This type of chart is a two-dimensional representation of data in which values are represented by colors. A simple heat map provides an immediate visual summary of information. Heat map charts use color to communicate relationships between data values that would be more difficult to understand if presented numerically in a spreadsheet. Heat maps can either be configured to highlight when limits are exceeded, or to use the configure measures value to apply the color scheme to the chart. This type of chart is very flexible and has many features. As such we will discuss each feature in the following sub sections.
The Heatmap chart consists of the following groups:
General
The General tab is used to define the general layout of the Chart as well as the default period display and which indicators to display by default. The General tab consists of Chart, Title and Period.
Chart
Under the Table section we have the following properties:
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This sets the background area that surrounds the chart’s color. The default is the “Windows” theme color. |
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This sets the padding to the left of the chart. The default is 0. |
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This sets the padding to the right of the chart. The default is 0. |
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This sets the padding to the top of the chart. The default is 0. |
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This sets the padding to the top of the chart. The default is 0. |
The figure below shows the effect of updating the above properties for a Heatmap Chart. The properties are annotated to demonstrate the effect of each of the properties on the chart.
Title
Refer to the general “Title” chart properties section for more information.
Period
Refer to the general “Period” chart properties section for more information.
Sections
Sections are used to group related information together. The Sections tab is used to configure these sections. Sections can be added, removed and reordered here. Sections have the following properties:
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This sets the section’s title text. |
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This sets the caption text to 60% of the size of the main title’s font. This text is displayed below the title. |
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This specifies if a section is collapsed by default. The section can still be expanded/collapsed by clicking the on the title. |
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This specifies if a section is stacked directly on top of another section, or if a space is inserted between sections. |
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This sets the background color of the section’s title cell. |
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This sets the font color of the section’s title text. |
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This sets the size of the section’s title text. |
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This sets whether the text in the title cell is bold. |
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This sets whether the text in the title is italicized. |
Measures
Measures of the same interval type as the chart can be added to a section by dragging it from the Model View onto a section. A whole metric can also be dragged on to a section. This will then add all of the metric’s measures that are the same interval type as the chart to the section. A metric can also be dragged on to the empty space in the Sections tab. This will automatically create a section with the name of the metric and add the measures to that section as before. Measure layout configuration on the chart are defined by the following sections:
General
The General section is used to set the title of the measure’s row as well as if the row uses bold text or if the row text is italicized. The default title for the row is set to the measure’s name and can be overwritten.
Header
The Header section applies to the row header area of the measure’s row. It consists of the following properties:
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Sets the background color of the row header cells for the measure. |
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Sets the font color of the row header cells for the measure. |
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Sets the indent that applies to the row’s title. |
Limit
The Limit section is used to configure which measure limit is used in the limit row header. It is also used to display the limit colors if a limit color provider is used on the row.
Context
The Context section is used to configure additional context to display on a measure row. This context is linked to an event scheme that is configured on the measure itself.
It is possible to add an event attribute color provider to the sparkline that will change the chart’s colors based on the event attribute that each row represents.
Sparkline
The Sparkline section is used to configure the sparkline row header. The sparkline configuration consists of the color for the chart as well as the type. The types supported are line, column and area. If additional context is configured on the measure row, it is possible to add an event attribute color provider to the sparkline that will change the chart’s colors based on the event attribute that each row represents.
Color
The Color section is used to configure the measure’s data cell colors and behavior. The base color can be set when clicking on the Color item. Base color is static, and is used to color the cell background. Opacity sets the opacity of the cells. This defaults to 0, which means that all cells appear the same color as the table’s background color. It is possible to add the following color providers:
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This color provider will change the cell’s font and background color based on the configured Limit’s settings. This option is only available if the row is associated with a Limit. |
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This color provider will generate a heatmap based on the value of the measure linked to it. By default the measure that represents the row is the linked measure. |
The Measure Color Provider has the following properties:
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This color is used for the background of the cell if the value of the source measure is towards the lower end of the scale. |
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This color is used for the background of the cell if the value of the source measure is towards the higher end of the scale. |
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This is used to specify how the colors are distributed between the Low Color and High Color. If this value is 0 it implies that the colors will be mixed together in an infinite number of steps. |
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This is used to determine the scale. If it is automatic, the scale is calculated based on the range of values of the source measure, otherwise the Low and High values must be specified. |
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This will mix in to the color range, the base color for the row if it is set to true, if the value is in the middle of the scale’s range, the background color will be set to the base color. |
To change the source measure of the Measure Color Provider, it must be created first and then another measure can be dragged onto it.
Label
The Label section is used to set the measure’s data cell’s font color. The font color will be ignored if using the Limit Color Provider.
Details
This section is used to add additional detail columns to the chart. There are 2 types of details that can be added:
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This is used to add a column at the end of the chart and can be linked to a measure that is of a lower interval type compared to the current measure, to provide a more recent value than is currently possible for the given interval type. |
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This is used to add columns at the end of the chart that can be linked to measures of the same interval type as the current measure, to provide a rolling aggregation to a higher interval type. |
UI Interaction
Additional functionality available in a Table report includes:
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Clicking anywhere on the tow header of a measure in the report will open a Chart overlay. |
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Clicking an individual cell will open a Drilldown overlay providing details of that measure value (calculation inputs, comments and versions). |