphic formats (charts).

Audience

This document is intended for Versago administrators. End-users do not have access to this function.

Related Documents

The following documents contain additional information that may be helpful with understanding these processes.

  • Versago – Reports Configuration

Special Terminology

  • None

Before You Begin

In most cases you will create the underlying Versago report and confirm that the expected values are correct before configuring charts for the report. This is not mandatory but is highly recommended.

To Begin

  • Click on the Admin link in the profile section of the Versago home page to access the Administration console.
  • Reports/charts configuration is found under the Dynamic Content category of the menu.

Chart Types

There are currently eleven chart formats available in Versago.

  • Pie
  • Donut
  • Column
  • Bar
  • Funnel
  • Line
  • Area
  • Bubble
  • Scatter
  • Polar
  • Radar

The type of chart used is partly based on visual preference and, in some cases, the type of information being presented. For example, relative “size” values are easily compared in a Pie, Donut, Bar, and Column charts; where values over time may be more easily viewed using a Line or Area chart. Other chart types, such as bubble, Scatter, Polar, and Radar, may be used when appropriate as well.

Following are general samples of each type of chart. The information being reported is the total number of invoices issued for each customer.

Pie, Donut, and Funnel Charts

Pie, Donut, and Funnel charts are similar in that each value being reported is presented as a colored segment. The colors of the segments are determined by Versago and, with one exception, cannot be controlled by the report designer.

Pie

Donut

Funnel

Column and Bar Charts

Column and Bar charts are essentially the same presentation. The only difference is that in Column the numeric values are represented vertically and in Bar the numeric values are represented horizontally. The color used for presentation can be selected by the report designer. With one exception, all the columns/bars are presented with the same color.

Column

Bar

Line and Area Charts

Line and Area charts are essentially the same presentation. The only difference is that the numeric values for the Line chart are represented by a single line while the Bar chart fills the area below the line. The color used for presentation can be selected by the report designer.

Line

Area

Radar and Polar Charts

Radar and Polar charts are similar in that the numeric values are presented as elements radiating outward from a center point. In the Radar chart, the numeric values are a single line for each reporting element. The space between the lines is filled in. This is like the difference between Line and Area charts. In a Polar chart, the numeric values are a “pie” wedge for each reporting element. In both charts the distance from the center point indicates the relative size of the value.

Radar

Polar

Scatter and Bubble Charts

Scatter and Bubble charts are similar in that they present the relationship of two numeric values. In the Scatter chart, the intersection of each of the two values is represented by a single point. In the Bubble chart, the intersection is the same, but each Y-axis value is represented as a circle (bubble) whose size varies in relationship to the other Y-axis values.

Scatter

Bubble

Defining a Basic Chart

Charts are defined in the last step of a report definition. Multiple charts can be defined for a single report. When this is done, the various charts are accessed via buttons at the top of the report.

The example above illustrates nine charts associated with one report. In most cases, only one or two chart types will be used. And the name will be more descriptive than shown here.

A chart will always have at least two values: the “X-axis” value and the “Y-axis” value.

  • X-axis values may be text (alpha) or numbers (numeric).
  • Y-axis values will always be a number.

Certain charts can have multiple Y-axis (numeric) values. Chart types that support multiple Y-axis values are Column, Bar, Line, and Area. Multiple Y-axis charts commonly done to present values for comparison for a single reporting element. Examples include current year vs. prior year sales for a customer, order count vs. invoice count for a customer, purchase vs. sales for an item, etc. And while these examples indicate two numeric values, more than two values can be used if appropriate. More details about multiple Y-axis charts can be found later in this document.

Charts Section

The “Charts” section of the definition page lists the chart(s) defined for this report in the upper area and the Y-axes defined for the highlighted chart in the lower area.

Click [Define New] in the appropriate area to define a new chart in the “Chart” section to add a new chart.

General Information Section

The “General Information” section describes some basic information about the chart.

