You can use Data360 DQ+ to create ad-hoc data visualizations based on data views that you have access to.
- Prerequisite: You have created and executed a Data View.
As with Dashboards, the Visualizer allows you to see a visual representation of the data in your data view. If you have already built a dashboard, you will be quite familiar with the features and mechanics of using the Visualizer, as they are essentially the same as dashboard building.
The difference between Dashboards and the Visualizer is in application. Whereas Dashboards require familiarity with a data view, planning, and consideration of design, data exploration with the Visualizer is intended to be much more spontaneous and can be performed by anyone for ad-hoc data exploration. When you are viewing a Dashboard, you can use the Visualizer to investigate a dashlet, as if in edit mode.
To access the Visualizer, from the menu at the top of the screen, click Dashboards then select Data Visualizer.
Or, from the Dashboard view, you can open the Visualizer by clicking the Explore a Dashlet in the Visualizer button.
The Explore a Dashlet in the Visualizer button opens the Visualizer in a pop-up window. When you have finished exploring the data, close the Visualizer window to return to the original dashboard.
If you want to save the changes that you have made in the Visualizer, use the Copy To menu to choose whether to create a New Dashboard, or save your changes to an Existing Dashboard.
In general, the Visualizer is a great tool to use if you simply want to experiment with a data view and familiarize yourself with its contents. If you intend to build dashboards and share them with others later on, the Visualizer can be an excellent place to start.
Data360 DQ+ Visualizer features
Chart filters
Chart filters allow you to filter the information displayed while building a chart, using Fields. This feature would be useful if, for example, a data view contained Sales Records for multiple countries but you only wanted to see records for one.
Thresholds
Thresholds allow you to set a value and value condition which will trigger a change in display for a selected computation in a selected field.
When using the Visualizer, thresholds can help you highlight areas of a chart that fall below or exceed certain criteria. This can be particularly helpful is you are visualizing numerous records at once.
For details of creating Thresholds, see Thresholds.
Query criteria
Query criteria allow you to customize how a data view is queried and how the results are displayed when a chart or table is built.
Record limits are useful for trimming down or expanding results returned from the data view, and by default they are set to 1000.
Custom sort fields allow you to change the order in which information is displayed.
Show Data Details
The Visualizer's Show Details feature allows you to select fields to display in a table when a chart is clicked. Details can include information that is not readily apparent in the visualization alone.
For example, if you were visualizing Sales Dates vs. Total Sales Amounts, you could set Show Details to display a table that included a breakdown of sales amounts per date. If you wanted to view more information without making your chart any more complex, you could also add Ship To Country and Customer Name fields to the table's details. Upon clicking the chart, you'd then be presented with a table displaying records with information from all chosen fields.
If you are using non-drillable fields, Details will display upon clicking any section of your chart. If you are using drillable fields, Details will display when you reach the bottom level.
Customizing Visualizer Properties
This section covers the modifiable Properties available when building charts, which include things like colors and formatting for text values. Note that the content covered here also applies to any chart created in a Dashboard.
Also note that Properties tabs are context sensitive per chart, meaning that different options are available for different chart types.
Color Tab
Color Palette
This list of colors allows you to define chart colors by the order in which elements appear on the chart. Application can vary per charting type. For example, with Bar charts, each color selection is applied to each new series in your bar chart; whereas with a Pie charts, each color selection is applied to each slice of your pie.
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Render the parent's drill field series color while drill down
Check this to ensure that, for example, the colors of bar charts remain consistent while drilling down through the levels.
A tooltip also displays when you hover over the field, stating “This check box, when enabled, will continue the same color series when drilling down to next level. For example, in a series chart, one of the bar colors is orange. When clicked and you drill down to next level, the respective bar there will start from the same orange color, instead of blue, which is currently the default behavior.”
Threshold Color Range
Not to be confused with the Thresholds feature, this setting defines the color gradient used for charts that implement gradient shading, such as Geographical Maps, Heat Maps, and Tree Maps.
Chart Tab
Show legends
This option allows you to toggle the color coded legends that appear at the bottom of your chart.
Align Ticks
This setting is relevant when multiple measures are visualized in a chart that uses an x and y axis.
Unaligned Ticks
If left unchecked, each measure on the y-axis will display its own tick marks. This may be useful in cases where it is important to emphasize that the measures are using different units of measure or scale.
Aligned Ticks
On the other hand, when Align Ticks is checked, measures on the y-axis will share tick marks. This setting will lead to charts that are less cluttered, and it may be useful when multiple measures are being displayed.
