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Area Plot
Area
plots are suitable for tracking and comparing changes in Data Values
over a period of time. An area plot arranges a period horizontally, encodes data values into points, connects them by line, and fills the area below it with a color.
Clustered Area
You could use a clustered area plot to break down data values into subcategories for more granular analysis. For instance, the Clustered Area Demo shows the Net Sales
changes over the year divided into clustered areas per product category.
Stacked Area
A stacked area is another way to break down data values into subcategories by placing corresponding area subsections on top of each other. The Stacked Area Demo shows the Net Sales
changes over the year divided into stacked areas per product category.
Percentage Stacked Area
A percentage stacked area combines the stacked area and the Percentage
axis scale. In addition to changes in data values, it also shows each subcategory's contribution to a total. For instance, the Percentage Stacked Area Demo shows the percentage share of product categories in Net Sales
.
You can configure all these types using the Area
plot template and its properties described in the following sections. The Area Stacked
and Area Percent Stacked
templates are just shortcuts to a specific configuration.
You can use the following demos to explore plot properties - open a link, toggle the Report explorer, select the Plot - Plot 1
node and use the Properties panel to modify the configuration.
You could also download the report files listed below and open them in the Standalone Report Designer.
Chart Wizard
If you add a chart into a report, set the plot type to Area
on the first page of the Chart Wizard
, and click the Next
button, the wizard shows the Area Settings
page that looks like the following:
The Data Values
section allows you to add one or more Data Values.
The Data Categories
section allows you to set the Category Encoding.
The Data Subcategories
section allows you to configure the Details Encoding.
Data Values
The Area plot's Values
collection determines data values that change over time. The Chart Wizard displays the Values
collection as Fields
in the Data Values
section. Collection items consist of two properties:
The
Value
is usually a bound field reference. The Properties Panel displays theValue
as the collection, butLine
plots take the first item only. The Chart Wizard displays theValue
asField
.The
Aggregate
is an optional function, such asCount
orAverage
, that reduces many field values into a single one.
For instance, all the demos listed above have the Value={SalesAmount}, Aggregate=Sum
Data Value.
Category Encoding
The Category Encoding
of an Area
plot is a set of properties that determine the period over which the plot generates connected data points representing those above Data Values
.
The
Category
is usually a bound field reference. Bound DataSet Records with the same value of that field fall into the same category. Distinct categories form the period. For instance, all the area plot demos are bound to theSales DataSet
containing several fields, including theSalesDate
for each data record. The plot'sCategory
is set to{MonthName(Month(SalesDate))}
expression. Therefore the plot goes through theSales DataSet
, finds the distinct months from theSalesDate
values, and generates one category per month. If you preview a demo output, you can see 12 months along the horizontal axis.The
Category Sorting
configuration determines the order of the category values appearance. For instance, the demo plots have theCategory Sort Expression = {Month(SalesDate)}, Category Sort Direction = Ascending
settings to ensure chronological order.
The Chart Wizard
offers the simplified editor of the Categories Encoding
in the Data Categories
section:
A single Category Expression displayed as
Field
is available.The
Sorting
configuration of the Category Encoding displays theSort direction
property only. TheSort Expression
is automatically set to the same value as theField
property has.
Details Encoding
The Details Encoding
allows you to break down those above Data Values
into subcategories for more granular analysis of changes.
The Details
property of the Area
plot is the collection of items that define these subcategories. Each item includes several properties:
The
Values
is usually one or more bound field references. Bound DataSet Records with the same values of these fields fall into the same subcategory. For instance, in the area demos, the plotDetails
value is{ProductCategory}
. Consequently, theNet Sales
area breaks down into multiple subsections corresponding to distinct product categories.The
Exclude Nulls
flag indicates whether DataSet Records with an undefinedDetails Value
should be excluded from the visualization.The
Group
property determines how the plot arranges area subsections.Stack
- a plot places area subsections on top of each other. You can use this value to configure aStacked Area
plot.Cluster
- area subsections overlap each other. The Clustered Area Demo uses this value for the plot details.None
- equals toCluster
.
The
Sorting
configuration determines the order of subsections appearance.