  1. Chart ID is an internal identifier that is assigned by the application. It is displayed for information only and cannot be changed.
  2. The Name of the chart is displayed in situations where the chart is selected, such as with multiple charts for a single report, or when a chart is selected for use in a dashboard.
    1. The value is required but can be changed at any time.
  3. The Title of the chart is displayed above the chart in presentation.
    1. The value is required but can be changed at any time.
    2. The Name and Title values may be different as needed.
  4. Legend Text appears on Column, Bar, Line, and Area charts when only one Y-axis value is being reported.
  5. The value is optional.
  6. Number of Records in Chart can be used to limit the number of records used when the chart is generated. This can be helpful when there are a “large” number of records in the record set, or when the chart should only present the “top X” values
    1. The value is optional and can be changed at any time.
    2. The records are reported based on the same sequence shown in the grid. It may be necessary to adjust the sorting sequence to get the desired results.
  7. Number of Records in Popup can be used to limit the number of records used when the chart is generated in a popup page. This is same is described in item 5, but for the popup presentation.
    1. The value is optional and can be changed at any time.
  8. Select Slider only – for dashboards to indicate if this chart should have a “slider” control when used in a dashboard.
    1. The value is optional and only applies when the chart is used in a dashboard.
  9. Slider orientation is used only when option 7 is enabled.

Dynamic Chart Settings Section

The “Dynamic Chart Settings” section provides a way for the charting function to summarize numeric data rather than having to do it in the underlying data. There are two approaches to using this functionality, defined by the “Group Type” selection.

The first option is to use the Fixed group type. In this case the values in the chart will always be summarized using the Group Field value, even if the grouping in the report grid is different or is changed at execution.

The Ad Hoc grouping function is no longer supported beginning in Versago v2 and should not be used.

  1. Use the “Group Field” drop-down to select the data element to be used for summarization.
    1. The value is required if “Group Type” (below) is set to “Fixed.”
  2. Use the “Group Type” drop-down to select how the summarization is to be done as described above. Only the Fixed option should be used.

X-Axis Details Section

The “X-axis Details” section defines the data value to be used for the x-axis of the report. The value is selected from the “X Value” drop-down list. Use of the [Color] option is described below.

  1. Axis X Text is the descriptive text that appears along the X axis of the chart. This information is only displayed when the chart layout displays X and Y axes; such as in bar, column, line, and area charts.</p>
    1. The value is required and can be changed at any time.
  2. Use the X Value drop-down to select the value to be used on the X axis of the chart
    1. The value is required and can be changed at any time.
    2. The selected value can be either text or numeric.

X-Axis Colors

The [Color] button in the X-axis Details section opens a new dialog to specify colors for specific values in a chart. In the following example, the x-axis is based on the data element ‘Group Name.” If the Group Name is “Construction,” the color used in the chart will be red. If the Group Name is “Production,” the color used in the chart will be green. If the Group Name is neither of these, the color in the chart will either be the default color scheme for the chart type OR the “Series Color” value defined in the Y-axis Details section.

  1. Select the Operator Type from the drop-down to define a value is evaluated for color assignment.
    1. The value is required.
    2. Options are equal, not equal, greater than, less than, and between.
    3. The most common actions are “Equal” and “Not Equal.”
  2. Value1 is the value to be used in the evaluation to determine if the color should be applied.
    1. The value is required.
  3. Text values are case sensitive.
  4. Value2 is the second value to be used when the evaluation method is “Between.”
    1. Text values are case sensitive.
  5. Click the drop-down in the Color field to open the color picker tool. See //Appendix A – Using the Color Picker// for more information.

Y-axis Details Section

The “Y-axis Details” section defines the data value to be used for the y-axis of the report. A chart, depending on the type, may have multiple y-axis values defined.

