Time Tables

Time tables show activities or tasks over a period of time. Tick marks representing individual data records are displayed across a grid in a pattern directly related to the time of their occurrence. Time tables are used to show large numbers of events over time and for studying the interrelationships between those events.

The time table component of WebFOCUS Visual Discovery enables you to monitor the timing and pattern of vital business activities. You can use shaped or angled glyphs or symbols to represent specific activities, group related ticks together on the grid, and even adjust the size and color of ticks to indicate event duration.

Creating a Time Table

How to:

Select Glyph Shapes for a Time Table

Reference:

Tick marks are the default glyph, but you can use shaped or angled glyphs to view the value of another variable.

What Are the Information Areas in a Time Table?

The time table provides information in two areas of the graph: the bar chart area and the main window area. The bar chart area graphs the number of tick marks that occur in a row. In the default presentation, each tick mark in the main window area represents one record in the bar chart area.

The main area of the time table presents most of the information. The label for the vertical (y-) axis is displayed across the top of the graph. (In the following graphic, the label is Agent_Name.) The y-axis values appear along the vertical axis and time is plotted along the x-axis. The data is displayed using tick marks or other glyphs, depending on the field values you apply.

When a tick mark is not in focus, the bar chart provides a relative view of the tick marks and the number of times a tick mark occurs. When the tick mark is in focus the:

Tick mark is colored green (green is the default selected color).
X-axis and y-axis labels are colored green.
Number of tick marks is displayed in the bar chart area.

Note:

The item beneath the cursor is in focus. By default, when you hover over an item, it is in focus. When an item is in focus, more detailed information is available about that item.
If two records have the same x and y value, the tick marks are plotted on top of each other.

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Procedure: How to Select Glyph Shapes for a Time Table

Right-click the time table and select Properties.
Select data for the time table in the Data tab.
Click the Time Table tab. From the Visuals Controlled by Table Field, select:
- Group - Select a field from this drop-down list to organize the data into data sets by that field.
- Size - Select a field from this drop-down list to size the glyphs based on a field.
- Glyph/Angle - Select a field from this drop-down box to display glyphs using different shapes (instead of the default tick marks) according to an applied field value. Select the Use Angles for Glyphs check box to have the tick marks angled to represent another field.
- Duration - Select the field from the drop-down list that you want to use to show duration. The glyphs will appear as a line (tail). Select the Filled Durations check box to show the data as filled bars.
Click Apply.

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Reference: Time Table Tab

Visuals Controlled by Table Field

Group: Organizes the data into data sets by the selected field.
Size: Sizes the glyphs based on the selected field.
Glyph/Angle: Displays glyphs using different shapes (instead of the default tick marks) according to the value of the selected field.
Duration: Shows durations according to the selected field. The glyphs will appear as a line (tail).

Show Unselected

Shows unselected data in gray. If Show Unselected is not checked, unselected data is omitted from the display.

To add unselected data, either turn on Show Unselected in the Properties dialog box, or use the right mouse button menu in the view and choose Select All.

Use Angles for Glyphs

Displays glyphs as angled tick marks instead of shapes. This change is applied to the field selected in the Glyph/Angle section of the Visuals Controlled by Table Field area.

Filled Durations

Changes the default presentation from lines with tails to filled bars. This size change is applied to the field selected in the Duration section of the Visuals Controlled by Table Field area.

Glyph Size (Immediate effect)

Default: Changes the relative sizes of the glyphs back to their original size.
Larger: Increases the relative size of the glyphs.
Smaller: Decreases the relative size of the glyphs.

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Reference: Time Table Pop-up Menu

The pop-up menu appears when you right-click a Visual Discovery component in the analytical dashboard. These options do not appear when you are developing a component in the HTML Composer.

Show unselected

Shows unselected data in gray. If Show Unselected is not checked, unselected data is omitted from the display.

To add unselected data, either turn on Show Unselected in the Properties dialog box, or use the right mouse button menu in the view and choose Select All.

