Creating an Axis Graph
In the instructions below, it is assumed that the X-Axis Graph is used.
Add a Column to the Main Axis
The first step of creating an axis graph of either kind is to select a column for the main axis, called the domain axis. This instruction also shows in the empty visualization part: “Add x-axis – Drag and drop columns from the data table to the X pill”. Any kind of column can be used, as explained in the X-Axis Graph table .
When using text on the main axis, a hierarchic axis can be constructed, by adding several columns you can add for example Year, Quarter, then Month or Region then Product Category.
Regular text values, by default, will be treated as Nominal values when added to the main axis. This can be changed in the settings under the X pill. A text column that is a Time Bucket column generated from a Time column, will by default be treated as Series value. Numeric values and continuous time values are always Series. As shown in the tables above, some visualization types require that the data is Series data.
Add Visual Members
After adding a column to the main axis, the visualization part will show this instruction: “Add visuals – Drag and drop columns from the data table to the Y pill”. The column is most often a numeric column but can also be text, in which case, the text values are aggregated as a Count. Several different kinds of visualizations are available to choose from for the visual member columns (e.g., line, bar, etc.). The tables above explain which types of visualizations are available depending on what kind of data columns you have on the main axis.
With Series data on the main axis, which can be numeric, text series, or time, the default visualization is Line. With a Nominal type of main axis, the default visualization is Bar. After adding a visual member, you can continue making settings on the visual properties. These settings are found on the settings panel of the visual member. The table below shows what settings are available for most commonly used visualization types:
| Bar | Line | Dot | Band | Area | Box | Box Whisker | OHLC | Waterfall | |
| Color |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Opacity |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
-- |
Yes |
-- |
-- |
-- |
| Size |
-- |
-- |
Yes |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
| Shape |
-- |
-- |
Yes |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
| Label |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
Multiple Visual Members
Like legacy combination graphs, axis graphs can show multiple visualizations in layers. Additional visual members are added by repeating the drag-and-drop of data columns to the Y pill. Visual members can be rearranged by drag-and-drop, to control which one is behind, and which one is in front.
Group By Setting for the Visual Member
Axis graphs are different from the legacy combination graphs in Panopticon, in how each visual member in the axis graphs has their own Group By setting. This means that, in the same graph, one visual member can show an overall total, while another visual member shows data grouped by a dimension in the data, such as Produce Category or Geographic Region. A stacked bar graph is created by making a group by setting on a bar visualization, and an area visualization is best used with a dimension added to the Group By setting.
Value Axis Assignment
ach visual member has a setting for assignment to either the left value axis or the right value axis. When two or more visual members are added to a graph, and both the left and the right value axes are enabled, you have a dual-axis graph. The settings for the left value axis and the right value axis are shared by all visual member variables in the same group as explained in the section below.
Visual Member Groups
An axis graph can be organized into several sections that share the same main axis, where different visual members are shown in different sections. All visual members that are shown in the same section belong to the same Group. A group is added by pressing the grey tab with a plus sign on the left edge of the settings panel. Groups can be reordered by drag-dropping the group tabs. Each group has its own scaling and settings for the value axis (both left and right). The total available graph area can be evenly or unevenly distributed between the visual member groups. For example, a variable that requires a more detailed value axis scale can be allowed to occupy more screen space. The space given to each group is controlled by pulling the delimiter line between the groups, left of the left value axis.
Tooltip Settings
The settings that control what is showing in the Tooltip or Popup are handled under the Tooltip pill. This is slightly different from the legacy visualization parts, where the same settings are handled under a pill called Details.
Cross Tabbing
An axis visualization can be sectioned according to values in a text column. By adding text columns to the Columns pill and/or Rows pill, a grid of multiple visualizations with identical axes is created. The axis visualizations are not using the concept Items or Breakdown, which experienced users of Panopticon are used to seeing in other visualization parts. The result that other visualizations achieve through the Items setting, is handled to some extent automatically based on the main axis values, and to some extent by the optional Group By-setting of each visual member.
Labels
In the axis graphs, labels can be displayed for the visualization types Bar, Dot, and Line. For Grouped Bars, the labels apply to the group members, not the complete group. For Stacked Bars, the labels apply to the stack segments, not the complete stacked bar. Labels can be enabled for Visualization, Color, and Opacity variables. In addition, for Dot visualization, labels can also be enabled for the Size and Shape variables.
Labels can also be displayed by explicitly adding any other column from the data table to the Label settings sub-pill. Columns already in use as the visualization variable can be added again in case a different value format setting is needed for the labels.
Sparse labels, such as explanatory comments, are achieved by applying a column to the Labels sub-pill where only selected rows of data have a value. Such a column can be achieved either by joining on an additional data table, or by creating a Calculated Column where a comment is written if some condition is met.
Each Visual Member layer can have labels enabled for several variables. One way of allowing users to temporarily show or hide labels is to enable labels on separate Visual Member layer, which can be enabled or disabled by selecting or deselecting in a Series Legend dashboard part.
Label Text Coloring
The label text can be colored in three ways:
- Visual Item: Label text is colored like the visual Item to which the label belongs.
- General foreground: Label text gets the same color as the visualization part style general colors foreground color.
- Custom: Label text gets colored with a custom color selected from a widget or entered as a hexadecimal color code.
Label Text Direction
For Bars, Dots, and Lines alike, the Labels have a setting for Direction: Automatic, Horizontal, or Vertical.
Label Placement
For Dots and Lines, the Labels have a setting for Placement: Automatic, Top, or Bottom. When using Automatic, each label will be placed either Top or Bottom, as best suited to fit the maximum number of labels.
NOTE: Automatic placement will only consider the position of other labels and visual items of the same Visual Member layer. It may still overlap labels and visual items in a different Visual Member layer.
For Bars, the Labels have a setting for Placement: Inside or Outside.
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