Category: Chart types

Slope chart

Overview

There is no dedicated chart type for Slope charts. However, with Scalar/Cross sampling analyses you can create slopes out of Category chart.

How to create a Slope chart?

  1. Use Scalar (or Cross sampling) with 'Calculations: Value at' for two (or more) points in time.
  2. Set 'Output series' to 'One series per input'.
  3. Rename 'Value labels'.
  4. Add Category chart.
  5. Add points on each end:
    • click on each line and under Presentation properties > Appearance > Graph style select 'Custom' select 'Marker style',
    • repeat that for all lines.

Cleaning graphical elements

  1. To remove '[scalar]' from legend's descriptions click outside chart area and under Presentation properties >Chart elements untick 'Analysis text'.
  2. Some things cannot be disabled but you can select for them 'transparent color', those are:
    • click on Y-axis, under Presentation properties > Appearance > Text color,
    • click on Y-axis, under Presentation properties > Appearance > Tick color,
    • click on Y-axis' description , under Presentation properties > Appearance > Text color,
    • click on X-axis, under Presentation properties > Appearance > Tick color.
  3. Disable other graphic elements from chart:
    • click on any grid line, under Presentation properties untick 'Show grid lines',
    • click inside chart area, under Presentation properties > Border > Sides select 'Bottom'.

Adding value labels on chart

  1. To add value label right-click on any dot, select 'Add observation label'.
  2. Click on it, under Presentation properties check Custom style:
    • under Anchor line > Width select 'None',
    • under Anchor appearance > Style select 'None'.
  3. Double-click on label's text. Leave only {s .Value}.

Now you can copy the label with Ctrl+c keys, click on any other dot, and paste label with Ctrl+v. It will keep the style of first label.

Example

Slope chart

In this example we calculated annual average CPI and showed its level on years 2019 and 2022.

Pie chart

Overview

The Pie chart lets you display category series. It can be added only after analyses which remove time parameter. It’s a good way to show proportions for few items.

Settings

The settings for the pie chart are different than for other charts.

Chart elements:

  1. Chart area
  2. Main title
  3. Legend
  4. Note(s)
  5. Slice (of Pie chart)
  6. Slice's label
  7. Source logo & text

After clicking on an element, several tabs appear in the ribbon area with different properties that you can edit. There are many settings to help customize the chart, so they are grouped under tabs and panels.

Changing default settings

Most properties have a default setting that is applied to the whole chart. You can override a default setting by editing specific elements. The new setting will make the field pinned and will no longer use the default value. You can go back to use the default value by unpinning the setting - 'blue pin' will be shown then vertically.

Chart properties

Here you can apply general settings for the whole chart. Among others you can control Appearance of the Pie chart.

Start angle

You can choose where the app should start drawing the first division line. From the list you can select 0/90/180/270 angle, but you can also insert your own number.

Radius

Here you can change size of the Pie chart.

Offset

If you decide to push out a slice of Pie chart, you can decide here how far away should it be. The value can be from 0 to 100.

To push the slice out, click on it and under Slice properties tab check box next to ‘Offset slice’.

Units

Units are automatically displayed in the top note. It's constructed using  dynamic text: {s .DisplayUnit -m}. To remove the units, double click on it, or go to Chart properties > Notes >Top, and remove the text.

Slice defaults

Here you can apply general settings for all slices regarding text and labels appearance.

Slice properties

This tab becomes available after clicking on an individual slice. You can change slice’s text and legend label content, select color, and decide if you want to offset the slice (push it out of the pie). To change how far away it should be, go to Chart properties > Appearance > Offset setting.

Label properties

Inside

Labels inside the Pie chart can be moved to a position between 0 (center of Pie chart) and 100 (outer line of Pie chart).

Outside

Outside labels work the same as regular labels. Instead of ‘Position’, they have a ‘Distance’ setting.

To remove them from chart, use Text > Edit default and delete text from there.

Main title properties / Legend properties

After clicking on one of these elements, you will see a separate tab with settings for it.

Graph layout

If you have created more than one data set (for example with Scalar or Cross sampling) you can choose here which one should be used for your Pie chart.

Style sheets

Pie charts have a separate tab in the Style sheet creator.

What analyses work with this chart type?

All types of analyses which remove time parameter and turn series into category series or use such series.

Examples

Life Satisfaction survey

We have created Pie charts with survey answers for different countries, with one slice popping from the pie. You can easily add more countries and quickly create new Pie charts.

Yes, No, Don’t know

The classic survey answers in a form of Pie chart.

Symbol chart from bar chart (mini pie charts)

Overview

Symbol charts in a form of mini pie charts are a feature available within Bar chart. They are designed to show the proportions of two series or magnitude of one value on a scale 0-100.

Settings

When you click on any element of the chart, several tabs appear in the ribbon area with different properties that you can edit. General settings are the same as in Bar chart.

Changing default settings

Most properties have a default setting that is applied to the whole chart. You can override a default setting by editing specific elements. The new setting will make field pinned and will no longer use the default value. You can go back to use the default value by unpinning the setting - 'blue pin' will be shown then vertically.

Graph layout

To add symbol chart open Graph layout (Ctrl+L), select series and on the right choose ‘Add new Symbol column’ button. It will be added as a separate column.

Graph properties

When you click on a mini pie chart you will see new tab with settings. You can change the text, color, and size of the pie.

Style sheet

To set the background color for mini pie charts go to Bar chart tab and select ‘Back Color’ on each Graph style.

Examples

China, energy mix

It shows proportions of two series. With Cross sampling we have created mini pie charts from each of energy-series and a total series.

Population above age 65 in South America

Simple mini pie charts showing percentage on a scale 0-100.

