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Line
plots are suitable for tracking changes in an Data Value
over time or compare changes over the same period for multiple data values. By default, a line plot arranges a period horizontally, encodes data values into points called Symbols
, along the vertical axis, and connects them by line segments. If the Swap Axes
flag of the Line Plot is set, then the plot arranges a period vertically and puts Symbols
along the horizontal axis.
A single line plot visualizes changes of one data value.
For instance, the Single Line Demo shows changes of some product returns over the year.
A multiple-line plot allows you to split data values into subcategories for a more granular analysis of changes.
For example, the Multiple Line Demo shows changes of the Net Sales
of some product over the year for the online and store sales channels.
You could also display changes of multiple related or unrelated data values over the same period. For instance, the Multiple Values Line Demo shows how the Net Sales
, the Cost of Goods Sold
, and the Net Income
change over the year for some product.
You can configure all these types using the Line
plot template and its properties described in the following sections. The Smooth Line
template is just a shortcut to a pre-configured Line Aspect
property value.
You can use the following demos to explore plot properties - open a link, toggle the Report explorer, select the Plot - Plot 1
node and use the Properties panel to modify the configuration.
You could also download the report files listed below and open them in the Standalone Report Designer.
If you add a chart into a report, set the plot type to Line
on the first page of the Chart Wizard
, and click the Next
button, the wizard shows the Line Settings
page that looks like the following:
The Data Values
section allows you to add one or more Data Values.
The Data Categories
section allows you to set the Category Encoding.
The Data Subcategories
section allows you to configure the Details Encoding.
The Line plot's Values
collection determines data values that change over time. The Chart Wizard displays the Values
collection as Fields
in the Data Values
section. Collection items consist of two properties:
The Value
is usually a bound field reference. The Properties Panel displays the Value
as the collection, but Line
plots take the first item only. The Chart Wizard displays the Value
as Field
.
The Aggregate
is an optional function, such as Count
or Average
, that reduces many field values into a single one.
Multiple data values generate multiple lines, as in the Multiple Values Line Demo. You can switch the Show Values Names In Legend
flag to supply the plot with a color legend that displays the match between line colors and corresponding data value names. You can set the displayed name by using the Caption
property of a data value item.
The Category Encoding
of a Line
plot is a set of properties that determine the period over which the plot generates connected data points representing those above Data Values
.
The Category
is usually a bound field reference. Bound DataSet Records with the same value of that field fall into the same category. Distinct categories form the period. For instance, the Single Line Demo is bound to the Sales DataSet
containing the Return Quantity
and SalesDate
fields for each data record. The plot's Category
is set to {MonthName(Month(SalesDate))}
expression. Therefore the plot goes through the Sales DataSet
, finds the distinct months from the SalesDate
values, and generates one category per month. If you preview the Single Line Demo
output, you can see 12 months along the horizontal axis.
The Category Sort
configuration determines the order of the category values appearance. For instance, the plot in the Single Line Demo
has Category Sort Expression = {Month(SalesDate)}, Category Sort Direction = Ascending
settings to ensure chronological order.
The Chart Wizard
offers the simplified editor of the Categories Encoding
in the Data Categories
section:
A single Category Expression displayed as Field
is available.
The Category Sorting
configuration only displays the Sort direction
property. The Sort Expression
is automatically set to the same value as the Field
property has.
The Details Encoding
allows you to break down those above Data Values
into subcategories for more granular analysis of changes.
The Details
property of a Line
plot is the collection of items that determine these subcategories. Each item includes several properties:
The Values
is usually one or more bound field references. Bound DataSet Records with the same values of these fields fall into the same subcategory. For instance, in the Multiple Line Demo the Details
value is {ChannelKey}
. Consequently, the Sales Amount
of each month splits into the Online
and Store
subcategories that each generate a data point.
The Exclude Nulls
flag indicates whether DataSet Records with an undefined Details Value
should be excluded from the visualization.
The Sorting
configuration determines the order of sub-categories' appearance.
The Chart Wizard
offers the simplified editor of the Details Encoding
in the Data Subcategories
section:
A single Details Encoding item is available.
A single Value
item displayed as Field
is available.
