Tag: Path

Can you build a parallel coordinates chart?

Donna ColesLeave a comment

This week’s challenge uses data I collated from the stats vest my daughter wears during her football matches and training sessions. The data provided is already pre-filtered to the 2024-25 season and her Reading U15 team.

If you want to watch a video which demonstrates the concept then this video by Andy Kriebel will help. But if you prefer to read, then carry on 🙂

Building out the calculations

In creating this chart we need to normalise all the different stats we want to show; that is we want to convert every measure into a spread between 0 and 1. To do this we calculate the difference between the value and the minimum value as a proportion of the full range of values (that is the difference between the min and max values). We use table calculations for this.

Total Distance (km)

(SUM([Distance – Total (KM)]) – WINDOW_MIN(SUM([Distance – Total (KM)])))
/
(WINDOW_MAX(SUM([Distance – Total (KM)])) – WINDOW_MIN(SUM([Distance – Total (KM)])) )

format to 4 dp

Distance / Min (m)

(SUM([Distance per Min]) – WINDOW_MIN(SUM([Distance per Min])))
/
(WINDOW_MAX(SUM([Distance per Min])) – WINDOW_MIN(SUM([Distance per Min])) )

format to 4 dp

HSR Distance (m)

(SUM([HSR – Total (M)]) – WINDOW_MIN(SUM([HSR – Total (M)])))
/
(WINDOW_MAX(SUM([HSR – Total (M)])) – WINDOW_MIN(SUM([HSR – Total (M)])) )

format to 4 dp

HI Distance (m)

(SUM([HI Distance – Total (M)]) – WINDOW_MIN(SUM([HI Distance – Total (M)])))
/
(WINDOW_MAX(SUM([HI Distance – Total (M)])) – WINDOW_MIN(SUM([HI Distance – Total (M)])) )

format to 4 dp

Max Speed (m/s)

(SUM([Speed – Max (m/s)]) – WINDOW_MIN(SUM([Speed – Max (m/s)])))
/
(WINDOW_MAX(SUM([Speed – Max (m/s)])) – WINDOW_MIN(SUM([Speed – Max (m/s)])) )

format to 4 dp

NOTE – in my solution I called these fields Norm – xxxx . After putting on the chart, I aliased them to the names above. Creating with the actual names I used is the simpler solution 🙂 I don’t know why I didn’t just rename them…

On a new sheet, add Game ID to Rows, and then add all the original key measures and their associated normalised values into the table, so each original measure is next to its normalised value. If you sort by one of the original measures from largest to smallest, you should see that the associated normalised value is distributed from 1 at the top of the list to 0 at the bottom.

The other key requirement for this viz is to identify a selected opposition. For this we create a parameter based on the Opposition field. Right click on Opposition > Create > Parameter and the following dialog with the list of opposition teams pre-populated will display. I set the default as Chelsea Ladies U14

Opposition Parameter

The create a new field

Highlight Match

[Opposition] = [Opposition Parameter]

Show the Opposition Parameter control and add Highlight Match to Rows.

Now we can start building the viz.

Building the chart

On a new sheet, add Game ID to Detail, then add Total Distance (km) to Rows. Adjust the table calculation of the field to be computing by Game ID.

Then add Distance / Min (m) onto the sheet, by dragging the field and dropping it on the y-axis when the 2-column icon appears

This will automatically add Measure Names and Measure Values into the display, including a Measure Values ‘box’

Adjust the table calc of the Distance / Min (m) field to compute by Game ID. Reorder the fields in the Measure Values box, and then change the mark type to line. Set to Fit Width.

Add the other 3 normalised fields into the view, by adding the field into the Measure Values box, and adjusting the table calc each time.

We now have the core viz, we just need to format it and add the additional features.

Show the Opposition Parameter control. Add Highlight Match to the Colour shelf. Adjust colours and re-order so True is listed first. Adjust all the table calcs in the 5 measures so they are also now computing by both Game ID and Highlight Match.

Now add H/A to the Detail shelf and change to be an Attribute (this means by default it is excluded from the table calcs, so we don’t need to make all those adjustments again). Then change the icon to the left of the pill from Detail to Colour, so there are now two fields on the Colour shelf. Adjust to suit.

Add Highlight Match to the Size shelf, and then adjust the size to be reversed, so the True lines are thicker.

Create a new field

Label: Opposition

IF [Highlight Match] THEN [Opposition] END

And add this to the Label shelf and set to be an Attribute. Adjust the Label property so it’s just labelling the line ends and label end of line. Ensure labels set to overlap to, and set font to bold and to match mark colour and align top right.

Alias the field H/A (right click field > aliases) so they display as Home and Away. Then add the following fields to the Tooltip : Category, Cup/League, H/A, Opposition, Round and Date. Also add the following measures to the Tooltip : Distance – Total (KM), Distance per Min, HI Distance – Total (M), HSR – Total (M), Speed – Max (m/s). Then adjust and format the Tooltip

To create the vertical lines, add another copy of Measure Values to the Rows which will create a Measure Values (2) marks card. Remove all the fields from this card except the Game ID. And then move Game ID to the Path shelf which has the effect of creating the vertical lines

Adjust the Colour of the line and then add Measure Names to the Label shelf. Set the label to Min/Max by pane, for the Measure Values field. Align centrally.

Set the chart to dual axis and synchronise the axis. Hide all the axis, and the Measure Names labels at the bottom (uncheck show header against the pills). Remove all row/column dividers and gridlines/zero lines etc. Set the background colour (if desired).

Adding the interactivity

Add the chart to a dashboard then create a dashboard parameter action

Set Opposition

On select of the viz, set the Opposition Parameter parameter, with the value from the Opposition field. Set the value to <empty> when cleared.

Adding the information panel

Add a floating Text object onto the dashboard. Copy and paste the information from the challenge page. Resize and reposition the text box as required. Set the background of the text object and add a border to make it prominent. Then from the context menu of the object, select the Add Show/Hide Button option. The Show/Hide object will appear as an X. Move this into the required position and re-adjust the text object to suit too.

And that should then be it. My published viz is here.

Happy vizzin’!

Donna

Can you build a satellite chart to represent values exceeding 100%

Donna ColesLeave a comment

For this week’s challenge, we’re using the data from a previous challenge and visualising it using Sam Parson’s ‘satellite’ chart idea – see here.

Modelling the data

Connect to the Food Self-Sufficiency csv file then add another connection to the Circle_Scaffold excel file. Relate the two together using a relationship calculation where 1 = 1 (ie relate every row in left hand data source to every row in the right hand).

Since we only care about data from FY2019, add a data source filter to set Fiscal Year = FY2019.

This saves us from having to apply that filter to each sheet we build.

Building a single spiral

On a new sheet, add Prefecture to the Filter shelf and select Akita-ken (which is near the top of the list and has a % value over 200%).