Seats held by women in parliaments across Europe

We have created a list with series and used Cross sampling to compare last value with the one from 10 year ago. Additionally, there’s a column with value for difference. We applied colors based on Rules to it.

Lollipop chart from bar chart

Overview

You can create lollipop chart by modifying Bar chart.

How to create a lollipop chart?

  1. Open Graph layout (Ctrl+L).
  2. Under 'Bar' leave one series.
  3. In the left panel select that series and from above choose 'Marker'.
  4. Close Graph layout.
  5. Click on one of the bars and under Graph properties > Content > Bar height, and change the value there.

Example

Bar chart - lollipop

In this example, we calculated Rate of change and then constructed lollipops with graph styles available for Bar charts.

Fed dot plot / FOMC policy dot plot

Overview

There is no dedicated chart type for this, but it's possible to use Time chart with a bit of formulas and get a proper Fed dot plot.

How to create a Fed dot plot?

  1. Set whole chart to Weekly frequency.
  2. Add on Series list:
  3. Add Formula analysis. These formulas set position of the dot on Time chart.
    • Disable 'Include input series...'.
    • Add usrate2176 - series for 'Projection for 0' - if you want to use it for constructing a date later.
    • Add last(fx:sALIASNUMBER) - last target rate value - if you want to see a flat line on chart.
    • For each series (representing number) add below formula: 
      if(if(mod(fx:s1 , 2)=0, (abs(counter()-startofyear()-24.5))*2, (abs(counter()-startofyear()-25))*2)<fx:s1, fx:s66, null())

      this will position dot on x-axis in the middle of each section on chart. You can control the shift with two numbers in it - 24,5 and 25. The bigger these numbers are the more to the right dots will be.

  4. Add Time chart.
  5. Click outside of chart area and under Presentation properties > Chart elements disable 'Legend'.
  6. Click on x-axis.
    • Under Presentation properties > Scale > Display range, add -4y and +0.
    • Under Presentation properties > Labels > Detail limit, select 'Year'.
  7. Open Graph layout (Ctrl+L). Make two Line graphs for clarity:
    • Under one put last value for Target rate.
    • Under second, all if() series.
  8. Now you need to turn lines into dots. Click on a line and under Presentation properties > Appearance > Graph style select 'Custom'. You can also catch non-visible lines with Chart (upper menu) > Select. Under Appearance set Line to 'None' then select Marker style and its size. You need to do this for each if() series.
  9. To add vertical line go to Chart annotations > Annotations > Vertical line and add in on a chart. You can adjust its position by clicking on it and changing date under Presentation properties > Line > Position.

Examples

Fed Dot Plot

Recreation of the Fed dot plot.

Fed Dot Plot - double meeting

Recreation of the Fed dot plot with last and previous meeting values.

Fed Dot Plot - Alternative version

In this example we created alternative equivalent of the Fed dot plot.

Waterfall chart

Overview

With a little bit of arranging series you can show series as a Waterfall chart on a Category chart.

How to create a Waterfall chart?

  1. On Series list add series and same amount of '0' as series.
  2. Decide the order of the series on chart - when you want particular series to 'float', replace the '0' with a sum of series to create base, on which 'floating' series will stand. Each base is the sum of preceding series.
  3. Add Scalar analysis:
    • In Input panel arrange pairs of series in order '0 - series - <replacement for 0> - series.'
    • For Output series use 'Partition into: 2'.
  4. Add Category chart, select data set with 0's and turn its color into 0% opacity.

Examples

Waterfall chart

In this example we used transparent placeholder series to create waterfall effect.

Waterfall chart - around '50' with list

Here we used range graph type to create anchor point at value '50'.

Waterfall chart - stacked column and area

Here we combined placeholder method with anchors and created stacked columns/areas.

Spaghetti chart

Overview

Spaghetti-like chart can be created on a Scatter chart with Show direction function.

How to create a Spaghetti chart?

  1. Add Scatter chart.
  2. On Graph layout (Ctrl+L) add two series under Line chart graph type - first series will be on x-axis, second on y-axis.
  3. Click on a line and under Presentation properties > Content > Show direction select an ornament.
  4. To add observations, right-click on some point of the line and select Add observation label.

Example

Spaghetti chart

In this example we showed relationship between Brent Oil price and US oil consumption.

Lollipop chart

Overview

There is no dedicated chart type for Lollipop charts. However, with a little help of two additional analyses and graph types, you can create lollipops on Category chart.

How to create a Lollipop chart?

  1. Use Scalar to perform calculations. If needed, add Sorting analysis too.
  2. Add Cross section analysis and sum series, uncheck first 2 boxes ('Include only observations...' and 'Do not include series...') - this will be needed to create lollipop.
  3. Add Arithmetic analysis and subtract 'Sum series' from itself. It will create placeholder for 0.
  4. Add Category chart. Open Graph layout (Ctrl+L) and add:
    • 'Last data set' under Column graph type
    • three data sets ('Sum series' and two '-1y series') under Open-high-low-close. It will create lollipop's stick
    • '-1y data set' under Line graph type, turn it into dot marker.

Example

Lollipop chart

In this example we calculated YoY and showed current values as columns and the one year ago values as lollipops.

Box plot

Overview

There is no dedicated chart type for classic Boxplot, but you can make something very similar with Category chart.

Unfortunately, there is no possibility to show outliers.

How to create a Box plot?

  1. Use Scalar analysis.
  2. Add Calculations: High, Low, Percentile 25, Percentile 75 and Median.
  3. Add, Category chart, open Graph layout (Ctrl+L).
  4. Under Candlestick graph type add series for: Low, 25% Percentile, 75% Percentile, High (in this order).
  5. Under Line graph type add series for Median (and if you want, Last) and change them to markers.

Example

Box plot

In this example w have used GDP YoY series and calculated parameters in Scalar over the last 10-year period.