Selecting a Chart Type

A chart often conveys meaning more clearly and effectively than data displayed in tabular form. A chart enables you to visually communicate quantitative information. On a chart, you can give data a shape and form, and reveal patterns and relationships among many data values.

It is important that you select a chart type that is appropriate for your data. InfoAssist provides a complete chart type library, which includes advanced chart types, as well as basic types. You can select from a wide variety of chart types to best represent the data that you want to display.

The Chart Types group, which is accessible from the Format tab on the Control Panel, makes chart type selection easy. It provides an array of buttons for selecting the five most commonly used chart types, which include Bar (the default), Pie, Line, Area, and Scatter. A button labeled Other gives you access to the chart type library.

Chart Types

How to:

The following are the chart types that you can select.

Bar charts. Bar charts plot numerical data by displaying rectangular blocks against a scale (numbers or variable measures that appear along the axis). The length of a bar corresponds to a value or amount. You can clearly compare data series (fields) by the relative heights of the bars. Use a bar chart to display the distribution of numerical data. You can create horizontal as well as vertical bar charts. For a complete list of available bar chart types, see Bar Chart Types.
The following is an example of a basic bar chart.
Pie charts. Pie charts emphasize where your data fits, in relation to a larger whole. Pie charts work best when the data consists of several large segments. Too many variables divide the pie into small segments that are difficult to see. Use color on individual segments to create visual contrast. For a complete list of available pie chart types, see Pie Chart Types.

The following is an example of a basic pie chart.
Line charts. Line charts are useful for emphasizing the movement or trend of numerical data over time. They allow you to trace the evolution of a data point by working backward or interpolating. Highs and lows, rapid or slow movement, or a tendency towards stability are all types of trends well suited to a line chart.
You can also plot line charts with two or more scales to present a comparison of the same value, or set of values, in different time periods. For a complete list of available line chart types, see Line Chart Types.

The following is an example of a basic line chart.

A radar line chart is available in the line chart category, and a radar area chart is available in the area chart category. Radar charts compare two or more data sets. You can use axes or polygons to represent values in a star or spider configuration. Radar charts are essentially analogous to line charts, except that the scale wraps around. Radar charts work well with data that is cyclical, such as the months of a year.
Area charts. Area charts are similar to line charts except that the area between the data line and zero line (or axis) is usually displayed in color. Area charts allow you to stack data on top of each other. Stacking allows you to highlight the relationship between data series, showing how some data series approach a second series. For a complete list of available area chart types, see Area Chart Types.

The following is an example of a basic area chart.
XY plot charts. There are three different types of XY plot charts.
- Scatter. Scatter charts share many of the characteristics of basic line charts. You can plot data using variable scales on both axes. When you use a scatter chart, the data is plotted with a basic line pattern so that you can visualize the density of individual data values around particular points, or discern patterns in the data. A numeric X-axis, or sort field, always yields a scatter chart by default.
  Scatter charts and line charts are distinguishable from one another only by virtue of their X-axis format. Line charts can appear without connecting lines, making them look like scatter charts, and scatter charts can appear with connecting lines, making them look like line charts.
  
  The following is an example of a basic scatter chart.
- Polar. Polar charts share characteristics with scatter charts. Only one column field is allowed, in the following order: X (degree) for the column field and Y (distance from the center) for the Across/By field.
- Bubble. Bubble charts display three dimensions, requiring three column fields representing X, Y, and Z data values, in that order. The size of the bubbles is proportional to the values that they represent.
3D charts. 3D charts add visual depth to a chart presentation. You can easily recognize trends based on two or more data sets. 3D charts also add impact to your presentation. For a complete list of available 3D chart types, see 3D Chart Types.
The following is an example of a 3D bar chart.
Stock charts. Stock charts track the trend of a particular stock. They show the trading volume of the stock, its opening and closing values, and its high and low values over a specific time period. The data is represented by sets of bars or lines. For a complete list of available stock chart types, see Stock Chart Types.

Special charts. Special charts include a variety of additional chart types.
- Gauge. A gauge chart indicates the current position of a single data value within a given spectrum. This chart has a circular shape.
- Gauge thermometer. A gauge thermometer chart indicates the current position of a single data value within a given scale. This chart has the shape of a thermometer.
- Pareto. A pareto chart uses the X-axis to show group members, and the Y-axis to show the percent of the total of all groups that each group represents. This chart highlights the differences between groups of data.
- Vertical Box plot. A vertical box plot is oriented vertically and shows distribution of data through five-number summaries: Upper limit, Upper Quartile, Median, Lower Quartile, and Lower Limit. This chart can be represented with or without outliers, also known as whiskers.
- Horizontal Box plot. A horizontal box plot is oriented horizontally and shows distribution of data through five-number summaries: Upper limit, Upper Quartile, Median, Lower Quartile, and Lower Limit. This chart can be represented with or without outliers, also known as whiskers.
- Funnel. A funnel chart is essentially a pie chart, displaying only one group of data at a time, from the first series to the last series at the bottom of the funnel.
- Pyramid. A pyramid chart is essentially a pie chart, displaying only one group of data at a time, from the first series to the last series at the top of the pyramid.
- Spectral map. A spectral map contains a row or column matrix of markers that are displayed in different colors, according to the data values.

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Procedure: How to Select a Basic Chart Type

The Chart Types group provides buttons for selecting the five most commonly used chart types.