Create a parameter

pMinRadius

integer parameter defaulted to 500

To build the spiral, we need to plot a mark for every percentage point from 0 up to the Food Self-Sufficiency % value. For this we will need to determine an (x,y) coordinate value for each point, which will require some trigonometry, based on the diagram below

For each point on the circle, we will need to identify the x & y position of where the radius intersects the edge of the circle. As we are building a spiral, the radius of the circle will increase as we move around each percentage point, so we need

Radius

[pMinRadius]+[Path Percent Point]

We then need to determine the angle θ. As a circle is 360°, and a complete circle represents 100%, then 1% is 360/100, so the angle (in radians) for each % point plotted round the circle can be calculated as

Angle

RADIANS([Path Percent Point] * (360/100))

X

(SIN([Angle]) * [Radius])/360

Y

(COS([Angle]) * [Radius])/360

Now create the point

Spiral Point

MAKEPOINT([X],[Y])

Note – the X & Y values are divided by 360 due to the spiral we’re building and the increasing radius when displayed using map layers. If we were just plotting X against Y and not using map layers, this wouldn’t be required.

Double click on Spiral Point to automatically add Longitude and Latitude fields to the sheet.

Change the mark type to line and then add Path Percent Point to the Path shelf.

Add Prefecture to the Detail shelf, as it’ll be needed later when we build the trellis and remove the filter.

At this point, the spiral is showing 3 complete revolutions, as the data in the circle_scaffold data set contains info for up to 300%. We need to restrict it so we only show up to the Self-sufficiency ratio… so we need

Filter Percent Point Displayed

[Path Percent Point] <=[Self-sufficiency ratio for food in calorie base 【%】]

Add this to Filter shelf and set to True.

We now want to colour the spiral based on the percentage point associated to each mark plotted being <100%, between 100% & 199% or >= 200%, so we can use

Colour – Spiral

FLOOR([Path Percent Point]/100)

which will return an integer of 0, 1, or 2

Change this field to be discrete and then add it to the colour shelf and adjust colours accordingly.

Now obviously, you might be thinking things aren’t quite right – we’re not starting at the top and rotating differently. Simply pressing the swap rows and columns icon in the menu bar will resolve this, but if we do that too early, we lose the ability to add map layers, so leave as is for now.

Add the label map layer

Create a 0 point

Zero

MAKEPOINT(0,0)

Drag this onto the canvas and drop when the Add a Marks Layer option appears

This has the effect of creating a 2nd marks card

and now we have this, we can press the swap rows and columns icon in the menu bar to get the start of the spiral at X=0

Change the mark type to circle and add Self-sufficiency ratio… and Prefecture to the Label shelf. Adjust the font style and align centrally. Set the colour of the circle to white and increase the size. Move the Zero marks card to be below the Spiral Point marks card.

Rename the marks cards if you wish.

Add the starting point map layer

We need to create a point for the start of each line which is at the 0% mark

Start Point

MAKEPOINT((IF [Path Percent Point] = 0 THEN [X] END), (IF [Path Percent Point] = 0 THEN [Y] END))

Add this as a new marks layer. Change the mark type to circle and increase the size a bit. Colour the mark to the same base colour you used for your <100% range and remove the border. Rename the marks card to 3.Start Point

Add the end point map layers

Create a new point to represent the end of each line

End Point

MAKEPOINT((IF [Path Percent Point]= [Self-sufficiency ratio for food in calorie base 【%】] THEN [X] END), (IF [Path Percent Point]= [Self-sufficiency ratio for food in calorie base 【%】] THEN [Y] END))

Add this as a new marks layer. Change the mark type to circle and increase the size a bit. Add Colour-Spiral to the Colour shelf as a discrete dimension (blue disaggregated pill) and remove the border. Rename the marks card to 4.End Point Outer.

Add another instance of End Point as another marks layer. Again change the mark type to circle and adjust the size so it is smaller than the previous circle, and set the Colour to white. Rename the marks card to 5.End Point Inner.

Tidy up by

  • removing the Tooltip from each layer
  • disabling selection of each map layer (so nothing happens when you hover over it)
  • Hide the axis
  • Remove axis rulers and gridlines, but make sure the zero lines are shown
  • Hide the null indicator

Name the sheet Single Spiral or similar.

Building the trellis

Duplicate the single spiral (so if things go awry, you can get back to this). Then start by adding Prefecture to the Detail sheet of all the marks card.

When creating trellis charts, we need to create fields that represent which row and which column each Prefecture should sit in. There’s lots of blogs on creating trellis charts. As we know the number of rows and columns we need, I created

Cols

INT((INDEX()-1)%10)

Rows

INT((INDEX()-1)/10)

and make both fields discrete.

Add Cols to Columns and Rows to Rows. Adjust the table calculation setting of each field so it is computing by Prefecture only, and custom sorted descending by Self-sufficiency ratio…

Then show the Prefecture filter and select all values to display the ordered set of Prefectures.

Hide the Rows and Cols fields, remove row & column dividers. Adjust the size of the start and end point circles to suit, and if the zero lines aren’t showing, reduce the size of the label circle map layer and fit to Entire View.

Then name this sheet Trellis or similar and add to the dashboard.

My published viz is here

Happy vizzin’!

Donna

Can you visualise yearly rank change in Sub-Category sales?

Donna ColesLeave a comment

Yusuke set this interesting challenge : to combine a ‘bump’/’slope’ chart visualising the change in rank whilst also visually displaying the Sales value for the relevant Sub-Category in the ranked position.

Defining the calculations

This challenge will involve table calculations, so I’m going to start by building out the various calculations that will be required and displaying in a tabular view.

Add Category to Filter and select Office Supplies. Then add Sub-Category and Order Date at the Year level as a discrete (blue) pill to Rows. Add Sales to Text.

Create a new field

Sales Rank

RANK(SUM([Sales]))

And add to the table, and verify the table calculation is set to compute by Sub-Category only.

We will need to ‘colour’ the viz based on the rank compared to the previous year. For this create

Is Min Year

{MIN(YEAR([Order Date]))} = YEAR([Order Date])

which will return true for the first year in the data (in this instance 2022) and then create

Colour

IF [Sales Rank] = LOOKUP([Sales Rank],-1) OR ATTR([Is Min Year]) THEN ‘Same as last year’
ELSE ‘Different from last year’
END

If the rank is the same as the previous one, or it’s the first year, then treat as the same, otherwise treat as different.

Add the Colour field to the table, and this time make sure the table calculation for Colour is computing by Year of Order Date only (while the nested calc for Sales Rank should still be computed by Sub-Category only)

The labels on the viz only want to show in certain scenarios – if it’s the first record (ie for 2022) or there has been a change in rank. We need

Label : Rank & Sub Cat

IF ATTR([Is Min Year]) OR [Colour] = ‘Different from last year’ THEN STR([Sales Rank]) + ‘ | ‘ + MIN([Sub-Category]) END

and

Label : Sales

IF ATTR([Is Min Year]) OR [Colour] = ‘Different from last year’ THEN SUM([Sales]) END

format this to $ with 0dp

Add these to the sheet, and double check the nested table calculations on each pill are computing as required (Sales Rank by Sub-Category only, Colour by Year Order Date only)

Now we have all this, we can start building

Creating the Viz

On a new sheet, add Category to Filter and select Office Supplies. The add Order Date to Columns, but set to be continuous (green) pill at the Year level. Add Sub-Category to Detail and add Sales Rank to Rows as a discrete (blue) pill. Verify the table calculation setting against the Sales Rank pill is by Sub-Category only.

