About chart widgets

A doughnut chart is a circular chart (with a hole extracted from the middle) divided into sectors or parts that illustrate proportion.
This type of chart works best when you want to show how the parts relate to the whole at a fixed point in time.
Although a doughnut chart is visually appealing, it is seldom the best chart to use when you want to compare the parts to one another.
Also, a doughnut chart is not designed to show changes over time.

With a widget of a doughnut chart, you can do the following:

• Open the window used by this chart as the data source
• Drill down to the details of a particular chart sector
• Update the chart view
• View the chart legend
• Highlight particular sectors on the chart
• Exclude particular sectors from the chart
• View details of particular sectors on the chart

If you have permissions to edit the dashboard, you have the following additional capabilities:

• Convert the chart to another chart type
• Change the properties of the chart

To define a doughnut chart, do the following:

1. Select the category—such as customer name, financial period, or cash account—that will be displayed as individual sectors on the doughnut.
   In the following doughnut chart, the Customer name is the category.
2. Select one measurable entity (such as total sales, beginning balance, or total payments) that will define the size of the sectors.
   

3. The chart legend can be opened as a pop-up window or located on the widget near the chart.

When you are viewing a chart legend, you can perform the following actions:

• Point to the desired legend item to view its details on the chart.
• Click a legend item to exclude the associated sector from the chart.
  The share of the excluded sector is then proportionally distributed among the remaining sectors on the chart.

For a detailed description of how to add a doughnut chart, see: Add a doughnut chart.

A line chart is a type of chart that displays information as a series of data points connected by straight line segments.
Line charts can be especially valuable when you want to plot some type of data over time, such as by financial period.

With a line chart widget, you can do the following:

• Open the window used by this chart as the data source
• Drill down to the details of a particular line point
• Update the chart view
• View the details of the data points of the chart
• Zoom in on particular segments of the chart (for details see: Zoom in on and out of a chart region)

If you have permissions to edit the dashboard, you have the following additional capabilities:

• Convert the chart to another chart type
• Change the properties of the chart.

To define a line chart, do the following:

1. Select one entity to provide the horizontal axis values, such as financial period.
   In the following line chart, the Financial period is displayed on the horizontal axis.
2. Select a measurable entity to provide the vertical axis values, such as total sales, pending balance, or beginning balance.
   In the following line chart, the Salesperson sales is the measurable entity.
3. Optional: Select an entity, such as branch or salesperson, to display its values as separate lines on the same chart (series).
   In the following line chart, the Salesperson name is the series.
   You can customize line colours for particular values.

For a detailed description of how to add a line chart, see: Add a line chart.

A column chart is a chart with bars whose lengths are proportional to the values they represent.
Column charts are used for plotting data that has discrete values.
They are generally a better choice than doughnut charts when you want to show how parts compare to one another, because it is easier for the viewer to estimate the relative column height than to assess the size of doughnut chart sectors.

With a widget based on a column chart, you can do the following:

• Open the window used by this chart as the data source
• Drill down to the details of a particular column
• Update the chart view
• View details of chart columns
• Zoom in on particular regions of the chart (for details see: Zoom in on and out of a chart region)

If you have permissions to edit the dashboard, you have the following additional capabilities:

• Convert the chart to another chart type
• Change the properties of the chart

To define a column chart, do the following:

1. Select one entity to provide the horizontal axis values, such as customer ID, supplier ID, financial period, or cash account.
   In the following column chart, the Customer name is the displayed on the horizontal axis.
2. Select a measurable entity to provide the vertical axis values, such as total sales, pending balance, or beginning balance.
   In the following column chart, the Salesperson sales is the measurable entity.
3. Optional: Select an entity, such as branch, to display its values as separate columns for each value on the horizontal axis (series).
   In the following column chart with series, the Salesperson name is the series.
   You can customise column colours for particular values.

For a detailed description of how to add a column chart, see: Add a column chart.

A stacked column chart illustrates the relationship of the parts to the whole.
The columns in a stacked column chart are divided into legend categories, and each column represents a total.

