Possible Waterfall charts in Xcelsius

Posted on 1 October 2010 10:44 am.Femke

In Xcelsius a waterfall charts is not default available, however with a little imagination you can create one from a stacked bar chart. Below I have published 4 examples.

Waterfall Example 1A

Excel source

Use the columns for the series (= coloring) and the rows for the labels (= columns in chart) by setting the data range to “Data in Columns”. On the appearance tab set the Marker Gap to 0 and the Marker Overlay to 100. Apply the series coloring accordingly.
Note: remember how Xcelsius builts up the chart; from bottom up to top. If you want your bottom bar color to be white, you have to start your series with the white color data.

Waterfall Example 1B

Excel source

Same example as 1A only the less colors, thus less series used.

Waterfall Example 2A

Excel source

You want to show how your profit and loss accounts are related by showing each individual account and use the colors red and green for the contribution amount (cost = red, revenue = green).
Again use the columns for the series (= coloring) and the rows for the labels (= columns in chart) by setting the data range to “Data in Columns”. On the appearance tab set the Marker Gap to 0 and the Marker Overlay to 100. Apply the series coloring accordingly.
Note: Again the order of the data columns determines the coloring in the chart. The white amount is calculated on the basis of the total of the previous column only in case of a cost account, that cost amount is subtracted from the total.

Waterfall Example 2B

Excel source

This is based on the same principle as the previous chart only it gets more interesting as the total amount gets below zero, thus we have to deal with negative totals with a positive contribution. This can be achieved by creating extra series as the order of the negative positioned bar colors is different than when using positive bars.
Note: The coloring change in the y-axe can be changed by formating in Excel, see this post.

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Possible Waterfall charts in Xcelsius

Posted on 1 October 2010 10:44 am.Femke

In Xcelsius a waterfall charts is not default available, however with a little imagination you can create one from a stacked bar chart. Below I have published 4 examples.

Waterfall Example 1A

Excel source

Use the columns for the series (= coloring) and the rows for the labels (= columns in chart) by setting the data range to “Data in Columns”. On the appearance tab set the Marker Gap to 0 and the Marker Overlay to 100. Apply the series coloring accordingly.
Note: remember how Xcelsius builts up the chart; from bottom up to top. If you want your bottom bar color to be white, you have to start your series with the white color data.

Waterfall Example 1B

Excel source

Same example as 1A only the less colors, thus less series used.

Waterfall Example 2A

Excel source

You want to show how your profit and loss accounts are related by showing each individual account and use the colors red and green for the contribution amount (cost = red, revenue = green).
Again use the columns for the series (= coloring) and the rows for the labels (= columns in chart) by setting the data range to “Data in Columns”. On the appearance tab set the Marker Gap to 0 and the Marker Overlay to 100. Apply the series coloring accordingly.
Note: Again the order of the data columns determines the coloring in the chart. The white amount is calculated on the basis of the total of the previous column only in case of a cost account, that cost amount is subtracted from the total.

Waterfall Example 2B

Excel source

This is based on the same principle as the previous chart only it gets more interesting as the total amount gets below zero, thus we have to deal with negative totals with a positive contribution. This can be achieved by creating extra series as the order of the negative positioned bar colors is different than when using positive bars.
Note: The coloring change in the y-axe can be changed by formating in Excel, see this post.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

View the original article here

Configuring Sparkline Charts in Xcelsius

Are you using the latest Xcelsius service pack? If not, you may be missing out on a couple very useful charting components. By installing SP3 for Xcelsius, you’ll have the opportunity to use the following new chart components – Horizontal Bullet Chart, Vertical Bullet Chart, and Sparkline Chart. This blog post will focus on the Sparkline chart.

Background on Sparkline Charts

Sparklines were introduced by Edward Tufte and he describes the component as being useful for displaying information that is “data-intense, design-simple, and with word-sized graphics”. A common application of the Sparkline chart is to present stock prices across a given period of time. If the user knows the time frame (such as day, month, year) it becomes redundant to continually display a horizontal access label showing this information. By continuing to print Jan – Dec along the horizontal label, valuable “screen-estate” is being used to display known information. By removing the label values, a dashboard, report, or user-interface can present more information to the user and in the most effective ways.

Sparklines in Xcelsius

The Sparkline component in Xcelsius provides all of the known appearance characteristics of a Sparkline chart and then some. Let’s take a look at the customizable features available. Begin by locating the Sparkline chart in the list of available chart components.

Drag the Sparkline Chart component to the dashboard canvas to begin using it. The image below shows how the component will appear before binding it to data or modifying the configurations.

Setting Sparkline Properties

Select the chart then view the component properties. Properties can be adjusted in three categories: General, Behavior, and Appearance. Click the Appearance tab, then click the Text tab, and scroll down to the bottom of the list.

Notice that Start Value, Low Value, High Value, and End Value can be selected individually to be displayed along with the Sparkline chart. These settings allow the checked values be added to the right end (by default) or left end (if modified) of the chart.

When selected, you can also modify the color of the values and display a marker on the chart. This is accomplished by clicking the Appearance tab then clicking the color tab.

Finished Product

Pictured below is a screen-shot of three Sparkline charts with values added and markers displayed and a second screen shot shows the Sparkline charts without the chart values. The data represents 6 months of information and is easy to decipher at a glance.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you,
Jim Brogden

jim.brogden@daugherty.com

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Configuring Sparkline Charts in Xcelsius