Change the mark type to line and then add Order Date to Path. By default it should be at the Year level as a discrete pill.

This is the ‘bump’ chart.

Now add another instance of Order Date to Columns as a continuous pill at the Year level to essentially duplicate the display. On the 2nd marks card, change the mark type to Gantt

This gives us the ‘starting point’ for each ‘bar’. But we need to determine the size for each bar. First we’re going to ‘normalise’ the sales values for all the sales being displayed so we get a value between 0 and 1, where 0 is the smallest sale, and 1 is the largest.

Normalised Sales

((SUM([Sales]) – WINDOW_MIN(SUM([Sales]))) / (WINDOW_MAX(SUM([Sales])) – WINDOW_MIN(SUM([Sales]))))

To see what this is doing, format the field to 2dp, then add the field to the tabular view, and ensure the table calculation is computing by both Sub-Category and Year Order Date.

But the ‘axis’ we want to plot the bar length against is in years, so we need to adjust this size to be a proportion of a year (ie 365 days)

Gantt Size

//proportion of a year
[Normalised Sales] * 365

Add this to the Size shelf on the 2nd marks card on the viz. Adjust the table calc setting so it is computing by all the fields listed.

We now have the core concept so now we can start finalising the display.

Make the chart dual axis and synchronise the axis.

Set the view to fit height.

On the 1st marks card (that represents the line)

  • change the line style to dotted (via the Path shelf)
  • reduce the Size to suit
  • change the colour to pale grey
  • Add Label : Sales and Label : Rank & Sub Cat to the Label shelf.
    • Adjust the table calc settings of each so the nested table calcs in each have Sales Ranks by Sub Category only and Colour by both the Year Order Date fields only.
    • Adjust the layout of the text as required
    • Align the font to be top right
    • Change the font style (bold & black)
    • Ensure the Label is set to ‘allow labels to overlap marks’
  • Remove the Tooltip

On the 2nd marks card, the gantt bar

  • Add Colour to the Colour shelf and adjust the colours accordingly.
    • Verify the table calc settings are as expected
    • I chose to reduce the opacity slightly, so I could see the dotted line underneath (set to 70%)
  • Add Sales to Tooltip (format to $ with 0 dp) and the adjust Tooltip as required

Then we just ned to finalise the formatting/display

  • Set the font of the years and rank numbers to black & bold.
  • hide the Sales Rank label heading (right click > hide field labels for rows)
  • remove row & column dividers
  • Add black column gridlines (I set to the 2nd thickness level), and remove any row gridlines
  • Edit the top axis to have a fixed start (use default option) and end at 31/12/2025 so the 2026 label and line disappears.
  • Remove the title from the top axis.
  • Edit the bottom axis – remove the tile, and then set the tick marks to None, so the bottom axis now looks empty.

And that should be it. Now add the sheet to a dashboard and display the category filter as a single select, customising the remove the ‘all’ option.

My published viz is here

Happy vizzin’!

Donna

Can you create this seemingly simple line chart?

Donna ColesLeave a comment

Lorna set this week’s #WOW2025 challenge asking us to recreate what looked to be a simple line and area chart combination. I have to admit this was indeed a bit tricksy. I built out the data relatively quickly, but when trying to create the area chart I just wasn’t getting any joy.

After lots of trial and error, attempting various options, I eventually resorted to checking out Lorna’s solution. I found there were two specific areas that were causing the creation of the area chart to fail..why this happens is still a mystery….

Before we get on with the solution, I figured it was worth detailing at the start what I tried that failed, just in case you’ve been banging your head against a brick wall too 🙂

What didn’t work

The solution requires table calculations; for one calculation we need a percent of sales per quarter which means we also need to work out the total sales for the quarter. I originally used a FIXED LOD for this but found I could only get the area chart to work if I used a WINDOW_SUM() table calculation instead.

This challenge also requires all the customers for each quarter to be in the view to identify which are in the top X. I used a sorted INDEX() table calculation to identify the top X, but this too failed to work when it came to actually creating the area chart. Using the RANK() table calculation instead worked.

Like I said before why? I don’t know… but putting down as one of ‘just those things’ and hoping that maybe I’ll remember this post in future if it happens again!

Now back to the solution guide…

Creating the calculations

We’re dealing with table calculations, so I’m going to build out the required data in a tabular format to start with.

Create a parameter

pTop

Integer parameter ranging from 5 to 20 with the step size of 5 defaulted to 20

Show this parameter on the sheet, and then create a calculated field

Order Date (Quarters)

DATE(DATETRUNC(‘quarter’, [Order Date]))

Format to the YYYY QX style.  Add Order Date (Quarters) to Rows as a discrete exact date (blue pill). Add Customer Name to Rows and add Sales to Text.

We need to identify customers who are in the top x for each quarter. Create a new calculated field

Is Top X Customer?

RANK(SUM([Sales]))<=[pTop]

Add to Rows and adjust the table calculation so it is computing by Customer Name only. 

We now want the Sales just for those customers who are in the top x, so create

Top X Sales

IF [Is Top X Customer?] THEN SUM([Sales]) END

Add this field to Rows and we should see that Sales are only displayed for those customers that where Is Top X Customer? = True.

We now need the total of these sales per quarter so create

Total Top X Sales

WINDOW_SUM([Top X Sales])

Add this to the table and adjust the table calculation so both nested calculations are computing by just Customer Name. You should see that the total value is the same for every row for each quarter 

We also need the value of the total sales in the quarter regardless of whether the customer is in the top X or not so create

Total Sales per Quarter 

WINDOW_SUM(SUM([Sales]))

Add this to the table and again adjust the table calculation to compute by Customer Name only.

Now we have these two figures we can calculate the percentage. Create a new calculated field

Sales % per Quarter 

[Total Top X Sales]/[Total Sales per Quarter]

Format this as a % to 1dp. Add to the table.

Duplicate this sheet. I like to do this as I make further changes so I don’t want to lose what I had.

Remove all the surplus field so that only Order Date (Quarters), Customer Name and the Sales % per Quarter fields remain 

Create a new field

Customer Index

INDEX() 

Convert this field to discrete (right click on the field).

Add this field to the Filter shelf and select 1. Adjust the table calculation so that it is computing using Customer Name only and sorted by SUM of Sales 

Re-edit the filter and reselect 1 (making changes to the table calculation resets the filter values). 

If everything has been set properly then you should end up with 1 row per quarter. Move the Customer Name pill from Rows to Detail.

We’ve now got the core fields we need to build the viz.

Building the Viz

Once again start by duplicating this sheet. Move Order Date (Quarters) to Columns and change to be continuous (green pill), then move Sales % per Quarter to Rows.

Add another instance of Order Date (Quarters) to the path shelf and change to be an attribute. You should now have a line chart. Increase the size of the line a little.

Add another instance of Sales % per Quarter to Rows, making sure the table calculation is set exactly as the existing version. Change the mark type of the 2nd marks card to Area.

