Charts

Charts provide a powerful visual display of data. A Chart object in the software actually represents a potentially huge collection of charts that can be varied across a multiplicity of dimensions. The collection of charts are organized along slide dimensions that provide an easy way to show slides in sequence. Each slide represents a snapshot of the model along some dimension include the model dimensions, scenarios, parts dimensions (such as department, region, etc.) or individual values of any case parameter. Chart variations and drill down allows a user to easily view deeper into the model.

Charts are designed by specifying content, called the Chart Variation, and by specifying the look and feel, called the Chart Theme. Chart Themes are created in a separate object and can be used with any chart. Both chart variation and options are initially specified in the chart object, but viewers of the chart can make temporary changes to the initial settings.

When a chart is opened within it's panel, you will notice a chart-specific 3-bar menu located on the right-hand side. Clicking on this 3-bar menu icon will display sub-menus for changing the chart variation and chart options. From here, the chart can be resized and if slide dimensions are present, the initial chart slide can be selected.

Initial Chart Variation

The initial chart variation specifies the following information. These can be modified at any time once the chart has been created:

Scenario: Select the Model Scenario to be used.
Start period (can be an expression using case parameters from the Model Scenario)
End period (can be an expression using case parameters from the Model Scenario)
Chart Type: Includes Line, Spline, Step, Area, Area Spline, Column (vertical bars), Bar (horizontal), Stacked - Bar, Line, Spline, Area, Area Spline. (Also see Bubble Charts)
Series: what to display in the series (typically data is displayed)
X Axis: what to display along the X Axis (typically time is displayed)
Slides: what to display along the slide dimensions (typically scenarios, or case parameter variations). See next section for information about Shared Sliders.
Data: click + to add data to be displayed or click existing data and select "Change Data" to modify. The order of data items shown in the legend can be arranged by clicking to move left or right.
Data Properties: Add or modify properties to specify various data attributes including Color,Dash Style, Type (Line, Spline, etc), Line Width, Market Radius, Retitle (specify a custom name for data elements to be displayed on the chart instead of the default name)
Data Organization: Numerous options that specify how the data is organized. Named Organizational Styles can be used or specified explicitly. New charts will default to "None" which orders data based on the left to right order of items specified in the Data section.

Shared Sliders in Charts

Shared Sliders in Charts, offer the ability to keep the selected Slider data in sync between multiple charts or between charts and reports. To share Sliders from Charts:

Navigate to the desired Chart Edit Panel in your model that has sliders that you wish to share.
1. Just below the chart, each Slider is listed with a "Shared" checkbox next to it.
Tick the shared checkboxes of the Sliders you wish to share.
Click Save.

Some types of Chart Sliders cannot be shared. This includes Case Parameters, Periods (Month, Quarter, Year), and Data. Those sliders will include the message "Cannot be Shared" instead of a checkbox.

When saving an initial slider value for a Chart's Shared Slider, it will also save as the initial slider for a report that contains the same slider.

Initial Chart Options and Size

The chart options submenu provides options for changing chart features and appearance without changing the data content of the chart. These can be modified once the chart has been created. These features include:

Chart theme: this selects the color scheme and appearance of the chart.
Show Data Point Values: Data Table on Mouse Click, Tooltips on Mouse Click (shows tooltip when clicking on data points), Mouse over (shows tooltip when hovering over data points, On chart (always shows data point values)
X Axis scaling (select how the X Axis labels should be displayed)
Y Axis scaling (select how the Y Axis labels should be scaled)
Play Speed (select how slow or fast slides should be shown during play or comparison of slides)

Y Axis Options

Using the Add option in the panel menu, the Y Axis options for any unit type can be specified. Each Y Axis includes the following options:

The chart type to use for series of this unit type. This allows the construction of charts using different chart types, for example, using column charts for percentages and line charts for monetary values.
Dash Style: this allows different line styles for each axis type. For example, solid lines might be used for monetary values and dotted lines for percentages.
Scale: this allows the axis to specify values in units, thousands or millions
Decimal Digits: this allows the values on the Y axis to have fraction units. For example, 2 decimal digits could be used to display dollars and cents.

Other Options

Using the Add option in the panel menu, more options can be displayed, including the following:

Block data variations: if selected, the chart user cannot vary the data
Block data organization variations: if selected, the chart user cannot vary the data organization
Block scenario variations
Block chart type
Block X Axis variations
Allow use in FO Groups and Line Items: if selected, this will add the chart to the list of reports listed for any FO group or line item.