The Line Charts represent the data points connected using straight lines. A line chart arranges a period horizontally, encodes data points into Symbols, and connects them by line segments. As the most basic chart type, Line Chart is highly beneficial in visualizing data trends as they compare values against periodic intervals such as temperature, time, etc. Some of the good examples that can be conveniently demonstrated through a line chart are the monthly average sale of a product and the closing prices of a stock in a given time frame.
A Single Line chart helps you visualize the changes of a single data value. The Create Single Line Chart walkthrough showcases plotting the changes in Product Returns over a year.
Single Line Chart
A Multiple Line chart lets you split the data values into subcategories for granular analysis of the total changes. The Create Multiple Line Chart walkthrough showcases plotting the change in the Net Sales of products over a year for two Sales Channels.
Multiple Line Chart
A Multiple Values Line chart lets you display changes of related or unrelated data values over the same period. For example, the Multiple Values Line Chart can be used to show the change of the Net Sales, the Cost of Goods Sold, and the Net Income for a product in a year as shown.
Multiple Values Line Chart
The Line Plot properties discussed below can be accessed from the Properties Panel on selecting the Chart > Plot from the Report Explorer. You can access some of the important properties from the Plot's Smart Panel too. See Chart Smart Panels topic for more information. Both the Properties Panel and the Smart Panel can be accessed by right-clicking the plot in the design area.
The action to perform when the line plot is clicked. The action can be a hyperlink, a bookmark, or a drill-through.
The data labels for each line chart.
The line style for the borders. Includes LineColor, LineStyle, and LineWidth properties for customization.
The name of the plot. By default, a chart containing a single plot has the plot name as 'Plot1'.
Represents the properties that allow you to customize the look of symbols that form the Line plot.
Contains the tooltip template settings. You can choose from the list of predefined settings or set your own in the Expression Editor.
The Clipping Mode determines how a plot extends within the plot area. The ClippingMode can be set to
The Line Aspect determines the line style that connects data points.
The Opacity is the percentage value of the opacity of the plot fill color. 100% opacity means that the plot fill color is opaque while 0% opacity means that the plot fill color is completely transparent.
Overlays property is a collection for superimposing the data trend on a plot. For more information, see Trendlines topic.
Rules control the appearance of plots based on specified conditions. For more information on conditions, see Rules topic.
Represents how null or empty values should be shown in the plot - Gaps (default), Connected, or Zeros.
Indicates whether the axes are swapped.
Represents the opacity value of symbol fill color.
The Category Encoding of a line plot is a set of properties that determine the period over which the plot generates connected data points representing the Data Values. The Category encoding includes the following properties.
Values
The Values property is the collection and takes the field as a category.
SortingField
The SortingField defines the order in which the categories are displayed. It takes the default same as the Values field, but you can also specify another field to sort the categories.
SortDirection
The SortDirection defines the ascending or descending order in which the categories should be sorted.
SortingAggregate
The SortingAggregate property specifies the aggregate to use for sorting the categories.
The Colors Encoding enables the color legend of the Details or Category Encoding. It includes the following properties:
Action
The action to take when the color legend is clicked.
Aggregate
Aggregates the value of Color expression.
ShowValuesName
If set to True, the legend is displayed based on the value specified in Details encoding or Color encoding.
Values
The Values is the collection where the value of the Color expression is specified. However, the Line plots take the first item from the collection.
The Details Encoding breaks down the data values into subcategories and produces additional groups. The Details property is the collection of items and each item includes the following properties that define the Details encoding:
The Shape Encoding enables the shape legend of the Details or Category Encoding and includes the Aggregate function and shape expression, which is elaborated below:
Action
The action to take when the shape legend is clicked.
Aggregate
To show aggregated values such as Average, Count, and Sum instead of individual values, specify an Aggregate function.
Value
The Value property is the collection and usually takes a bound field. However, the Line plots take the first item from the collection.
The Size Encoding enables the Aggregate function and Size expression. The Size Encoding works solely with numeric values and breaks down data values into ranges that determine the symbol size.
Action
The action to take when the size legend is clicked.
Aggregate
To show aggregated values such as Average, Count, and Sum instead of individual values, specify an Aggregate function.
Value
The Value property is the collection and usually takes a bound field. However, the Line plots take the first item from the collection.
The Values encoding specifies the data values and represents the collection of items and each item includes the following properties.
Type
The Type property provides 'Simple' and 'Complex' options to choose from. However, for Line plots, 'Simple' is acceptable.
Value
The Value property is the collection and usually takes a bound field. However, the Line plots take the first item from the collection.
Aggregate
To show aggregated values such as Average, Count, and Sum instead of individual values, specify an Aggregate function.
The Text Encoding provides support of any dataset field in chart labels and tooltips and allows displaying additional info on the chart. When two text encodings are added, they are displayed by default with the ";" delimiter. A text encoding includes the following properties:
Aggregate
Aggregates the value of the Text expression.
Target
Specifies whether this text is for a Label or a Tooltip Label. The label format is controlled with the chart's Labels > Template property or Tooltip Template property.
The Template property can use both the predefined values and the added text encoding fields, for example:
Count:{Text0}
Sum:{valueField.value}
Template Key
A unique key, used in the chart plot's Labels > Template and Tooltip Template to access the text encoding value.
Value
A field, constant or expression to be displayed.