Make the chart dual axes and synchronise axes .

Finally, tidy up the chart by 

  • Adjusting the Tooltip 
  • Removing gridlines, zero lines and row/column dividers
  • Hide the right hand axis 
  • Fix the left hand axis to end at 1 (so the axis goes to 100%)
  • Edit the left hand axis title
  • Update the sheet title to reference the pTop parameter

Then add the viz to a dashboard. My published viz is here.

Happy vizzin’!

Donna

Can you build a Measure Names Waterfall?

Donna Coles1 Comment

I’ve been on my holibobs, so haven’t blogged a solution for a few weeks. It’s been a bit of a struggled to get my head re-engaged to be honest, as I’m sure you can all relate to.

Anyway this week’s challenge was set by Sean, to produce a waterfall chart depicting specific measures without any pivoting.

I had a little bit of an initial struggle with this… firstly I assumed from the title of the challenge that I would need to be using Measure Names/Measure Values, and secondly, as nothing was mentioned, that I just had to use the data provided. This is how far I got…

but I couldn’t figure out how to get the sizes of the gantt bars inverted for some of the measures…

So I had a bit of a Google, and came across this video by one of our old WOW alumni, Luke Stanke. It made use of a scaffold data source which basically provide placeholders for each of the specific measures we want to display. Sean hadn’t explicitly said we’d need a scaffold, but then he hadn’t explicitly said we couldn’t use one either… so I had a quick peak at his solution, and I found he had used one.

So I went about recreating the challenge just by following Luke’s video. As a result, this blog won’t be as detailed, but I’ll detail the core information needed.

The scaffold data set

I created a simple excel sheet on 1 column called Points with values 1 to 5 listed.

This was then related to the Financials.csv data Sean provided using a relationship calculation of 1=1 as demonstrated in the video.

The calculations

4 calculations are created in the video

Label

CASE [Point]
WHEN 1 THEN ‘Gross Sales’
WHEN 2 THEN ‘Discounts’
WHEN 3 THEN ‘Net Sales’
WHEN 4 THEN ‘COGS’
WHEN 5 THEN ‘Profit’
END

Start

CASE [Point]
WHEN 1 THEN 0
WHEN 2 THEN [Gross Sales]
WHEN 3 THEN 0
WHEN 4 THEN [Gross Sales] – [Discounts]
WHEN 5 THEN 0
END

Value

CASE [Point]
WHEN 1 THEN [Gross Sales]
WHEN 2 THEN [Discounts] * -1
WHEN 3 THEN [Gross Sales] – [Discounts]
WHEN 4 THEN [Cogs] * -1
WHEN 5 THEN [Profit]
END

format this to $, millions with 2 dp.

Colour

SIGN(SUM([Value]))

convert this to discrete

Note on the date field

When I connected to the csv, I found the dates were being displayed to me in the UK format so a date in source of 06/01/2024 was reporting as 6th Jan, when it was intended to represent 1st Jun. There’s probably something I could have done with regional settings etc, but the quickest way for me to resolve as create

Date Adjust

MAKEDATE(YEAR([Date]), DAY([Date]), MONTH([Date]))

which just transposed the month & day and gave me the dates expected.

Building the Viz

Add Date to Filter, select Month-Year and select May 2024. Add Label to Columns and apply a Sort to sort by Point ascending. Add Start to Rows and change the Mark type to Gantt

Add Value to Size and Colour to Colour and adjust colours to suit

Add Value to Label and adjust font to match mark colour and increase size and style, Set the sheet to Entire View. Uncheck Show Tooltip.

Double click into the Rows shelf and type SUM([Start]) + SUM([Value]). This will create a second marks card. Change the mark type of this to line and remove all fields from the marks card shelf. Set the line type (via the Path shelf) to stepped and manually adjust colour to black.

Set the chart to dual axis and synchronise axis, then right click on the right hand axis and move marks to back.

Finally tidy the display up by hiding both axis, removing row & column dividers, hiding the Label title (right click and hide field label for columns) and formatting the Measure Name labels to a larger, darker font style.

Add fields Country, Product and Segment to the Filter shelf, then add to a dashboard.

My published viz is here.

Happy vizzin’!

Donna

Connected Scatterplots

Donna ColesLeave a comment

Sean set this challenge this week, to build a connected scatterplot to allow additional insights to be gained.

We need to show a circle per country related to the specified year, and then show the data for all years if a country is specified from the drop down, or ‘clicked on’ by the user; these data points are all then connected.

Let’s start by building up the various parameters and calculated fields needed to help with this.

Setting up the data

For the user inputs, I used parameters

pYear

Integer parameter, defaulted to 2000, displayed in a format so no thousand separators are shown. I populated the list using the values from the Year field.

pCountry

string parameter defaulted to All. I populated the list of entries by first adding values from the Country field. I then manually added an All entry to the bottom of the list and dragged it to the top. I could then set All as the default value.

On a new sheet, show these parameters.

We’re going to use a dual axis chart to display the viz, and for this, we’re going to get the relevant measures for the specific Year and for the specific Country.

To see what I’m aiming for, lets’ build out the data in a table. Add Country to Columns and Year to Rows. Display the values of Fertility Rate and Life Expectancy. This just gives us all the data points

But we only want the points related to the pYear (2000) or if pCountry if it’s not All (in this case Afghanistan).

So we create

Fertility Rate for Year

[Year] = [pYear] THEN [Fertility Rate] END

Life Expectancy for Year

IF [Year] = [pYear] THEN [Life Expectancy] END

format these to 1 dp and then add to the table. The fields only contain values for the specified pYear.

Create

Fertility Rate for Country

IF [Country] = [pCountry] THEN [Fertility Rate] END

Life Expectancy for Country

IF [Country] = [pCountry] THEN [Life Expectancy] END

format these to 1 dp and also add to the table. We now have these entries only existing for the selected pCountry.

If pCountry is set to All, the Fertility Rate for Country and Life Expectancy for Country are empty for every Country.

We now have the basics we need to build the viz.

Building the ScatterPlot

On a new sheet, show the parameters, then add Fertility Rate for Year to Columns and Life Expectancy for Year to Rows and Country to Detail. Change the mark type to circle. Adjust the Tooltip.

Create a new field

All Countries

[pCountry] = ‘All’

and add to the Colour shelf. Adjust the colours so when pCountry = All, the All Countries colour legend is True and displays a darker instance of a colour, as opposed to when pCountry is set to something else, and the All Countries colour legend is false.

Now add Fertility Rate for Country to Columns and Life Expectancy for Country to Rows. Change both fields to be Dimensions. On the 2nd marks card, add Year to Detail. and remove the All Countries field from the Colour shelf. Change the mark type to line and move Year to Path. Set the colour accordingly.

Then set both the Rows and Columns to be Dual Axis and synchronise both axis. Remove Measure Names from the colour shelf on the all marks card.

Adjust the Tooltip of the 2nd (line) marks card.

Add Year to the Label shelf of the 2nd marks card and update so it just displays for the Min & Max value. Adjust font size and style.

