Use line charts

Prerequisites

  • You have the Insights Author license.

Page location

Insights > Analyses > Click an analysis

Use line charts to compare changes in measure values over period of time for the following scenarios:

  • One measure over a period of time

    EXAMPLE   Gross sales by month

  • Multiple measures over a period of time

    EXAMPLE   Gross sales and net sales by month

  • One measure for a dimension over a period of time

    EXAMPLE   Number of flight delays per day by airline

Line charts show the individual values of a set of measures or dimensions against the range displayed by the Y axis. The following screenshot shows a line chart.

Area line charts differ from regular line charts in that each value is represented by a colored area of the chart instead of just a line to make it easier to evaluate item values relative to each other. The following screenshot shows an area line chart. In this version of a line chart, the area between the line and the x-axis is filled with color.

The following screenshot shows a stacked area line chart. Use stacked area line charts to compare changes in values for one or more groups of measures or dimensions over a period of time. In this version of a line chart, the area between the line and the X axis is filled with color. Also, the individual lines are layered to more clearly show the relationships between them. The values on the y-axis show the scale of the differences between data points.

Line charts show up to 10,000 data points on the x-axis when no color field is selected. When color is populated, line charts show up to 400 data points on the x-axis and up to 25 data points for color. For more information about data that falls outside the display limit for this visual type, see the “Display limits” section in Visual types in Insights.

Procedures

View the values on a line chart

Each line on the chart represents a measure value over a period of time.

  • Hover over any line (1 in the screenshot) to see a pop-up legend that shows the values for each line on the X axis.
  • If you hover over a data point (2), you can see the Value for that specific point on the X axis.

Create a line chart

  1. Click Visualize (the bar chart icon in the tool bar). The Visuals panel opens.
  2. Click Add.

  3. Click the Line chart, Area line chart, or Stacked area line chart icon.

  4. Drag a dimension from the Data panel into the X Axis field well.
  5. Drag a measure into the Value field well. With steps 4 and 5, you create a single-measure line chart.
    • (Optional) To create a multi-measure line chart, drag at least one more measure into the Value field well.
    • (Optional) To create a multi-dimension line chart, drag a dimension into the Color field well.
  6. (Optional) To add drill-down layers, at least one more field into the X axis or Color field wells. For more information about adding drill-downs, see Adding drill-downs to visual data in Insights.

Create a dual-axis line chart

If you have two or more metrics that you want to display in the same line chart, you can create a dual-axis line chart. A dual-axis chart is a chart with two Y-axes (one axis at the left of the chart, and one axis at the right of the chart).

EXAMPLE   

You create a line chart that shows the number of visitors who signed up for a mailing list and for a free service over a period of time. If the scale between those two measures varies widely over time, your chart might look something like the following line chart. Because the scale between measures varies so greatly, the measure with the smaller scale appears nearly flat at zero.

To show these measures in the same chart, you create a dual-axis line chart. The following is an example of the same line chart with two Y-axes. Both lines are now visible.

  1. In your analysis, create a line chart. For instructions, see Create a line chart.

  2. In the Value field well, click the three vertical dots and select Show on: Right Y-axis.

You can also create a dual-axis line chart using the Properties pane:

  1. On the menu in the upper-right corner of the line chart, click Format visual. The Properties panel opens.

  2. Expand Data series.
  3. Click the value that you want to place on a separate axis. Click Select Series to Style to quickly find a value if you need to. The Style series window opens.

  4. Click the Axis icon.

    The chart updates with two axes.

For more information about formatting axis lines, see Axes and grid lines on visual types in Insights. For more information about adjusting the range and scale of an axis, see Range and scale on visual types in Insights.

Simplify a stacked area line chart

Because a stacked area line chart works differently than other line charts, simplify it if you can. Then the audience won't try to interpret the numbers. Instead, they can focus on the relationships of each set of values to the whole. One way to simplify is to remove the numbers down the left side of the screen by reducing the step size for the axis.

  1. Hover over the line chart and click Format visual. The Properties panel opens.
  2. Expand Y-axis.
  3. Select Step size.
  4. Enter 2. The following screenshot shows the result.

Line chart features

The following table lists the actions you can do with line charts.

Feature Supported? Comments For more information
Change the legend display Yes   Legends on visual types in Insights
Change the title display Yes   Titles and subtitles on visual types in Insights
Change the axis range Yes You can set the range for the Y axis. Range and scale on visual types in Insights
Show or hide axis lines, grid lines, axis labels, and axis sort icons Yes   Axes and grid lines on visual types in Insights
Add a second Y-axis Yes   Create a dual-axis line chart
Change the visual colors Yes   Colors in visual types in Insights
Focus on or exclude elements Yes, with exceptions

You can focus on or exclude any line on the chart, except in the following cases:

  • You create a multi-dimension line chart and use a date field as the dimension for the line color.

  • You create a measure or multi-measure line chart and use a date field as the dimension for the X axis.

In these cases, you can only focus on a line, not exclude it.

Focus on visual elements

Exclude visual elements
Sort Yes, with exceptions You can sort data for numeric measures in the X axis and Value field wells. Other data is automatically sorted in ascending order. Sorting visual data in Insights
Perform field aggregation Yes You must apply aggregation to the field that you choose for the value. You cannot apply aggregation to the fields you choose for the X axis and color. Changing field aggregation
Add drill-downs Yes You can add drill-down levels to the X axis and Color field wells. Adding drill-downs to visual data in Insights

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