On the Format tab in Query Design view or Interactive Design view, locate the Chart Types group.
Click the Bar, Pie, Line, Area, or Scatter button, depending on the type of chart that you want to create.
The default value is Bar chart.

The following image shows the Chart Types group, with Pie chart selected.
Run the report.
InfoAssist will generate the chart type that you chose.

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Procedure: How to Select an Advanced Chart Type

InfoAssist provides a complete chart type library, which includes advanced chart types, as well as basic types. The Other button in the Chart Types group gives you access to the library.

On the Format tab in Query Design view or Interactive Design view, locate the Chart Types group.
Click the Other button.
The following image shows the Chart Types group, with Other selected.

The New Chart dialog box opens. Each of the eight tabs across the top of the dialog box represents a chart type category.
To display the name of a category, hover over the tab with the mouse.
From left to right, the chart type categories are bar, line, area, pie, XY plot, 3D, stock, and special.
Click a chart type category.
All supported variations of the chart type appear as thumbnail images in the area underneath.
Within the category, click an image to display a detailed description of that chart type.
If you are not familiar with a chart type, be sure to read the description carefully before finalizing your selection. Some chart types require a certain number of data values, or a certain type of data values. If your data does not satisfy the requirements, the chart will not accurately represent the data.

In the following example, the 3D tab is selected (the third tab from the right). Underneath the tab, the 3D chart types supported by InfoAssist are displayed as images. Within the images, the 3D Cylinder chart type is selected, and a description is displayed underneath.

You can also hover over an image with your mouse to display the chart type name.

In the following example, the mouse is hovering over the selected chart type to display its name.
Click OK on the New Chart dialog box to finalize your selection and close the dialog box.
Run the report.
InfoAssist will generate the chart type that you chose.

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Reference: Bar Chart Types

The following table lists the available bar chart types.

Available Bar Chart Types
Vertical Clustered Bar	Horizontal Clustered Bar
Vertical Stacked Bar	Horizontal Stacked Bar
Vertical Dual-Axis Clustered Bar	Horizontal Dual-Axis Clustered Bar
Vertical Dual-Axis Stacked Bar	Horizontal Dual-Axis Stacked Bar
Vertical Bi-Polar Clustered Bar	Horizontal Bi-Polar Clustered Bar
Vertical Bi-Polar Stacked Bar	Horizontal Bi-Polar Stacked Bar
Vertical Percent Bar	Horizontal Percent Bar
Vertical Histogram	Horizontal Histogram
Vertical Waterfall	Horizontal Waterfall
Multi-3Y Bar	Multi-5Y Bar
Multi-4Y Bar	Error Bar

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Reference: Pie Chart Types

The following table lists the available pie chart types.

Available Pie Chart Types
Multi Pie	Multi Ring Pie
Multi Proportional Pie	Multi Proportional Ring Pie
Single Pie	Single Ring Pie
Pie-Bar	Ring Pie-Bar

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Reference: Line Chart Types

The following table lists the available line chart types.

Available Line Chart Types
Vertical Absolute Line	Horizontal Absolute Line
Vertical Stacked Line	Horizontal Stacked Line
Vertical Dual-Axis Absolute Line	Horizontal Dual-Axis Absolute Line
Vertical Dual-Axis Stacked Line	Horizontal Dual-Axis Stacked Line
Vertical Bi-Polar Absolute Line	Horizontal Bi-Polar Absolute Line
Vertical Bi-Polar Stacked Line	Horizontal Bi-Polar Stacked Line
Vertical Percent Line	Horizontal Percent Line
Radar Line

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Reference: Area Chart Types

The following table lists the available area chart types.

Available Area Chart Types
Vertical Absolute Area	Horizontal Absolute Area
Vertical Stacked Area	Horizontal Stacked Area
Vertical Bi-Polar Absolute Area	Horizontal Bi-Polar Absolute Area
Vertical Bi-Polar Stacked Area	Horizontal Bi-Polar Stacked Area
Vertical Percent Area	Horizontal Percent Area
Radar Area

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Reference: XY Plot Chart Types

The following table lists the available XY plot chart types.

Available XY Plot Chart Types
XY Scatter	XY Polar
Bubble

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Reference: 3D Chart Types

The following table lists the available 3D chart types.

Available 3D Chart Types
3D Bar	3D Pyramid
3D Octagon	3D Cylinder
3D Floating Cubes	3D Floating Pyramids
3D Connected Series Area	3D Connected Series Ribbon
3D Connected Group Area	3D Connected Group Ribbon
3D Cone	3D Sphere
3D Surface	3D Surface with Sides
3D Smooth Surface	3D Smooth Surface with Sides
3D Honeycomb Surface

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Reference: Stock Chart Types

The following table lists the available stock chart types.

Available Stock Chart Types
Stock Hi-Lo	Stock Hi-Lo with Volume
Stock Hi-Lo Open-Close	Stock Hi-Lo Open-Close with Volume
Open-Hi-Lo-Close Candle Stock	Open-Hi-Lo-Close Candle Stock with Volume

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Reference: Special Chart Types

The following table lists the special chart types that are available to you.

Special Chart Types
Gauge	Gauge Thermometer
Pareto	Funnel
Vertical Box plot	Horizontal Box plot
Pyramid	Spectral Map