The Sorting
configuration of the Details Encoding
displays the Sort direction
property only. The Sort Expression
is automatically set to the Field
value.
The Colors Encoding
enables the color legend of the Category Encoding
or Details Encoding
and includes the Color
expression and the optional Color Aggregate
function that reduces many Color
values into a single one.
Suppose the Details Encoding
is empty. In that case, a Line plot calculates distinct Color Encoding
results for the categories produced by the Category Encoding
and converts them to the background color of the corresponding symbols.
Otherwise, the plot calculates distinct Color Encoding
results for the subcategories produced by the Details Encoding
and converts them to the color of the corresponding lines.
In both cases, the plot picks up colors from the Chart Palette and displays the match between colors and encoding results in the legend.
For instance, the colors encoding in the Multiple Line Demo uses the {ChannelName}
expression. Consequently, the report output shows the colors legend that matches Channel Names with corresponding line colors.
Note: Reset the Line Color
property in the Style
section to get the Colors Encoding worked.
Note: The Color
property is the collection, but the Line
plot takes the first item only.
The Shape Encoding
enables the shape legend of the Category Encoding
or Details Encoding
and includes the Shape
expression and the optional Shape Aggregate
function that reduces many Shape
values into a single one.
Suppose the Details Encoding
is empty. In that case, a Line plot calculates distinct Shape Encoding
results for the categories produced by the Category Encoding
and converts them to the shape of the corresponding symbol.
Otherwise, the plot calculates distinct Shape Encoding
results for the subcategories produced by the Details Encoding
and converts them to the corresponding symbols' shape.
You can try setting the Shape expression to {ChannelName}
for the Multiple Line Demo. Consequently, the plot will use different symbols for the online and store channels.
Note: Set the Symbol Shape
property of the Line Plot to Auto
to get the Shape Encoding worked.
Note: The Shape
property is the collection, but the Line
plot takes the first item only.
The Size Encoding
configuration enables the size legend and includes the Size
expression and the optional Size Aggregate
function that reduces many Size
values into a single one. The Size Encoding works only with numeric values and breaks down data values into ranges that determine the size of symbols
. It allows you to encode additional information in a line chart.
You can try setting the Size expression to {SalesAmount}
and the Size Aggregate to Count
for the Multiple Line Demo so that the plot would visualize the number of sales in each month using the size of the symbols.
Note: The Size
property is the collection, but the Line
plot takes the first item only.
The following properties allow you to fine-tune the outfit of symbols and lines that form the Line
plot. You can see their effect in action by modifying the configuration of any line demo.
The Opacity
and Symbol Opacity
are numbers in percentage that determine the opacity of the line and symbols, respectively. 100%
means they are opaque, and 0%
means that they are entirely transparent.
The Line Aspect
property determines the style of the line that connects data points.
Default
means the straight line
Spline
means the bezier curve
Step Center
, Step Left
and Step Right
mean the stepped line with different step directions. You can try these values with the Single Line Demo to see the difference between them.
The Show Nulls
property indicates the arrangement of data points for Null
values.
Gaps
means that the plot will not draw line segments between a null data point and its previous and next points
Zero
means that null data points will be considered to have 0
value
Connected
means that the plot will connect the previous and the next points of a null point
The Clipping Mode
indicates the manner that the plot area draws a plot:
Fit
value means that the plot area should use all the available space to fit the plot
Clip
value means that the plot area cuts off the plot on the edge of its right or bottom padding
None
value equals to Fit
The line properties in the Style
section overwrite any other line color settings, including the Color Encoding
that we described earlier.
The line properties, the Background Color
expression, the Symbol Shape
and the Show Symbols
flag allow you to set up the appearance of symbols. If the Symbol Shape
is Auto
, then the plot either picks the default value or applies the Shape Encoding
that we described earlier.
The Text Encoding
collection offers a way to configure line plots to display customized labels and tooltips on the data point symbols. Each item within this collection has the following properties:
Values
: This is an expression that can reference the values of the bound fields.
Aggregate
: This optional function, such as Count
or Average
, can condense multiple field values into a single value, evaluated within the current detail or category context.
Template Key
: A string used within the Labels or Tooltip template to represent the text encoding item.
Target
: This property specifies whether the text encoding item is meant for the plot's labels or tooltips.
