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Creating area, bar, or line graphs

You can create area, bar, or line graph visualizations. These graphs require at least one metric and at least one attribute.

An area graph displays your data as a vertical or horizontal area graph. The area represents metric values for each element of an attribute. Below is an example area graph.

A bar graph displays your data as a vertical or horizontal bar graph. The bars represent metric values for each element of an attribute. You can also stack graphs and color them by an attribute to save space. Below is an example bar graph.

A line graph displays your data as a vertical or horizontal line graph. The lines represent metric values for each element of an attribute. Below is an example line graph.

Steps:

1. Open a new or existing dossier.
2. Click Insert Visualization to add a new, blank visualization to the dossier.

3. In the Visualization Gallery, click Area Chart to create an area chart.

   or

   Click Bar Chart to create a bar chart.

   or

   Click Line Chart to create a line chart.

4. Drag objects from the Datasets panel to the Editor panel to add the corresponding data to the visualization. You can also drag objects from the Datasets panel directly onto the visualization.
   Note: To view data requirements for a graph style, hover your cursor over the visualization icon in the Visualization Gallery.

5. To display a vertical area, bar, or line graph, place at least one metric in the Vertical area and at least one attribute in the Horizontal area.

   or

   To display a horizontal area, bar, or line graph, place at least one attribute in the Vertical area and at least one metric in the Horizontal area.

6. If you add multiple attributes to the Vertical or Horizontal areas, the attributes at the top of the area are used to slice your data into rows or columns of graphs, one row or column for each attribute element. If you slice the data into both rows and columns, a table of graphs appears, with a graph for each combination of the attribute elements. If data is not split, one set of graphs appears, with a graph for each combination of attributes.
   
   Slice your data into an additional row of graphs. The last attribute in the Vertical area appears on the left axis, as indicated by the Left Axis icon next to the attribute name. Right-click this attribute and select Left Row.
   Or
   Slice your data into an additional column of graphs. The last attribute in the Horizontal area appears on the bottom axis, as indicated by the Bottom Axis icon next to the attribute name. Right-click this attribute and select Top Column.
   Or
   If an attribute appears on a row, you can switch it to display on the left axis instead. Any attributes below it in the Vertical area also appear on the left axis. Right-click an attribute that displays the Left Row icon and select Left Axis.
   Or
   If an attribute appears on a column, you can switch it to display on the bottom axis instead. Any attributes below it in the Horizontal area also appear on the bottom axis. Right-click an attribute that displays the Top Column icon and select Bottom Axis.
   
7. There are several different ways to color graph items, based on attributes or metrics.
   To color graph items based on an attribute, place at least one attribute in the Color By area. Each value in the attribute appears in a different color.
   Display the sales data for each employee using a different bar color. If you add more than one attribute to the Color By area, each combination of the attribute values appears in a different color.
   Note: If you color other graphs and heat maps using the same attribute, each attribute value displays the same color across all graphs and heat maps. Web automatically selects the colors based on the color palette, but you can select a color for each attribute value.
   Or
   To color graph items based on the value of a metric, place one metric in the Color By area. The graph items in the visualization are automatically shaded based on the value of the metric.
   Note: You can automatically color the areas in a graph based on the value of the Profit metric. Display larger profit values with dark colors and small profit values with light colors.
   Or
   To color graph items based on the metric that each item represents, place the Metric Names attribute in the Color By area. Each metric in the visualization appears with a different color.
   Display the Revenue, Cost, and Profit metrics using a different color for each metric.
   

8. To size graph items based on the value of a metric, place one metric in the Size By area. Graph items with large metric values appear larger in size. Graph items with small metric values appear smaller in size.
   Note: In a line graph, lines representing larger metric values appear thicker than lines representing smaller metric values.
   The Size By option is not available for Area Charts.

9. To display additional metrics when you hover over a graph element, place metrics in the Tooltip area.

10. To break the graph based on the value of a metric, place one metric in the Break By area.
    
    Select Absolute, Stacked, or Percent to select a specific graph subtype to display the visualization.

11. See How to Select Which Attribute Forms to Display in a Visualization to select which attribute forms appear in the visualization.
12. Define the formatting options.
13. Click Save .