  1. Click “Define New” in the Y-axis area of the “Charts” section of the page described earlier.

  1. Click the Chart Type drop-down to select the type of chart to be presented.
    1. The value is required and can be changed at any time.
  2. Axis Y Text is the descriptive text that appears along the Y axis of the report.
    1. The value is required, however, the information is only displayed charts with a Y axis, such as Bar, Column, Line, and Area.
  3. In a multiple Y-axis report, each of the values is displayed in sequence.

  1. Legend Series is the text that is displayed for each Y-axis and describes which color is associated with which reporting element.
  2. The value is optional and can be changed at any time.

  1. Series Color serves two purposes.
    1. It is used as the specific color for a value set when multiple Y-axes reports
    2. It is used as the default color in Bar, Column, Line, and Area charts.
    3. If a Series Color value is not defined the default color scheme is used.
    4. See //Appendix A – Using the Color Picker Tool// for more information on selecting and assigning colors.
  2. Select the Display on Single Y-Axis checkbox to ensure that all Y-axis values use the same scale for comparison.
    1. This option is commonly used when presenting data like current year and prior year value in the same chart.
    2. If this option is selected for one Y-axis entry, it is automatically selected for any other Y-axis entries in this chart.
  3. Use the Y Value drop-down list to select the report item that represents the data values for the Y-axis.
    1. This value is required and can be changed at any time.
    2. The value must be numeric.
  4. The Legend value is not currently used.
  5. Use the Label drop-down list to select a report value that appears beside each data point in the chart.
    1. Use labels to help the user understand what the data point represents. This could be the amount or the grouping element.

Here are examples of different label values in a pie chart.

In this example, the label is the value of the segment.

In this example, the label is name of the grouping element.

  1. Use the Tool Tip drop-down list to select a report value that appears when user positions the cursor (hovers) over a data segment.
    1. The use of tooltips is optional, but they can make it easier for a user to understand what is being presented without cluttering the layout of the chart. This is particularly true for pie, donut, and funnel charts, where the actual values are shown as relative size, with no reference to actual values.

In this example, the value in the circle is the tool tip, showing the value of the associated segment.

  1. Use the Default Filter drop-down list to select a report value that is used to link a chart to a grid in a dashboard.
    1. Use of the default filter is optional.
    2. See the “Versago Dashboards – Configuration Guide” document for more information about using default filters.

Appendix A – Using the Color Picker Tool

The Color Picker Tool is used to identify specific colors to be used at various places in Versago. The tool works in the same way no matter where it is used.

A color can be selected in two ways. First, it can be defined directly using the standard Hex Color code. The value can be entered directly in the area marked 2 in the image below. Note that the code must include a “#” symbol as the first character.

Another tool to identify the hex color codes can be found here http://www.w3schools.com/colors/colors_picker.asp. As a quick reference, the hex code for white is #ffffff and the code for black is #000000. All other colors are defined within this range.

Occasionally the [Apply] and [Cancel] buttons do not display at the bottom of the tool as shown. If this occurs simply “grab” the bottom of the window and “drag” it down until the buttons are displayed.

The second way to select a color is to use the basic color bar (4 in the image above) and the color pallet (3 in the image above). Use the slider in the color bar to display the basic color range you need. You can also just click directly on the desired color area in the bar. The color pallet is displayed in the main area in the center of the window. Drag the small circle icon around the color pallet to get to the specific color you want.

In all cases the currently selected color is displayed in the upper left corner of the window (1 in the image below.

Click [Apply] to select the currently selected color and close the color picker tool.

Click [Cancel] if you do not wish to change the color. If you select [Cancel] or close the color picker without clicking [Apply], any changes you have made will be discarded.

Appendix B – Designer Notes

Using Multiple Y-axes

Charts with multiple Y-axes do not necessarily need to use the same chart type for all axes. The following example illustrates how the same chart will appear using the same type (area) vs. different types (area and line).

versago/chart_configuration.1547578808.txt.gz · Last modified: 2019/01/15 14:00 by runger