Adding items to the Text Encoding
collection allows automatic display of configured values in Labels or Tooltips, based on the Target
value of each item. To further customize the text of the labels and tooltips, you can employ the Tooltip Template
and Label Text Template
expressions.
Apart from Text Encoding items referenced by their keys, you can utilize the following pre-defined values:
{valueField.name}
: Represents the field name bound to a Data Value.
{valueField.value}
: Represents the current Data Value within the containing Category or Details.
{PercentageDetail}
: Represents the percentage share of the current Data Value among all values within the same Details.
{PercentageCategory}
: Represents the percentage share of the current Data Value among all values within the same Category.
{categoryField.name}
: Represents the field name bound to the Category Encoding.
{categoryField.value}
: Represents the current Category Encoding value.
{detailFields.name}
: Represents the field name bound to the Details Encoding.
{detailFields.value}
: Represents the current Details Encoding value.
{colorField.name}
: Represents the field name bound to the Color Encoding.
{colorField.value}
: Represents the current Color Encoding value.
{shapeField.name}
Represents the field name bound to the Shape Encoding.
{shapeField.value}
Represents the current Shape Encoding value.
{sizeField.name}
Represents the field name bound to the Size Encoding.
{sizeField.name}
Represents the current Size Encoding value.
These values can be combined and formatted using the interpolation syntax and supported format strings that are also used for the TextBox Report Item. For instance, you can set the Label Text Template
to {valueField.value:C2}
in the Multiple Line Demo to display Net Sales Amount as currency.
For example, the plot in the Multiple Line Demo uses an advanced tooltip configuration:
The Text Encoding
contains the SalesQuantity
element that displays the number of sold items:
Aggregate
= Sum
Value
= {SalesQuantity}
Target
= Tooltip
TemplateKey
= SalesQuantity
The Tooltip Template
is configured with the following expression:
Quantity: {SalesQuantity}
Amount : {valueField.value:C2}
A subset of text properties in the Label Text
section and the line properties in the Label Border
section allow you to set up the corresponding visual parameters of the plot labels.
The Label Position
and an optional Offset
in pixels determine the location of labels relative to a parent data point symbol:
Inside
- inside
Outside
- on the top
Center
- on the center
Auto
- equals to Outside
The Overlapping Labels
property indicates the handling of overlapping labels. Possible values are:
Auto
- hides some labels to prevent the overlapping
Show
- shows all labels even if the overlapping persists
The line properties in the Label Line
section allows you to add the connecting lines between labels and their parent data points. The Label Line Position
determines the connection point of a label's bounding box and the line:
Auto
- selected automatically
Center
- on the center of the bounding box side
The Rules
configuration allows you to create if this then that
rules based on one or more data conditions to apply to the plot appearance. A condition is an expression that may refer to one of the following values:
Chart!CurrentData
- the current Data Value
Chart!PreviousData
- the previous Data Value
Chart!NextData
- the next Data Value
Chart!CurrentCategory
- the current Category Encoding
value
Chart!PreviousCategory
- the previous Category Encoding
value
Chart!NextCategory
- the next Category Encoding
value
Chart!CurrentDetail
- the current Details Encoding
value
Chart!PreviousDetail
- the previous Details Encoding
value
Chart!NextDetail
- the next Details Encoding
value
A condition expression can also include references to report parameters and standard operators. The easiest way to build a condition is to use the expression editor that you can open by click on the box on the right side of the Condition
property.
The following visual properties of a Line
plot can be applied when a condition is met:
The background color of a data point symbol
The border color of a data point symbol
The border width of a data point symbol
The border style of a data point symbol
The tooltip and label template
For instance, you can set the following rules for the plot in the Multiple Line Demo to apply a custom formatting for the peak data points (the ones that are greater than the both the previous and the next data points).
As a result, the output of the chart will be like this:
This group of properties determine the Interactive Action when a report reader clicks a data point symbol. You can use bound field references to pass parameters in a drill-through report or configure a dynamic bookmark or URL. The field value is evaluated in the scope of the current detail or category. Visit the Drill-Through Reports Walkthrough for more information. It explains how to set up the drill-through column plot, but the same technique is applicable for a line plot.