Performing visual analysis

After you access the Visual Analysis interface in your browser by any of the ways introduced in Starting Visual Analysis session, you can make use of the tool to analyze the data in a business view intuitively and conveniently.

The following are operations you can make use of in order to interact with data. Note that only group and aggregation fields can be added into the data presentation area.

Adding data fields as column or row headers

Group and aggregation fields can be added as column or row headers. Drag a data field from the Resources panel and drop it to the proper control box, following the instructions of the four control boxes highlighted in the below image. The button beside the four control boxes allows you to select a group or an aggregation field from the drop-down list instead of dragging the object from the resource panel.

When an aggregation is added as a header, the aggregation will be used to draw axes in the header cells.

Multiple fields can be added as column or row headers. For column headers, the order of the group fields or the aggregation fields from left to right decides the grouping order from the first level to the last level. That is, the grouping order is from left to right. For example, there are Year, Region, and Category group fields added as the column headers and are displayed from left to right. Year will be the first level group, Region the second, and Category the last. For row headers, the grouping order is from bottom to top.

When you drag a field to be a header, you can decide its position if there are already existing fields, or if you are not satisfied with the current grouping order, you can adjust the fields' order by dragging and dropping.

To remove a data field from being a column or row header, drag the field outside of its control box.

Changing the display type of the data values

To specify the way of presenting the data values, click the Display Type button which may vary with the context and select the required display type from the drop-down list.

Showing the tip information of the data values

Put the mouse pointer on any date value in the date presentation area, and a tip box will be displayed showing the detailed information of the value.

Identifying the members of a data field by colors

For example, to mark different regions with different colors, drag the Region field to the Color button in the legend section. See Color legend for more.

Identifying the members of a data field by sizes

For example, to mark total quantity by size, drag the Total Quantity field to the Size button in the legend section. See Size legend for more.

Showing the labels of the members of a data field

For example, to show the country names in the data values displayed in the data presentation area, drag the Country field to the button in the legend section. See Label legend for more.

Dividing pie into sections by an aggregation field

When the display type is Pie, you can make the pie divided around the center according to an aggregation field. For example, to divide the pie by total sales, drag the Total Sales field to the Slice button in the legend section. See Slice legend for more.

Identifying the members of a data field by shapes

When the display type is Shape, to mark different product categories with different shapes, drag the Category field to the Shape button in the legend section. See Shape legend for more.

Exchanging columns and rows

To exchange the positions of the columns and rows, click the Swap button on the toolbar.

Filtering data

Filters can be created on group fields but not on aggregations. Multiple filters are supported.

To create a filter based on a group field, take either of the ways:

• Drag a group field from the Resources panel into the Filters panel.
• In the data presentation area, click a group field and select Use as Filter from the drop-down menu.

A filter will be created with all the values of the group field being applied. Then specify the desired values in the filter and the data values in the data presentation area will be filtered.

To remove a filter, drag its field outside of the Filters panel.

To remove all the filters from the Filters panel, click the Menu button on the toolbar and then select Clear Filters. Or make use of the Clear All Filters on the Filters panel title bar.

Move the mouse cursor on the Filters panel title bar and you will see an arrow button on the right. Click the arrow and there are two options:

• Reset All Filters
  Resets the values of all the filters to the initial state.
• Clear All Filters
  Removes all the filters from the Filters panel.

Move the mouse cursor on a filter's title bar and you will see more filter options:

• Reset
  Resets the values of the filter to the initial state.
• Reverse
  Reverses the values of the filter.
• More Options
  Changes the display type of the filter:
  • Checkbox
    The field values are displayed with checkboxes and multiple values can be selected.
  • Radio
    The field values are displayed with radio buttons and only one single value can be selected except for all values.
  • Range Slider
    The field values are displayed with a slider and a range of values can be selected.
  • Slider
    The field values are displayed with a slider and only one single value can be selected except for all values.

Sorting a row/column header field

To sort a data field in the row/column header, click it and select Sort from the drop-down menu, then in the Sort dialog, choose a way to specify the sort order. See the dialog.