With a widget of a stacked column chart, you can do the following:

• Open the window used by this chart as the data source
• Drill down to the details of a particular column sector
• Update the chart view
• View details of the chart columns
• Zoom in on particular regions of the chart (for details see: Zoom in on and out of a chart region)

If you have permissions to edit the dashboard, you have the following additional capabilities:

• Convert the chart to another chart type
• Change the properties of the chart

To define a stacked column chart, do the following:

1. Select the entity to provide the horizontal axis values, such as financial period or account class.
   In the following stacked column chart, the Financial period is displayed on the horizontal axis.
2. Select a measurable entity, such as sales total, debit total, credit total, ending balance, or beginning balance.
   In the following stacked column chart, the Invoiced items is the measurable entity.
3. Select an entity, such as customer ID, supplier ID, currency ID, or account type, to be displayed as column sectors (series).
   In the following stacked column chart, the Customer name is the series.
   You can customise sector colours for particular values.

For a detailed description of how to add a stacked column chart, see: Add a stacked column chart.

A bar chart is a chart with rectangular bars that are plotted horizontally and have lengths proportional to the values that they represent.
Bar charts are used for clearly showing data that has discrete values.

With a bar chart widget, you can do the following:

• Open the window used by this chart as the data source
• Drill down to the details of a particular bar
• Update the chart view
• View details of the chart bars
• Zoom in on particular regions of the chart (for details see: Zoom in on and out of a chart region)

If you have permissions to edit the dashboard, you have the following additional capabilities:

• Convert the chart to another chart type
• Change the properties of the chart

To define a bar chart, do the following:

1. Select a measurable entity to provide the horizontal axis values, such as total sales, pending balance, or beginning balance.
   In the following bar chart, the Salesperson sales is the measurable entity.
2. Select one entity to provide the vertical axis values, such as customer ID, supplier ID, financial period, or cash account.
   In the following bar chart, the Customer name is the displayed on the vertical axis.
3. Optional: Select an entity, such as branch, to display its values as separate bars for each value on the vertical axis (series).
   

For a detailed description of how to add a bar chart, see: Add a bar chart.

A stacked bar chart is an inverted stacked column chart in which the horizontal and vertical axes are reversed.
A stacked bar chart also illustrates the relationship of the parts to the whole, and its bars are divided into legend categories, with each bar representing a total.

With a widget of a stacked bar chart, you can do the following:

• Open the window used by this chart as the data source
• Drill down to the details of a particular bar sector
• Update the chart view
• View details of chart bars
• Zoom in on particular regions of the chart (for details see: Zoom in on and out of a chart region)

If you have permissions to edit the dashboard, you have the following additional capabilities:

• Convert the chart to another chart type
• Change the properties of the chart

To define a stacked bar chart, do the following:

1. Select a measurable entity to provide the horizontal axis values, such as sales total, debit total, credit total, ending balance, or beginning balance.
   In the following stacked bar chart, the Invoiced items is the measurable entity.
2. Select the category for the vertical axis, such as financial period or account class.
   In the following stacked bar chart, the Financial period is displayed on the vertical axis.
3. Select an entity, such as customer ID, supplier ID, currency ID, or account type, to be displayed as bar sectors (series).
   

For a detailed description of how to add a stacked bar chart, see: Add a stacked bar chart.

A funnel chart is a chart with no axes that shows sectors or slices of data in a funnel shape.
Each slice represents a portion of the whole, or the slices may represent a process flow, with each slice (or part of the process) having data filtered out from the previous slice.
For example: With a sales process, you could use a funnel chart, with each slice corresponding to a stage in the process and showing the amount of potential revenue.

With a funnel chart widget, you can do the following:

• Open the window used by this chart as the data source
• Drill down to the details of a particular chart slice
• Update the chart view
• View the chart legend
• Highlight particular slices on the chart
• Exclude particular slices from the chart
• View details of particular slices on the chart

If you have permissions to edit the dashboard, you have the following additional capabilities:

• Convert the chart to another chart type
• Change the properties of the chart

To define a funnel chart, do the following:

1. Select the category—such as customer name, financial period, or cash account—that will be displayed as individual slice of the funnel.
   In the following funnel chart, the Customer name is the category.
2. Select one measurable entity (such as total sales, beginning balance, or total payments) that will define the size of the slices.
   

The chart legend can be opened as a pop-up window or located on the widget near the chart.

When you are viewing a chart legend, you can perform the following actions:

• Point to the desired legend item to view its details on the chart.
• Click a legend item to exclude the associated slice from the chart.
  The share of the excluded slice is then proportionally distributed among the remaining slices on the chart.

For a detailed description of how to add a funnel chart, see: Add a funnel chart.