Create Clustered Column Chart

This walkthrough creates a Clustered Column Chart. The chart consists of two columns comparing the 'Net Sales' and 'Net Income' per 'Product Category'. The final chart appears like this:

Create a Report and Bind Report to Data

In the ActiveReports Designer, create a new RDLX report and follow the New Report wizard to bind the report to data. You can also perform data binding later using the Report Data Source dialog accessed from the Report Explorer.

Connect to a Data Source

1. In the Report Data Source dialog, select the General page and enter the name of the data source.
2. Under Type, select 'Json Provider'.
3. Go to the Content tab under Connection and set the type of JSON data to 'External file or URL'.
4. In the Select or type the file name or URL field, enter the following URL:
   https://demodata.mescius.io/contoso/odata/v1/FactSales
   For more information, see the JSON Provider topic.
5. Go to the Connection String tab and validate the generated connection string by clicking the Validate DataSource
   icon.
6. Click OK to save the changes.

Add a Dataset

1. Right click the added datasource and in the DataSet dialog, select the General page and enter the name of the dataset, 'FactSales'.

2. Go to the Query page and enter the following query to fetch the required fields:

   $.value[*]
   

3. Go to the Fields page to view the available fields and modify the Name of the [SalesAmount] field to [Net Sales].

4. On the same page, add two calculated fields:

   Name	Value
   Net Income	=[Net Sales] - [UnitCost] - [DiscountAmount] - [ReturnAmount]
   Product Category	=Switch([ProductKey] < 116, "Audio", [ProductKey] >= 116 And [ProductKey] < 338, "TV and Video", [ProductKey] >= 338 And [ProductKey] < 944, "Computers", [ProductKey] >= 944 And [ProductKey] < 1316, "Cameras", [ProductKey] >= 1316, "Cell Phones")

5. Click OK to save the changes.

Create Basic Structure of Chart

We will use the Chart Wizard dialog to configure chart data values and basic customization. If you have a dataset added to your report, on Chart's drag-drop operation, the wizard appears. See the topic on Chart Wizard for more information. You can make further adjustments to the chart after you exit the wizard by accessing the properties of chart elements through dialogs, property panels, and adorners.

1. Drag-drop Chart data region onto the design area. The New Chart dialog appears with an option to select the query and the plot type.

2. Select the Query as the dataset name (FactSales) and the Plot Type as 'Column'.

3. Click Next to configure data values.
   Here, we will define two series values to form a cluster (or group), one column to show the 'Net Sales' and the other to show the 'Net Income'.

4. Under Configure Chart Data Values, add the following two values from the drop-down, set the corresponding aggregates and captions, and click Next.

   Field	Aggregate	Caption
   [Net Sales]	Sum	Net Sales
   [Net Income]	Sum	Net Income

5. In the Configure Chart Data Groupings, set the Categories > Group By to [Product Category]. Keep the remaining settings as it is. Ensure that Series > Layout Type is 'Cluster'.

6. Click Next and Choose Report Colors from Theme and Style, and preview your chart.
   
   
   

Now that the basic structure of your chart is ready, let us add more meaning to the chart using the properties via the Chart Panels, Adorners, and Property Panel.

Add Customizations to Chart

Category Groups

1. In the Category Groups, right-click the [Product Category] and from the adorner, click Edit.
2. In the Chart Data - Category Groups dialog, go to Sorting tab and add the following expression to sort the product category in the order of decreasing total net sales:
   =Sum([Net Sales])
   
3. Click OK to complete setting up the plot.

Y-Axis

1. To open the smart panel for advanced Y-axis settings, right-click 'Y Axis' from the Report Explorer and choose Property Dialog.
2. Go to the Title page and remove the text from the Title field as Y-axis title can be skipped.
3. In the Chart Axis dialog, go to the Labels page > General tab and set the Format to 'Currency (with 0 decimal points)'.
4. Go to the Line page and uncheck the Show Line option
5. Go to the Major Gridline page and set Grid Interval to '100000'.
6. Set the following properties under Grid appearance:
   • Show grid: Check-on
   • Color: #cccccc
   • Style: Dotted
7. Go to the Scale page and set the following properties.
   • Scale Type: Linear
   • Minimum scale value: 0
   • Maximum scale value: 1000000.
8. Proceed with other adjustments and click OK to complete setting up the Y-axis.

Legend

1. In the Legend Data, right-click Color and from the adorner, click Edit.
2. Go to the General page and select DataValues as Legend Mode.
3. Go to the Layout page and set the following properties.
   • Position: Top
   • Orientation: Horizontal
4. Click OK to complete setting up the Legend.

Header

1. To open the smart panel for the chart header, right-click 'Header' on the Report Explorer and choose Property Dialog.
2. Go to the General page and set Title to 'Sales by Category'.
3. Go to the Font page and set the properties as below.
   • Size: 24pt
   • Color: #3da7a8
4. Click OK to complete setting up the chart header.

You may want to resize the chart, change the chart palette, and customize other chart elements. Once you are done, press F5 to preview the report.

type=note

Note: We use stub data at design time and not real data. So to view the actual final chart, you need to view the chart on the preview.