Use angles for glyphs

Displays the glyphs as angled tick marks instead of shapes.

Filled durations

Changes the default presentation from lines with tails to filled bars.

Show/Hide ‘name’

Shows/hides the name of the selected label.

Sort ‘name’ categories

Orders the items in the selected group by category (Y-axis labels).

Sort ‘name’ counts

Orders the items in the selected group by count (highest to lowest values).

Full Size

Shows text in a normal, readable size.

Fit All

Shows the entire table in the current window. If there are fewer table rows than will fit in the window at full size, then the lines are shown in a larger font with more spacing. If there are more lines than will fit, then they are reduced to a smaller size, with a minimum of 1 pixel high. If all table rows will still not fit at 1 pixel high, then lines are overplotted to allow all to fit. When values are overplotted, the line that is longest or with the hottest color is drawn on the top, obscuring all others under it.

One Line/Pixel

Pixel/line representation draws text as one-pixel-high lines. This is helpful when you need to reduce the size of the text to see more of the data. Depending on how many lines you have in your table, this may still require paging to see all rows.

Undo

Reverses the previous action. You may repeatedly undo actions retained in the history file for your current session by selecting Undo over and over again. A description of the previous action appears on the pop-up menu. If you have performed no action, there is nothing to undo and so Undo is not available for selection and no action appears to the right of the word Undo.

Redo

Restores the previous undo action. If you have performed no action, there is nothing to Redo and so Redo is not available for selection and no action appears to the right of the word Redo.

Select All

Selects all of the items in the graph. When you choose Select All, any previous selections are ignored. Selection state returns to the original setting.

Unselect All

When selected, all of the items become unselected. All items appear in the unselected color (gray, by default) or are hidden in the graph (if hide unselected is active).

Toggle All

Reverses the selection state of items. Selected items become unselected and unselected items become selected.

Exclude Unselected

Excludes (temporarily removes) items from the graph.

Restore Excluded

Restores the items you excluded. If you accidentally excluded the unselected, this menu option restores those excluded items.

Save Image

Enables you to save the graph to a GIF or JPEG file.

Copy Image

Enables you to copy the selected component and paste it to another file.

Properties

Takes you to the collection of tabs available for the respective visualization component. Common tabs include Data, Selecting, and Colors.

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Reference: Time Table Glyphs

The default glyph used in the time table is the tick mark. Depending on your intended purpose, other sizes, angles, and shapes of glyphs may be helpful.

Name	Use	Example
Tick Mark	The default presentation where each tick mark stands for one record.	Each tick mark stands for one time that a call center agent is online. Tick marks can also be sized by a field value. The height of the tick mark represents another field.
Angles for Glyphs	Tick marks are angled to represent another field. May be useful when you want to see multiple data fields at the same time.	Tick marks represent a class of skills. Each angled tick mark represents a subcategory of skill. If an agent has more than one subcategory skill, the lines cross. If an agent, for example, had the entire subcategory of skills, the glyph would look like a star so it would be easy to see who your most skillful agents are.
Glyph/ Angle	Glyphs of different shapes (circle, X, line, square) are used to represent subcategories of a record. The first six unique values are assigned a shape. The remaining values are assigned a dot.	Each shape represents a subclass of skills. If an agent has more than one subcategory of skills, only the last applied subclass is represented by a glyph. If you want to see how many agents have experience in a specific subclass, all those having the same shape may be more easily identified than those with the same angular line.
Default Duration	Line length is used to show the duration (span over time). The line is shown with a tail (tick mark) at the beginning. If rows of data overlap, this may be used to see the overlap more clearly than filled bars. Duration fields must be numeric.	Duration lines are used to show the length of time an agent is online. The longer the agent is online, the longer the line. If there are many agents (y values), the default duration presentation allows more agents to be shown in a smaller area.
Filled Duration	Changes the duration line to a bar. Bar length is used to show the duration (span over time). Duration fields must be numeric.	Duration lines are used to show the length of time the agent is online. The longer the agent is online, the longer the bar.