Numeric symbols
These symbols allow you to configure how measurements are labeled in your charts. The default values are commonly used metric prefixes.
|
Metric Prefix |
Definition |
|---|---|
|
k |
Represents thousands; so, for example, a value of 10,000 will be labeled as 10k on the axis of a chart. |
|
M |
Represents millions; so, for example, a value of 1,000,000,000 (one billion) will be labeled as 1,000M on the axis of a chart. |
|
B |
Represents billions, so, for example, a value of 1,000,000,000,000 (one trillion) will be labeled as 1,000B on the axis of a chart. |
|
T |
Represents trillions, so, for example, a value of 1,000,000,000,000,000 (one quadrillion) will be labeled as 1,000T on the axis of a chart. |
|
Q |
Represents quadrillions so, for example, a value of 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 (one quintillion) will be labeled as 1,000Q on the axis of a chart. |
While generally suitable for most applications, these labels can be changed. To do so, you can enter replacement values, while making sure that all potential values still have a label.
For example, if you wanted to change k to thousand, you could enter:
thousand, M, B, T, Q into the Numeric Symbols field.
Axes Tab
This tab contains a number of settings to allow for granular control of how Axes are displayed in your chart. For a complete understanding of these features, it is recommended that you experiment with them while building your charts, to see what effects they will have.
Commonly used Axes tab features
Making 2 or more Measures Share an AxisSelect each measure and check the Use Shared Axis box.
Changing Dimension displayTo change the formatting and content of all Dimensions in your chart, select the Dimension option in the left hand panel.
Changes within the Axis properties will alter the way values are organized and the content/display of the Title for your x-axis.
Changes within the Labels properties will alter the way discrete categories or values within your Dimension(s) are organized and displayed.
Changing Measures display To change the formatting and content of individual Measures in your chart, select a Measure in the left hand panel.
Changes within the Axis properties will alter the way values are organized and the content/display of the Title for your Measure on the y-axis.
Changes within the Labels properties will alter the way the values for your measure on the y-axis are organized and displayed.
Tick IntervalOn chart types that support a y-axis or linear x-axis, the numeric increment between tick marks may be controlled via the ‘Tick Interval' setting. By default, these tick mark intervals are automatically decided by the system. For example, consider the following default rendering of a bar chart:
Setting the Tick Interval for measure1 to 50 would have the following effect:
Using FormattersThe default value for the Formatter field for charts that use x and y axes is {value}.To add additional formatting to your display, you can add different symbols to {value}. For example ${value} would display $ dollar signs in front of each value displayed.
Grid Style Tab
This Visualizer Properties tab becomes available when Pivot Grid and Data Grid charts are in use. It will allow you to customize a number of settings that are unique to grids.
Drill Type
When drilling from a Data Grid, the default behavior is for values from every cell in the row to be passed as filters. Drill Type gives you the option to maintain this default behavior and ‘Drill By Row', or only pass the specific value of the cell that was clicked, to ‘Drill By Cell'.
Stripe Rows
This checkbox controls whether alternating grid rows are striped.
Autonumber Column
This checkbox controls whether an autonumber column is displayed as the first column in the grid.
Style Tab
This Visualizer Properties tab becomes available when Line and Spline type charts are in use. It will allow you to change the line style and fill of such charts.
Plotting Nulls as Zeros
When building Line and Spline charts, you can plot measures where the value is null as zero by finding the measure within the Style Tab and then checking the Plot Nulls as Zeros check box. Doing so will allow you to plot continuous Line/Spline charts despite there being missing values in your data.
Data Label Tab
This Visualizer Properties tab becomes available when Pie or Funnel type charts are in use. It will allow you to alter the content and display of the text that label sections of such charts.
Using FormattersThe default value for the Formatter field for Pie and Funnel type charts is {point.name}.To add additional formatting to your display, you can add different symbols to {point.name}. For example ${point.name} would display $ dollar signs in front of each value displayed.
Header Tab
This Visualizer Properties tab becomes available when Data Grid type charts are in use. It allows you to change the names of column headers in such charts.
Gauge Tab
This Visualizer Properties tab becomes available when Gauge type charts are in use. It allows you to change the Title of such charts. Additional Gauge customization is available by clicking on the Gauge's measure on the y-axis.
Important Notes about the Visualizer
Visualizations are not saved
The Visualizer is meant to be used as a quick, what-if tool, and visualizations are meant to be much simpler than dashboards. Visualizations will temporarily save per Data360 DQ+ session but when you log off they will disappear.
Saving a Visualizer State to a Dashboard
Once you have constructed a valid chart, a Copy To button will become available for use in the Visualizer's toolbar. This button can be used to copy your chart to a new Dashboard or an existing Dashboard, to be saved.
Note that when copying to an existing Dashboard, the copied chart will appear as a copied dashlet palette item in the Dashboard designer palette. You will need to drag and drop this item onto one of your Dashboard's sheets in order to copy over your chart.
Charts and Tables Only
Visualizations can only include charts or tables. To include web content, text elements, filters, or filter selections, you'll need to create a dashboard.
1 Sheet, 2 Chart Limit
Visualizations are limited to 1 sheet and 2 charts. The 2 chart capability is enabled by clicking the Split View button in the Visualizer toolbar.