On the first marks card (the circle) add Country to Label and adjust so it only displays when selected.

Hide the right and top axis. Remove row & column dividers. Hide the null indicator and update the title of the axes. Name the sheet Scatterplot or similar.

Building the Dashboard

Add the sheet to a dashboard, and float the parameters into a suitable location. Add a floating text box that references the pYear parameter and position bottom left of the chart. Add a parameter action to update the pCountry parameter when a circle is clicked.

Click Country

On select of the Scatterplot Viz, set the pCountry parameter, passing in the value from the Country field. When cleared, set the parameter back to All.

Finally, if you click a circle to select a Country, you’ll find that the circles ‘fade out’ more than what you want – you want them to look the same as the colour when a country is selected via the dropdown. Essentially, you want all the circles to be ‘highlighted’ on click. To do this, create a new field

HL

“Highlight”

and add this to the Detail shelf on the scatterplot sheet. Then on the dashboard, add a Highlight action

HL marks on click

On select of the scatterplot viz, target itself, highlighting the HL selected field

And that should be it. My published viz is here.

Happy vizzin’!

Donna

Formatting & Intermediate Tableau Charts

Donna ColesLeave a comment

Erica set this challenge primarily aimed at building a beautifully presented dashboard, with the requirement to consider the use of layout containers and padding. She threw in creating some very specific chart types too. The easiest way to blog this, is by chart type.

Building the Histogram

Add Quantity to Columns as continuous dimension (green unaggregated pill) and add Order ID as a measure using the CNT aggregation to Rows. The easiest way to do this is right click and drag Order ID from the left hand date pane and drop onto rows. When you release the mouse, the option to select the aggregation should be available.

Change the mark type to bar and adjust the colour. Edit the title of the y-axis and remove the title from the x-axis. Update the Tooltip.

Double -click into Columns and manually type ‘Quantity in Order’ (including the quotes). Right click on the first text displayed and hide field labels for columns. Adjust the font of the Quantity in Order label that remains.

Remove row and column dividers and column gridlines. Remove Row axis rulers.

Note, when you add to the dashboard , you may find you want to adjust the Size of the bars.

Building the Peas in a Pod chart

On a new sheet, add Category to Filter and select Technology. Add Order Date to Filter and select Years then choose 2022,2023 and 2024.

Rename the Sub-Category field to Sub-Cat and add to Rows. Add Sales to Columns. Change the mark type to circle. Add Order Date to Colour. By default it should display YEAR(Order Date). Adjust colours to suit. Widen each row a bit.

Add another instance of Sales to Columns.

On the Sale (2) marks card change the mark type to line and move YEAR(Order Date) to Path. Increase the size and adjust the colour so it’s a grey lozenge.

Make the chart dual axis and synchronise the axis. Right click the top axis and move marks to back. Adjust the Tooltip. Edit the title of the x-axis.

Hide the top axis. Remove row and column dividers. Remove row gridlines. Remove axis rulers for both columns and rows.

Note, when you add to the dashboard , you may find you want to adjust the Size of the circles and the line. I found it was best adjusted on the web after I published to Tableau Public.

Building the +/- Bar Chart

On a new sheet add Order Date to Filter and select Years then choose 2022,2023 and 2024. Add Order Date to Columns and select to be at the continuous month level (green pill, May 2015 format). Add Sales to Rows and change the mark type to bar.

Add a quick table calculation of Difference to the Sales pill.

Adjust the size of the bars (select manual over fixed and adjust the slider).

Create a new calculated field

Diff is +ve

ZN(SUM([Sales])) – LOOKUP(ZN(SUM([Sales])), -1) > 0

and add to the Colour shelf. Adjust colours to suit. Hide the null indicator. Adjust the Tooltip. Adjust the title of the x-axis.

Remove all gridlines and axis rulers. Remove the columns zero line. Set the rows zero line to be a continuous unbroken line.

Note – once again the size may need further adjusting once on the dashboard and/or after publishing.

Building the slope chart

Add Category to filter and select Office Supplies. Add Region to filter and select West. Add Order Date to filter and select Years then choose 2021 and 2024 only.

Add Order Date to Columns and Sales to Rows. Add Sub-Cat to Detail.

Add Sales to Colour then add a quick table calculation of Percentage Difference. This only sets a value against the 2024 marks though, whereas we want a value for the whole line for each Sub-Cat.

Double-click into the Sales pill on Colour to edit it, and wrap the whole calculation in a WINDOW_MAX() function – the whole calculation should look like

WINDOW_MAX((ZN(SUM([Sales])) – LOOKUP(ZN(SUM([Sales])), -1)) / ABS(LOOKUP(ZN(SUM([Sales])), -1)))

Adjust the colour legend. I set the start & end colours to #ff00ff (hot pink) and #5d6068 (dark grey) and then applied an upper limit to the range and centred at 0 as below.

Hide the Order Date heading at the top of the chart. Adjust the Tooltip.

Remove column gridlines, zero lines and axis rulers.

Create new fields

2021 Sales

IF YEAR([Order Date]) = 2021 THEN [Sales] END

and

2024 Sales

IF YEAR([Order Date]) = 2024 THEN [Sales] END

then create

% Difference

(SUM([2024 Sales]) – SUM([2021 Sales]))/SUM([2021 Sales])

Edit the Sort of the Sub-Cat pill on the Detail shelf, so it is sorting by % Difference ascending. This will ensure the lines are displayed overlapping in the expected manner.

Building the Bar-in-Bar Chart

On a new sheet, add Category to filter and select Furniture. Add Region to filter and select West. Add Order Date to filter and select Years then choose 2023 and 2024 only.

Create a new field

2023 Sales

IF YEAR([Order Date]) = 2023 THEN [Sales] END

Add Sub Cat to Rows and 2023 Sales to Columns. Add a sort to the Sub-Cat pill to sort by 2024 Sales descending. Add 2024 Sales to Columns. Make the chart dual axis and synchronise the axis. Change the mark type on the All marks card to bar. Remove Measure Names from the Colour shelf on the All marks card. Set the colour of the 2023 Sales marks card to light grey. Increase the width of each row, then reduce the size of the bar on the 2024 Sales marks card.

Create a new field

Sales Decreased

SUM([2024 Sales]) < SUM([2023 Sales])

and add to the Colour shelf of the 2024 Sales marks card. Adjust colours to suit.

In the solution, the Tooltip shows an indicator – I’m not sure if this was necessary, but I added it just in case

2024 Sales > 2023 Sales

IF [Sales Decreased] THEN ‘●’ END

Add this to the Tooltip shelf of the All marks card, along with the 2023 Sales and 2024 Sales fields. Adjust the Tooltip accordingly.

Hide the top axis. Remove the title of the x-axis.

Remove row and column dividers. Remove row gridlines and row axis rulers and ticks. Remove all zero lines.

Building the side-by-side bar chart

On a new sheet, add Category to filter and select Technology. Add Region to filter and select West. Add Order Date to filter and select Years then choose 2023 and 2024 only.

Add Sub Cat to Rows and Sales to Columns. Apply a Sort to Sub-Cat based on 2024 Sales descending.