• Set the order to be Ascending or Descending. If you want to perform the sort based on another field, check the Sort Using Another Field radio button and then select a field from the drop-down list that follows. For example, when you set the sort order to Ascending and specify to use the field Total Sales to perform the sort action, the final sort result will be that Total Sales is sorted in the ascending order.
• Check the Customize option to adjust the order of the members of the current data field manually. Use the arrow buttons to adjust the order of the members.

Undoing/Redoing actions

You can undo or redo some actions. To do this, click the Undo button or Redo button on the toolbar.

Refreshing the current data view

Click the Refresh button on the toolbar.

Switching fields between legends

Within a display type, after a field is bound with a legend type, you can directly drag the field to another legend type, or use the context menu after you click the field name bar under the original legend.

Showing/Hiding the row/column title/header

To show or hide the row/column title or header, click a related row/header control box and then select or unselect Show Title or Show Header on the drop-down menu.

Switching the view mode

To switch the view mode, click the Menu button on the toolbar and then select an item on the View list. Or select an item from the view mode drop-down list on the toolbar.

There are also some quick ways to switch between the modes:

• Under the Normal View mode, double-click any position in the data area, the view mode will be switched to Fit Visible.
• Under the Fit XXX mode, double-click any position in the data area, the view mode will be switched to Normal View.

The view mode status will not be saved when saving the Visual Analysis template.

Examples

The following examples use the WorldWideSalesBV in Data Source 1 of the SampleReports catalog in the Public Reports folder as the business view.

• Example 1: Displaying the data values in text
• Example 2: Displaying the data values as bar
• Example 3: Displaying the data values as line
• Example 4: Displaying the data values as pie
• Example 5: Displaying the data values as shape

Example 1: Displaying the data values in text

1. Make sure you do not change the display type, which is Text by default.
2. To view total sales, drag Total Sales from the Resources panel and drop it to the Label button in the legend section.

   

   There is only one value in the data presentation area which is the total sales in the whole business view.

3. Now let's view total sales in different years. Drag Sales Year to the column control box .

   

4. To add product category as the row header, drag Category to the row control box .

   

5. Drag Region as a column header right to Sales Year.

   

   Then get the following:

   

6. We will move Sales Year from the column header to row header by dragging.

   

7. We will filter the data with product type. Drag Product Type from the Resources panel to the Filters panel. Then deselect Regular.

   

8. Only the data about Decaf will be displayed.

   

Example 2: Displaying the data values as bar

1. Click the Display Type button and then select Bar from the drop-down list.
2. Drag Sales Year to the row control box and Total Sales to the row control box . The Total Sales field is used to draw axes in the row header.

   

3. To mark different regions by color, drag Region to the Color button in the legend section.

   

4. Drag Category to the column control box as the column header.

   

5. To show the total cost in each region by size, drag Total Cost to the Size button in the legend section.

   

Example 3: Displaying the data values as line

1. Click the Display Type button and then select Line from the drop-down list.
2. Drag Total Sales to the row control box as the axis and Sales Quarter to the column control box to demonstrate the sales trend along the quarters.

   

3. To view the sales trend along the quarters in each region, drag Region to the Color button in the legend section.

   

Example 4: Displaying the data values as pie

1. Click the Display Type button and then select Pie from the drop-down list.
2. To mark different regions in different color in the pie, drag Region to the Color button in the legend section.

   

3. To demonstrate the total sales of each region by portion in the pie, drag the field Total Sales to the Slice button in the legend section.

   

4. To view the total sales in different years, drag the field Sales Year to the column control box .

   

Example 5: Displaying the data values as shape

1. Click the Display Type button and then select Shape from the drop-down list.
2. Add Category as the column header and Total Sales as the row axis.

   

3. To mark different regions with different shapes, drag Region to the Shape button in the legend section.

   

4. To change the shape pattern, click the Shape button . Then in the Edit Shapes dialog, select Pattern3 from the drop-down list and click OK.

   

5. To distinguish the shapes by color, drag Region to the Color button in the legend section.