About charts

A bar chart displays data values as a set of horizontal bars. A bar chart is useful for displaying data side by side for easy comparison. There are three subtypes of bar charts: side-by-side, stacked, and percent stacked. The stacked and percent stacked bar charts provide functionality similar to the stacked area chart and percent stacked area chart subtypes.

• Side-by-side bar chart — Multiple series appear as side-by-side bars.
• Stacked bar chart — Multiple series are stacked horizontally. The stacked bar chart shows totals for each category, each product line in this example, as well as the proportion that each series contributes to the total.
• Percent stacked bar chart — Multiple series are stacked horizontally, and the values are shown as a percentage of the whole.
• The percent stacked bar chart is meaningful only when displaying and comparing multiple series. Do not use this chart subtype if you are displaying only one series, for example, only employees in Asia.

A column chart displays data values as a set of vertical bars. Categories appear on the horizontal axis and values appear on the vertical axis. As with a bar chart, this layout is useful for displaying data side by side for easy comparison.

This chart type also supports a stacked or percent stacked subtype that shows the relationships of values in each category to the whole.

A line chart displays data values as a set of points that are connected by a line. You typically use line charts to present large amounts of data that occur over a continuous period of time. A line chart is the most basic type of chart in finance.

A line chart is similar to an area chart, except that the line chart does not fill in the area below the line. In an overlay line chart, multiple series appear as overlapping lines. The line chart supports stacked and percent stacked subtypes.

• Stacked line chart — Multiple series are stacked vertically. The stacked line chart shows totals for each series, as well as the proportion that each series contributes to the total. In a stacked area chart, the filled-in areas provide a clear visual cue that each part is compared to the whole.
• Percent stacked line chart — Multiple series are stacked vertically and the values are shown as a percentage of the whole. Like the percent stacked area chart, the percent stacked line chart makes sense only when displaying and comparing multiple series. Do not use this chart subtype if you are displaying only one series, for example, only employees for Japan. Both the stacked line chart and the percent stacked line chart are not as effective as their area chart counterparts.

A meter chart displays a value as a needle pointer on a semicircle, called a dial. A meter chart resembles a speedometer, with tick marks and numbers showing a range of values. A meter chart supports standard and superimposed subtypes.

The standard meter chart typically creates a dashboard effect. A standard meter chart displays multiple values in multiple dials, where each dial displays a single value. A superimposed meter chart displays multiple values in a single dial.

A pie chart is a circular chart that is divided into sectors or slices. Each sector represents a value that is proportional to the sum of the values. Use a pie chart to show the relationship of parts to the whole, for example, the hours changed to each pay code contributes to the total hours.

Doughnut charts are similar to pie charts. Doughnut charts are ring charts that consist of segments. Each segment represents a value that is proportional to the total value.

A scatter chart presents data as x-y coordinates by displaying two sets of numeric values as single data points. A scatter chart typically is used to display scientific and statistical data, because it shows if there is a relationship between two sets of measurements. For example, use a scatter chart to compare salaries and years of experience. The more data values you include in a scatter chart, the clearer the trends the data reveals.

A stock chart displays a stock’s open, close, high, and low values for a set of trading dates. A stock chart can show the data for one stock or for multiple stocks. Although a stock chart is typically used to display stock data, you can also use it to chart other values such as four daily temperature values for a set of dates: high, low, sunrise, sunset. The stock chart has two subtypes: the candlestick and bar stick stock charts.

• Candlestick stock chart — Consists of a series of boxes with lines extending up and down from the ends. The top and bottom points of each line indicate the high and low values, respectively. The top and bottom of each box indicate the open and close values. If the close value is higher than the open value, the box is white. If the open value is higher than the close value, the box is shaded. This style enables you to see immediately whether a value posted a gain or a loss for a given day
• Bar stick stock chart — Consists of a series of vertical bars with horizontal tick marks. The top and bottom points of each bar indicate the high and low values, respectively. The horizontal tick marks indicate the open and close values.

The tick mark on the left of the bar is the open value. The tick mark on the right of the bar is the close value. A bar stick stock chart typically shows the change in price over a period of time. The candlestick stock chart shows the gain or loss pattern more clearly than the bar stick stock chart.

Radar charts compare the aggregate values of one or more series of data. A separate spoke from the chart centre is shown for each category and each spoke is connected by an arc or line. A line is drawn connecting the data values for each spoke giving the chart a star-like appearance. Radar charts have two subtypes: standard radar charts and spider radar charts.

• A spider radar chart connects the outer spokes using lines and a standard radar chart uses arcs.
• Standard radar charts are most effective for small data sets containing only a few hundred data rows. For larger data sets, or those containing a time series, use a line chart.

A difference chart shows a variation between two sets of data by shading the area between points of comparison. A difference chart is useful when you want to display the deviation between two sets of data values.

A Gantt chart graphically presents project scheduling information by displaying the duration of tasks. One axis contains the time series, and the other contains tasks. Gantt charts use symbols on bars to mark beginning and ending dates. Bars can use multiple colours to differentiate between stages.

A bubble chart displays three sets of numeric data values at a time. Two values are data points with x-y coordinates on the axes. The third value defines the size of the bubble at each point. A typical use of a bubble chart is to present financial data such as quantity sold, profit margin, and total sales of multiple product lines.

You can modify tube, cone, and pyramid charts to side-by-side, stacked, or percent stacked, depending on which type best represents the data being used. These chart types are variations of the bar chart that use tubular, conical, and pyramid-shaped risers in place of bars. You use a bar, tube, cone, or pyramid chart to display data values as a set of vertical or horizontal columns.