Create a new field

Year

YEAR([Order Date])

And add to Rows and Colour. Adjust colour to suit. Widen each row.

Create new field

Diff is Neg Indicator

IF NOT([Diff is +ve]) THEN ‘●’ ELSE ” END

Add to Rows before Year and then adjust the table calculation setting so it is just computing by Year only.

Adjust the alignment of the Sub-Cat column so it is aligned middle right. Narrow the width of the Diff is Neg Indicator column to try to remove all the column heading text. If some still shows, rename the field so it is padded with some spaces at the front. Adjust the Tooltip.

Remove the x-axis title. Remove Column dividers. Adjust the row dividers so they are at level 1 and are partitioning each Sub Cat only and not splitting the Year column.

Remove all gridlines

Building the dashboard

It’s always hard to walk through the steps for placing objects on a dashboard in the specified places. My general rules are

  1. Start with a floating vertical container that is positioned 0,0 and set to the dashboard height and width. I name this Base.
  2. Then add tiled objects such as a text object for the title, blank objects, other containers, charts etc.
  3. When you add a container, add a blank object initially to help get everything into place. Remove once you have at least 2 objects side by side / on top of each other depending on the direction you’re organising.
  4. The item hierarchy shouldn’t have any containers of type Tiled listed.
  5. Try to name your containers to help maintenance in the future

Below is a picture of the item hierarchy I ended up with using this approach

I created a floating vertical container called Base, positioned 0,0 and 1200 x 850. Background set to None, no border and inner and outer padding all 0.

I added a text object to contain the title. Background set to None and no border. Outer padding set to 10 all round, and inner padding 0.

I added a blank object, which I renamed Horizontal divider. Background set to light grey, no border. Outer padding set to left and right 10 and top and bottom 0. Inner padding all 0. Height set to 2.

I added another Vertical container, which I renamed Body. Background set to None, no border and all inner and outer padding set to 0.

I added 3 horizontal containers on top of each other, and set the property of the Body vertical container to distribute contents evenly so each horizontal container was the same height.

1st horizontal container

I named Row 1 – Level 1. I set the background to the pale green. No border. Outer padding set to left & right 10, top & bottom 5. Inner padding all 0.

Into this I added a text field to describe the levels. Background of this was white, no border and outer padding set to 0 (so the green background disappears). Inner padding was set to top: 20 and 10 for the rest.

Next the Histogram chart. Border set to green. Background white. Outer padding right:5, rest 2. Inner padding set to 10 all round. Width of chart fixed to 380 px.

Next the Level 1 text object. No border, no background. Outer padding 4 all round; inner padding 0. Formatted text object to rotate text. Width of object set to 40 px.

2nd horizontal container

I named Row 2- Level 2. I set the background to the pale blue. No border. Outer padding set to left & right 10, top & bottom 5. Inner padding all 0.

Into this I added a text field to describe the challenge. Background of this was white, no border and outer padding set to 0 (so the blue background disappears). Inner padding was set to 10 all round. Width of object set to 380px.

Next the Peas in a Pod chart. Border set to blue. Background white. Outer padding right:5, rest 2. Inner padding set to 10 all round.

Next the +/- bar chart. Border set to blue. Background white. Outer padding right and left 5, top & bottom 2. Inner padding set to 10 all round. Width of object set to 380px.

Next the Level 2 text object. No border, no background. Outer padding 4 all round; inner padding 0. Formatted text object to rotate text. Width of object set to 40 px.

3rd horizontal container

I named Row 3- Level 3. I set the background to the pale purple. No border. Outer padding set to left & right 10, top & bottom 5. Inner padding all 0.

I added the Slope chart. Border set to purple. Background white. Outer padding right:5, rest 2. Inner padding set to 10 all round. Width of object set to 380px.

Next the bar-in -bar chart. Border set to purple. Background white. Outer padding right & left 5, top & bottom 2. Inner padding set to 10 all round.

Next the side-by-side bar chart. Border set to purple. Background white. Outer padding right and left 5, top & bottom 2. Inner padding set to 10 all round. Width of object set to 380px.

Next the Level 3 text object. No border, no background. Outer padding 4 all round; inner padding 0. Formatted text object to rotate text. Width of object set to 40 px.

It was a bit of trial and error to get the spacing as required, and a few calculations to work out how wide I wanted each chart to be, based on the width of the dashboard and the other items in each row.

Anyway, my published viz is here.

Happy vizzin’!

Donna

Can you rebuild this Tube Map?

Donna ColesLeave a comment

Lorna called on the help of a data schooler, Olivier Newman to set this week’s challenge, which will be part one of a 2-part challenge.

For those of you who are regular readers of my blog, you’ll know that working with maps and spatial data isn’t something I do often, so challenges like this always start with me feeling a little bit daunted by what’s required.

Side Note – I originally built this challenge using Tableau Desktop v2024.1, but encountered some issues with getting the data on the map updated as I made changes to the selections – the selection changes were visible on other tabular sheets, just not on the map, unless I forcibly refreshed the data source. Recreating in Tableau Desktop v2023.3 was fine. And the version published from v2024.1 to Tableau Public also worked fine on Tableau Public. I have raised this to Tableau via Slack channels I have access to, so if you experience similar issues, that may be why…

Understanding the data and the requirement

I initially spent some time trying to understand how the data matched up to the information I could see on the viz, specifically what was being listed in the Arrival Station selection box.

I found, every Station was associated with a Line, but the Station could be associated to more than one Line. Every Line was associated to a Branch, but again, the Line could be associated with more that one Branch. Picking some specific Stations as an example…

  • Amersham Station is associated to 1 Line (Metropolitan) which is associated to 1 Branch (Metropolitan Line Branch 0) – so Amersham is associated to 1 Branch
  • Bank Station is asscociated to 3 Lines (Central, Northern, Waterloo) which in turn are only associated to 1 Branch each – so Bank is associated to 3 Branches
  • Acton Town Station is associated to 2 Lines (District and Piccadilly); District is associated to 1 Branch which Piccadilly is associated to 2 Branches – so therefore Acton Town is associated to 3 Branches.

The list of possible Arrival Stations is based on the set of Stations associated to any of the Branches the Starting Station is associated to.

So for Amersham, we’re looking for all those Stations on the metropolitan branch 0 Branch

For Bank we’re looking at Stations on the central 0, northern 1 and waterloo 0 Branches

and for Acton Town, we’re looking at stations on the district 0, piccadilly 0 and piccadilly 1 Branches.

So first we need to find a way to

  1. Identify the Starting Station
  2. Identify the Branches the Starting Station is associated with
  3. Identify the Stations associated to these Branches.

Identifying the Arrival Stations

To start with, we need to capture the starting station, which we can do with a parameter

pStart

String parameter which is a List object that populates from the Station field when the work book is opened, and is defaulted to Bank.

For the rest, we’ll build up what we need step by step, so on a new sheet add Branch and Station to Rows and display the pStart parameter.

