Control over totals and sequence in graphs

[Bob Cergol]

Hi,

I would like to exclude certain report totals from graphs. For example a report might total:
Job Count
Price
Value Added
Value Added Pct.

Graphing Value Added Pct. is meaningless in a graph with Price since the scale then goes from less than 100 to hundreds of thousands. Or maybe I only want the graph to show Job Count and Price -- even though the other two numbers are desirable in the report.

Also, I want to control the sequence / position of the bars: for example I want the job count bars that are all shorter to appear in front of the very long price bars. In other words tall bars hide short bars.

I'm using BarV6 in this one example, but have tried many of the other formats and these sorts of issues can get even worse -- regardless of enlarging the size of the rendered graph.

Is there a way to accomplish either of these wishes?

Bob

[Mikkel Jensen]

Hi Bob

If I understand your questions your issue is a report looking a bit like this:

Initial report

A.png (44.94 KiB) Viewed 11187 times

First question is how to hide a column in the graph?

When running IE and having the graph shown via the ActiveX (set on the user profile) it is possible to modify and create new graph templates. This is done by clicking the Edit button below the graph.

The graph editor looks like:

Graph template editor

B.png (40.44 KiB) Viewed 11187 times

Uncheck the undesired serie and click Close.

It is now possible to save the graph as a new template. Change the name and click Save as.

Go to design and change the graph to the new template (found in the top of the drop down list).

Changed graph template

C.png (44.18 KiB) Viewed 11187 times

Next question is how to change the order the series?

The order is following the order of the report. If you change the report the graph will follow:

Column moved which is reflected in the graph

D.png (43.09 KiB) Viewed 11187 times

However there might be several reasons not to do that.

Therefore I will show you some other possibilities:

You can use a graph type where the bars are shown beside each other like

Bar by side

E.png (48.34 KiB) Viewed 11187 times

Or grouped by column:

Bar by side - grouped by column

F.png (27.25 KiB) Viewed 11187 times

Eventually you could modify the template to use 2 axis.

Change of the series axis definition

G.png (48.72 KiB) Viewed 11187 times

which could look like:

Bar using different axis

H.png (31.53 KiB) Viewed 11187 times

As you will discover in the graph template editor there are thousands of different ways to define your graphs. And all Dynamic AI graphs can be modified in order to fit the specific purpose.

/Mikkel

[Bob Cergol]

Hi Mikkel,

Amazing!!!

I thought the reply was going to be ... "well, if you really have to control that level of detail, you'll have to learn to write some low-level scripting that you can make DAI read etc.

That is really cool how I can "program" the details of the graphs through a "check-box" interface, and then save the template so that the end result is still delivered to strictly "thin clients" that do not need to run the active X control to view my changes!

I am curious though, why the sequence of the totals must follow the report, when the Active X control's edit screen allows me to move any total up/down and instantly see the bars move forward/backward.

Count_Bar_In_Front.gif (10.76 KiB) Viewed 11186 times

But when I save that, and re-run the report, it reverts back to sequence of totals as appears in the report. If it can remember to exclude a total, why can't it remember the specified sequence for graphing?

Count_Bar_In_Back.gif (21.33 KiB) Viewed 11186 times

The side-by-side bars with dual scales is a really nice solution -- but only for a small number of bars.
But I'd be embarassed to complain about such a tiny detail given the breadth of control provided over graphs. I think I will just keep in mind when arranging totals that it would be good to position the smallest total in the last column. Frequently that will be just fine.

Thanks Mikkel. I love this tool!
Bob

[Bob Cergol]

Mikkel,

...however even if I arrange totals to accomodate the ordinal sequencing the graph template uses, DAI likes to move a total column from whatever its position is to the last column when performing column actions on it and this then negates the change in the graph template.

I played around with these graph templates so much today it was hard to keep track of some odd effects I saw, so am not 100% sure, but: I think I should be able to save a template that excludes the 3rd total out of 5 and then use that template on any report where the 3rd total column is the one I want to exclude -- and it is not working that way. I find I need to keep saving as a new template where I go in and again uncheck an item. I'm not clear on the pattern yet.

Also, by mistake, one time I did a "save as" and did not change the name. I ended up with 2 identically named templates showing up under "custom" but if I use the first one I get no graph at all and the general tab in design reverts back to "auto graph". Its as if the duplicate name was a ghost in the drop down list of tempates.

Bob

[Carsten Sørensen]

Hi Bob,

You should be able to remove custom graph templates from the Administration. In case you need to clean up some...

Best regards,
Carsten

[Carsten Sørensen]

Hi Bob,

I have seen that you refer to the column actions placing the Totals in the end... The way it is supposed to work is: All totals are placed at the end - new added will be placed in the end - but all can be re-arranged by dragging the columns around on the column headers (within the totaled ones) or in Ad-hoc/Design using the Up/Down options.

Best regards,
Carsten

[Bob Cergol]

I did not realize one could drag columns to a different position in the displayed report!
Another cool feature.

[Carsten Sørensen]

Hi Bob,

Don't know whether you have seen this one - regarding drag "gestures" on reports:

If possible - view it in HD eventually fullscreen - then the capture quality should be the best.



Best regards,
Carsten

[Mikkel Jensen]

Hi Bob

But when I save that, and re-run the report, it reverts back to sequence of totals as appears in the report. If it can remember to exclude a total, why can't it remember the specified sequence for graphing?

Dynamic AI feeds the graph component based on the report. The graph template just stores that the 3rd should be hidden.

I played around with these graph templates so much today it was hard to keep track of some odd effects I saw, so am not 100% sure, but: I think I should be able to save a template that excludes the 3rd total out of 5 and then use that template on any report where the 3rd total column is the one I want to exclude -- and it is not working that way. I find I need to keep saving as a new template where I go in and again uncheck an item. I'm not clear on the pattern yet.

Yes, it should be possible to use the saved template on other reports and hide the 3rd serie automatically. I just tried it with the example earlier in this thread and it worked fine for me. Please try again, and let me know if this still don't work as intended. You are welcome to send me an email with screenshots.

/Mikkel

[Bob Cergol]

Carsten,
I just watched the video on column drag-and-drop actions.
Stop playing with my mind!!!!
Stunning....

Mikkel, thanks. I'll retest in the course of creating new or changing existing report graphs and if I can reproduce I'll send you the details.

Bob