Line charts
A line chart plots a series of data points on a graph and connects them with lines. A line
chart is useful for showing trend lines with subtle differences, or with data lines that cross one
another. You can use a line chart to summarize categorical variables, in which case it is similar to
a bar chart (see Bar charts
). Line charts are also useful for time-series data.
Creating a simple time-series line chart
- In the Chart Type section, click the Line
icon.
The canvas updates to display a line chart template.
- Select a date variable as the X-axis variable.
- Select a scale variable as the Y-axis variable (the variable whose values were recorded over time).
- Click the Save visualization in the project control. Select Create a new asset or Append to existing asset. Provide a Visualization asset name, an optional description, and a chart name.
- Click Apply to save the visualization to the project. The new visualization asset is now available on the Assets tab.
Options
- X-axis
- Lists variables that are available for the chart's X-axis.
- Y-axis
- Lists variables that are available for the chart's Y-axis.
- Split by
- Select a categorical variable that creates a table of charts, with a cell for each category in the Split by variable. Like grouping, split by variables essentially add more dimensions to your chart by displaying information for each variable category.
- Area
- When enabled, the area beneath the line is shown in a different color.
- Smooth
- When enabled, the chart shows a smooth curve.
- Show data points
- When enabled, the data point is shown in the chart.
- Reorder
- The toggle control reorders data based on X and Y-axis values.
- Fit line
- In a fit line, the data points are fitted to a line that usually does not pass through all of the data points. The fit line represents the trend of the data. Some fits lines are regression-based. Others are based on iterative weighted least squares. Select a fit line option from the drop-down list.
- Show reference line
- When enabled, the option shows a reference line on the chart that is based
on the specified xAxis and yAxis values.
- Enter a reference line value on xAxis
- When Show reference line is enabled, this setting provides the option of specifying a specific reference line value for the X-axis. Click Add another column to specify more reference line values.
- Enter a reference line value on yAxis
- When Show reference line is enabled, this setting provides the option of specifying a specific reference line value for the Y-axis. Click Add another column to specify more reference line values.
- Primary title
- The chart title.
- Subtitle
- The chart subtitle.
- Footnote
- The chart footnote.
- XAxis label
- The x-axis label.
- YAxis label
- The y-axis label.