I’m first going to identify the possible Branches associated to the pStart station, and ‘spread’ this across all the stations in that Branch

Possible Branches

{FIXED [Branch] : MIN(IF [Station] = [pStart] THEN [Branch] END)}

If the Station in the row matches that in pStart, then get the Branch for that row, then ‘spread’ that across all the rows with the same Branch (via the {FIXED [Branch]: …. } statement.

Add this onto Rows and you’ll see the name of the Branch is listed against all the stations associated to the branch that the pStart station is related to

Now we can define a field to capture the stations that have a Possible Branch

Possible Destination Stations

IF NOT ISNULL([Possible Branches]) THEN [Station] END

Add this to Rows too, and stations should only be listed against those rows with a Possible Branch

We can use this field to then create a Set. Right click on Possible Destination Stations > Create > Set

Destination Stations Set

Select Epping from the list displayed

Add the field to the Colour shelf (the Epping row should be coloured IN the set). Then click on the pill on the Colour shelf and select Show Set

The list of possible options in the Destination Stations Set should be displayed. Change the control type to be single value dropdown

Now test the behaviour of the set by changing the value of the pStart parameter eg select Amersham. Epping remains selected but is now contained in ( ) as it’s not a valid value. The other options to select though should all now have changed.

This is the ‘relative values’ only type behaviour required.

Determining the number of stops

While we’re working with a ‘check sheet’, let’s finalise the other calculations we’re going to need to build the final viz; firstly the number of stops between the two selected stations. We’re going to use the Path Order field to help with this.

Firstly, if it’s appearing as a string in the data set, convert it to a numeric whole number field, then add it to Rows between Branch and Station It should be a discrete dimension (blue disaggregated field). A unique number should be listed against each record; this record is effectively an index defining the order of the Stations on the Branch.

Let’s reset the station parameters to start at Bank and end at Epping These stations are on the Central 0 Branch, and Bank is at Path Order 47 and Epping at 61

The number of stations is the absolute difference between these two numbers. To determine this, we need to capture the Path Order for the starting station against every row.

Now, it’s possible that the stations are on multiple branches, so we need to make sure we have a handle on the Branch we care about

Selected Branch

{FIXED: MIN(IF [Destination Stations Set] THEN [Branch] END)}

Get the Branch associated to the selected destination station, and then ‘spread this’ across all rows.

Add this to Rows.

Now we can get the number associated to the pStart station on the Selected Branch, and spread this across every row

Starting Station Path No

INT({FIXED: MIN(IF [pStart] = [Station] AND [Branch] = [Selected Branch] THEN [Path Order] END)})

as well as

Destination Station Path No

INT({FIXED: MIN(IF [Destination Stations Set] AND [Branch]=[Selected Branch] THEN [Path Order] END)})

Add both of these as discrete dimensions to Rows

Then we can create

No. of Stops

ABS([Starting Station Path No] – [Destination Station Path No])

which is just the absolute difference between the two

Identifying the stations between start & end

The final piece of the puzzle, that we’re going to need is just to isolate all the Stations on the Branch that lie between the pStart station and the station in the Destinations Station Set. As this is going to be used to highlight the section of line on the map, I called this

Highlight Line

[Path Order] >= MIN([Starting Station Path No],[Destination Station Path No]) AND [Path Order] <= MAX([Starting Station Path No], [Destination Station Path No])

Here I utilised the rarely used (at least in my case) feature of the MIN and MAX functions, that allows you to supply multiple values and return a single value – the MIN or the MAX of the options provided. So in this case, I want to flag all the rows as being true if the Path Order sits between the Starting Station Path No and the Destination Station Path No. Add this onto Colour instead of the In/Out set and we can see all the rows between the two endpoints are highlighted.

Test by trying different start and ends, so you’re happy how the behaviour is working.

Building the tube map

This did take a bit of time to get right, and I did end up referring to Tableau’s own KB article on creating paths between origin and destination to get some pointers (although I didn’t follow it to the letter…)

Create a new sheet, then create a spatial field

Station Location

MAKEPOINT([Right Latitude], [Right Longitude])

and double click to automatically add the field to the new sheet. Longitude and Latitude fields are automatically generated and a basic layout is immediately visible

Add Branch to Detail then change the mark type to Line.

Add Path Order to Path. The lines should all now join up as expected

Delete all the text from the Tooltip, but ensure Show Tooltip is still enabled.

Set the background of the map to dark (Map menu > Background Maps > Dark). Adjust the Colour of the line to whatever suits (I used #01e6ff)

Add a 2nd map layer – drag Station Location onto the canvas and drop when the Add a marks layer option appears

Change the Mark type of this 2nd marks card to circle, then add Station and Line to the Detail shelf. Change the colour to same as the line and adjust the Size if required. Update the Tooltip as required.

To highlight the stations between those selected, create a new spatial field, just for those stations

Selected Stations

IF [Highlight Line] THEN [Station Location] END

Drag this on to the canvas to make a 3rd marks layer.

Add Branch to Detail, change the Mark type to line and add Path Order to Path. Change the Colour to something contrasting (I chose #ff00ff). Adjust the Size so the line is a bit thicker than the other lines.

To label the start & end station, create

Label – Stations

IF [Station] = [pStart] OR [Destination Stations Set] THEN [Station] END

Add to the Label shelf, and change to be an attribute (rather than dimension) so it doesn’t break up the line. Adjust the font accordingly. I set it to Tableau Medium 8pt bold in white, aligned top centre. All the labels to overlap other marks.

Show the pStart parameter and the Destination Stations Set list (just right click on the field in the data pane on the left and select Show Set – this is now an option as there are fields already on the viz that reference that set). Test the display by changing the options.

Add No of Stops to the Detail shelf, then update the title to reference the field. Set the font to white and align right.

Format the background of the whole worksheet to black, remove row/column dividers. Hide the null indicator field, and remove all map options (Map menu > map options, uncheck all the fields).

The viz should now be ready.

Add it onto a dashboard, which is also formatted to have a black background. Display the pStart parameter and the Destination Stations Set as floating objects. Update the title of each and format the latter so it has a black shading to the body of the control. Remove the ‘all’ option from the arrival station control (customise > uncheck show ‘all’ value).

My published version is here. Hopefully I’ve built it in a way that supports the impending Part 2…

Happy vizzin’!

Donna

Can you build an UpSet Plot with just one calculated field?

Donna ColesLeave a comment

For this week’s #WOW2023 challenge , guest poster, Venkatesh Iyer asked us to create an UpSet Plot, with the added requirement of using just 1 calculated field.

To start with, I had to read up on what an UpSet plot was and looked through the blog post by Chris Love that was referenced in the challenge introduction. While this post gave me more clarity, it introduced more calculations than I was hoping for, so I started looking a bit wider for a bit of help. This YouTube video set me on my way.

Setting up the data

The requirements stated to limit to the Category of Furniture only, so after connecting to the Superstore data source, I added a Data Source Filter (right click data source > Edit Data Source filters) to restrict the information throughout the workbook just to the Furniture Category.

Doing this means I don’t have to keep adding the Category to the Filter shelf, and any FIXED LoDs I create will only be based on the subset of data that has been ‘pre-filtered’.