The Chart Wizard
offers the simplified editor of the Details Encoding
in the Data Subcategories
section:
A single Details Encoding item is available.
A single
Value
item displayed asField
is available.The
Group
property of the Detail Encoding is displayed asBreak-down method.
The
Sorting
configuration of the Details Encoding displays theSort direction
property only. TheSort Expression
is automatically set to theField
value.
Colors Encoding
The Colors Encoding
enables the color legend of the Details Encoding
and includes the Color
expression and the optional Color Aggregate
function that reduces many Color
values into a single one.
The plot calculates distinct Color Encoding
results for the subcategories produced by the Details Encoding
, converts them to fill color of corresponding areas, and displays the match between colors and encoding results in the legend. Colors come from the Chart Palette.
For instance, the area plot demos use the {ProductCategory}
expression for the Colors Encoding. Consequently, the report output shows the colors legend that matches Product Categories with fill color of corresponding areas.
Note: The Color
property is the collection, but the Area
plot takes the first item only.
Plot look-and-feel
The following properties allow you to fine-tune the outfit of shapes that form the Area
plot. You can see their effect in action by modifying the configuration of any area demo.
The Opacity
is a number in percentage that determine the opacity of areas filled with color. 100%
means they are opaque, and 0%
means that they are entirely transparent.
The Line Aspect
property determines the style of the line that connects data points.
Default
means the straight lineSpline
means the bezier curveStep Center
,Step Left
andStep Right
mean the stepped line with different step directions.
The Show Nulls
property indicates the arrangement of data points for Null
values.
Gaps
means that the plot will not draw a line between a null data point and its previous and next pointsZero
means that null data points will be considered to have0
valueConnected
means that the plot will connect the previous and the next points of a null point
The Clipping Mode
indicates the manner that the plot area draws a plot:
Fit
value means that the plot area should use all the available space to fit the plotClip
value means that the plot area cuts off the plot on the edge of its right or bottom paddingNone
value equals toFit
The line properties in the Style
section determine the appearance of lines that connect data points.
The color expression in the Background
section sets the fill color of areas and overwrites the Color Encoding
described earlier.
Tooltip and Labels Template
Data points can display labels with the following content that you can set up using the Label Text Template
expression.
You can choose one of the following values in the drop-down list.
Value Field Name
usually means the field name bound to aData Value
.Value Field Value
means the currentData Value
within the containing Category or Details.Percentage In Details
means the percentage share of the currentData Value
among all the values with the sameDetails
.Percentage In Category
means the percentage share of the currentData Value
among all the values with the sameCategory
.Category Field Name
usually means the field name bound to theCategory Encoding
.Category Field Value
means the currentCategory Encoding
value.Details Field Name
usually means the field name bound to theDetails Encoding
.Details Field Value
means the currentDetails Encoding
value.Color Field Name
usually means the field name bound to theColor Encoding
.Color Field Value
means the currentColor Encoding
value.
Also, you could use the template's Expression Editor to set the formatting for these values using the interpolation syntax and supported format strings. For instance, you can set the Label Text Template
to {valueField.value:C2}
in the Stacked Area Demo to display Net Sales Amount as currency.
Labels Appearance
A subset of text properties in the Label Text
section and the line properties in the Label Border
section allow you to set up the corresponding visual parameters of the plot labels.
The Label Position
and an optional Offset
in pixels determine the location of labels relative to a parent data point symbol:
Inside
- on the bottomOutside
- on the topCenter
- on the centerAuto
- equals toOutside
The Overlapping Labels
property indicates the handling of overlapping labels. Possible values are:
Auto
- hides some labels to prevent the overlappingShow
- shows all labels even if the overlapping persists
The line properties in the Label Line
section allows you to add the connecting lines between labels and their parent data points. The Label Line Position
determines the connection point of a label's bounding box and the line:
Auto
- selected automaticallyCenter
- on the center of the bounding box side
Action
This group of properties determine the Interactive Action when a report reader clicks inside a filled area. You can use bound field references to pass parameters in a drill-through report or configure a dynamic bookmark or URL. The field value is evaluated in the scope of the current detail. Visit the Drill-Through Reports Walkthrough for more information. It explains how to set up the drill-through column plot, but the same technique is applicable for an area plot.
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