Column charts are a good starting point as the mapping for column charts is very similar to that of bar, area, and line charts. To begin creating a chart, click the Chart Designer button in the Organizer toolbar . This will launch the Chart Designer interface and open the Data Source Manager. Click CHANGE DATA option in the lower right corner, select Quickstart_sample.xml data registry and click OK.

Change Data Registry

Select Data Registry

Now, select the Sample text data source and click the NEXT button. A dialog will open a table with the contents of the text file (first 20 records).

Contents of Text File

At the bottom of the dialog, click the Next button. A dialog will open asking you if you would like to select an additional data source for the chart.

Add Data Source Dialog

Select the Process Data option and click Next. You will then be taken to a dialog prompting you to select which type of chart you would like to create.

Chart Types Dialog

In this dialog, leave selected a Column Chart (the first image) and a 2D option (two-dimensional chart) as the data type and click Next. You will then be taken to the data mapping dialog which allows you to map columns from the data source to chart elements.

Chart Data Mapping Dialog

Set the Data Series to None, the Category to Drink and the Value to value. Then click Done to finish the Wizard and go to the Chart Designer interface.

If the generated chart does not fit in the viewport of the Chart Designer, select Canvas from the Format menu. This will bring up a dialog allowing you to set the size of the chart.

Chart Canvas Dialog

Enter a smaller size for the chart canvas and click OK to close the dialog. You should now see the whole chart in the viewport.

Chart Designer Showing Column Chart

Notice that the column chart contains a column for each distinct value in the Drink column and shows the corresponding value.

Q.5.1.1.1. Add a Data Series

At this point, the column chart only contains data points for the categories Drink column. However, ERES supports adding another dimension to this data by way of a series. To add a series to the column chart, click the Data Mapping button in the toolbar . This will return you to the data mapping window.

In the mapping window, change the Data Series option from None to Day and click Done to return to the Chart Designer.

Chart Designer Showing Column Chart with Series

Notice now that instead of a single data point for each drink, the column for each drink is now comprised of seven small columns, one showing the data point for each day.

Q.5.1.1.2. 3D Column Chart

In a two-dimensional chart, the data series is represented in-line along the X axis. However, a three-dimensional representation provides another axis to work with.

In the Chart Designer select 3D Chart from the Type menu to convert the column chart to a 3D representation.

Chart Designer Showing 3D Column Chart

The 3D toolbar will automatically appear at the bottom of the Chart Designer when the chart is converted to 3D. The chart may appear squished when you convert it. You can use the sliders next to the zoom function to change the X, Y, and Z scaling for the 3D chart. You can also use the navigation buttons to position the chart in space. For more information about 3D features, see Section 4.2.4.4 - The Navigation Panel.

Notice that with the chart in 3D, the data series is now moved to the Z axis of the chart by default.

Pie charts are another commonly used chart type that shows values as a percentage of a whole. To convert your chart to a pie chart, first go to the Type menu and select 2D Chart to convert your column chart back to two-dimensional form. Then select Pie from the Type menu. The chart will then be converted to a pie representation.

Chart Designer Showing Pie Chart with Series

Multiple pies are drawn when you have a data series; one for each category. Each category is broken down showing percentage contribution for the series elements.

In order to turn the chart into a single pie, we will remove the series. Click the Change Data Mapping button on the toolbar to bring up the mapping options.

Data Mapping Options for Pie Charts

Change the Data Series option to None and click Done. Now in the Chart Designer you will see a single pie made up of your drink categories.

Chart Designer Showing Pie Chart

Another way to display multi-dimensional data is to use a stack type representation to show contributions to a total. To convert your pie chart into a stack column chart, select Stack Column from the Type menu. Chart Designer will ask whether you want to redo data mapping for the new chart type. Click Yes and confirm the change by clicking Done in the “Select Data Mapping for 2D Stack Column Chart” dialog. The chart will then be converted to a stack column layout.

Chart Designer Showing Stack Column Chart

Notice that the chart now shows the columns as stacks made up of the values for each drink. Now click the Data Mapping button on the toolbar. In the data mapping window there is a new option called Sum by. This is set to the Day column. The Sum by column provides the individual stacks in these types of charts. Set Sum by to Drink and Category to Day. Click Done to return to the Chart Desinger. You should see the following chart.