There are multiple charts in this challenge, and I used 5 sheets in total. Let’s start with the easy ones.

Building the Customer List

On a new sheet add Customer Name to Rows and Sales to Text. Format Sales to $ with 0dp, and widen each row. Remove row/column dividers and remove the ‘Customer Name’ column heading (right click and hide field labels for rows). Uncheck the Show Tooltips option from the Tooltip shelf. Name the sheet Customer List.

Building the Sub-Category Bar Chart

Add Sub-Category to Rows. Add Customer ID to Columns, then use the context menu to change the field to use the Count (Distinct) measure.

Note – I would typically create a specific calculated field containing the function COUNTD([Customer ID]), but as we only want a single calculated field in the solution, then this is the method to adopt.

Sort the resulting bar chart descending, and add Sub-Category to the Colour shelf and adjust to suit.

Widen each row and then click on the Label shelf and check the Show mark labels tick box. Align the labels middle left and format the font. Hide the axis and the Sub-Category column heading (uncheck show header). Remove all gridlines, row/column dividers/ zero lines etc. Uncheck the Show Tooltips option from the Tooltip shelf. Name the sheet Sub Cat Bar.

Identifying the groupings

Ok, now we’re at the point we need to identify the different ‘cohorts’ of customers based on what Sub-Categories they have purchased. Let’s build out a tabular ‘check’ sheet so we can see what we’re up to…

On a new sheet add Customer Name and Sub-Category to Rows. This simple table shows us that Aaron Bergman has at some point only ever bought Bookcases & Chairs, while Aaron Hawkins has purchased Chairs & Furnishings. These 2 customers are in different cohorts as they haven’t bought exactly the same combination of Sub-Categories. There are 15 different combinations in total.

Based on what I observed in the video, I can create a FIXED LoD calculated field to identify if a customer has bought Bookcases.

BC

{FIXED [Customer ID]: MAX(IIF([Sub-Category] = ‘Bookcases’,1,0))}

Pop this into the view, and we can see that there is a 1 reported against all the rows associated to each customer who bought Bookcases. So Aaron Bergman has a 1 against both rows, and Aaron Hawkins has 0 against both rows.

Creating similar calculated fields, specific for each of the 4 different Sub-Category values, and putting them into the table, we can see we have various combinations of 1s and 0s for each customer. Adam Shillingburg has bought all 4 types, so has 1’s across the board, while Adrian Sharni has only bought Furnishings, so has 3 0’s and a single 1.

Based on our understanding of what these fields are doing, we can combine what each one is doing into a single calculated string field.

Combo

STR({FIXED [Customer ID]: MAX(IIF([Sub-Category] = ‘Furnishings’,1,0))}) + ‘-‘ +
STR({FIXED [Customer ID]: MAX(IIF([Sub-Category] = ‘Chairs’,1,0))}) + ‘-‘ +
STR({FIXED [Customer ID]: MAX(IIF([Sub-Category] = ‘Tables’,1,0))}) + ‘-‘ +
STR({FIXED [Customer ID]: MAX(IIF([Sub-Category] = ‘Bookcases’,1,0))})

Note the order is based on the order of Sub-Category bar chart. Add this into the view on Rows (rejig the order of the measure values to match).

So with this one calculated field Combo, we now have a dimension we can use to count the customers against. The calculated fields I used to demonstrate the concept are now superfluous and can be deleted if you wish, if you remove the check sheet too. I chose to keep mine in for reference.

Building the Combo bar chart

ON a new sheet, add Combo to Columns and then add Customer ID to Rows, but as before, set it to use the COUNTD aggregation.

Sort the bar to be ascending. Check the Show mark labels option on the Label shelf and adjust the alignment to be bottom middle, and the font to be bold. Change the colour of the bar to suit. Hide the axis and the Combo heading (uncheck show header). Remove all gridlines, row/column dividers/ zero lines etc. Uncheck the Show Tooltips option from the Tooltip shelf. Name the sheet Combo Bar.

Building the dot plot

Add Sub-Category to Rows and Combo to Columns. Manually sort the Sub-Category rows so they are listed with Furnishings at the top then Chairs > Tables and Bookcases at the bottom. Sort the Combo field by COUNTD of Customer ID ascending

Double click into Columns and manually type MIN(0) to generate an axis. Change the mark type to circle. Add Sub-Category to Colour. Widen each row.

Add Sub-Category to Label. Then double click into the pill on the label shelf and manually change to add the LEFT function around the pill, so the pill becomes LEFT([Sub-Category],1) to get the initial. Again, this is typically something I would explicitly store in its own calculated field. Manually re-sort the rows again, as this seems to break the sorting.

Align the label middle centre and bold the font. Then add another instance of MIN(0) on Columns to create a 2nd marks card. Change this mark type to Line. Remove the field from the Text shelf, and move the Sub-Category pill from Colour to Path.

Make the chart dual axis and synchronise axis. Right click on the MIN(0) axis title at the top of the chart and move marks to back.

Then hide the axis and the Combo column and Sub-category row (uncheck show header). Remove all gridlines, row/column dividers/ zero lines etc. Adjust the size of the marks as required. Uncheck the Show Tooltips option from the Tooltip shelf. Name the sheet Dot Plot. .

Building the Legend

The quickest way to do this is to duplicate the dot plot sheet. Then remove Combo from the Columns. mark type of the line from line to circle and decrease the size to the smallest possible. Move Sub-Category from Detail to Label and align middle right.

Edit the label and add some spaces in front of the text to push the labels further to the right. Format the font to suit.

Adjust the MIN(0) fields to both be MIN(0.2) instead (just double click into the fields to edit). Then edit the axis to be fixed from 0 to 1. This forces the display to the left.

Hide the axis, and name the sheet Legend.

Adding the interactivity

Arrange the items on a dashboard, using layout containers and padding to organise the 4 main charts and ensure the dot plot aligns both vertically and horizontally with the other two bar charts.. The legend chart is a floating object.

Add a filter dashboard action to filter the customer list

Filter Customers

On select of the Combo Bar or Sub Cat Bar sheets, target the Customer List sheet, showing all values when the selections are cleared.

And that should be it! My published viz is here.

Happy vizzin’!

Donna

Can you build a drunken tree chart?

Donna ColesLeave a comment

This week, Luke set a challenge he’s had in his back pocket since he first joined as a WOW coach. He did provide several good clues within the requirements to help build the chart.

The challenge involves some data modelling (unioning 2 instances of the Superstore data set together) and what I refer to as ‘normalising’ of dates – to get data spread across multiple years to set to the same year.

I have to admit, I’ve had a busy week so far, attending a conferences and dealing with some personal matters, that I feel I’m going to struggle to get a thorough solution guide documented in a timely manner – it won’t be long before we’re on to week 39….

So for this week, I’m going to direct you to get help from my fellow #WOW participator and Visionary, the most excellent Rosario Gauna, who has already published her solution guide : English | Spanish

Our approaches were very similar – completed in a single sheet, though, as if often the case, Rosario’s solution is far more elegant than mine!

My published viz is here.

Happy vizzin’!

Donna