Stack Column Chart

Now that you have finished designing a chart, click the Save button on the Toolbar . A dialog will open prompting you to specify a location and file name for the chart.

Save As Dialog

Enter a file name, and select to use either a PAC, CHT, or TPL format. For more about chart formats, see Section 4.2.6.2 - Saving Charts without Report Data. The chart will be saved in the /ChartFiles/ directory under the ERES installation by default. You will then be prompted to add the file to the Organizer. Select the QuickStart Examples Organizer folder and click OK. Close the Chart Designer.

Many chart appearance options are controlled using the Axis Elements dialog. To bring up this dialog, click the Format Value Elements button on the toolbar . This will bring up a tabbed dialog allowing you to set different options for each chart axis. Click on the Y Axis tab to bring up options for the value axis.

Axis Elements Dialog

Check the box marked Show grid to add grid lines to the Y Axis. Select Fixed point for the data format and click the Format button. This will bring up an additional dialog allowing you to set format options for the numeric data. Select the number of decimals as 2 and click OK.

Numberic Format Dialog

Click OK again to dismiss the axis elements dialog and you will see the specified changes reflected in the chart.

Chart with new Axis Formatting

Chart colors can be selected individually or you can select predefined color set. In Chart Designer, click on the Color set tab on the right and select a color combination you like.

Now click on one of the X axis (category) labels. The lower left corner of the design window will reflect your selection. In the font dialog in the lower right corner, change the angle of the labels from 90 to 45 degrees and press Enter.

Font Panel

The chart labels will then rotate. You may need to adjust the position of the labels slightly. To do this, click and drag on a label. All the X axis labels will follow your cursor around the chart canvas.

Next, we will add titles to the chart. To do this, select Titles from the Insert menu. This will bring up a dialog prompting you to enter a main title for the chart as well as titles for each of the axes.

Chart Titles Dialog

Enter any titles that you would like for the various elements and click OK. The titles will then be added to the chart. Titles are placed automatically but you can manually adjust their positions by clicking and dragging the text on the chart canvas.

If you do not see chart titles, click and drag on the chart plot to move the chart. You should then be able to see the titles. You can adjust the font and font size of the chart titles by clicking them and changing the settings in the font panel.

Chart With Titles

You can also customize the plot of two-dimensional charts, creating a separate background for the data points. To do this, select Plot Area from the Format menu. This will bring up a dialog allowing you to set display options for the chart plot.

Plot Area Dialog

Select to draw both the Area and the Border with a Thickness of 1. Specify None for the Appearance. Once you have specified the options, click OK and the plot area for the chart will be modified. You can change the background color of the plot area by clicking to select it and then modifying the color in the color panel.

Chart With Colored Plot Area

Now save the changes you have made to the chart and exit the Chart Designer.

One way to improve the chart, is to use the time series zooming feature to aggregate the data into fewer data points. In this instance, lets look at the total number of defects for each eight hour shift, instead of plotting the data for each hour.

To turn on zooming, select Time Zooming Options from the Format menu. This will bring up the following dialog.

Zoom Options Dialog

In this dialog, set the Scale to 8 hours and Linear option to true. Leave the Disable Upper Bound and Disable Lower Bound options checked. Check the Enable Zooming option. This will bring up a new dialog prompting you to select the aggregation for the zooming.

Aggregation Options Dialog

In this dialog, set the Primary Aggregate to be sum, the Minimum Scale to be 1 hour, and the Maximus Scale to be 1 day. Then click OK to return to the zoom options dialog, and OK again to return to apply the zoom setting. The chart now shows the total number of defects for each eight hour period.

Chart With Zooming Applied

Next, we will use the control area feature to highlight any shift where there were more than 20 defects.

To add a control area, select Control Area from the Insert menu and then click Insert in the control range list. This will bring up a dialog allowing you to select options for the new control area.

Control Area Dialog

In this dialog, enter a name for your control area. Then check the option marked Use Value Axis Scale, and enter 20 for the Starting Scale, and 30 for the Ending Scale. Then at the bottom of the dialog check the options marked Show Label In Legend and Highlight Overlap Area. Then click OK to apply the control area. Notice how only the areas where the number of defects is colored. You can set the color, by selecting the overlapped area, and selecting a new color from the palette on the right-hand side.

Chart With Control Areas Applied

Once you have finished modifying the chart, click the Save button on the toolbar to save the changes you have made and close the Chart Designer.