InfoAssist Chart Enhancements

In this section:

The following new features apply to InfoAssist charts.


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HTML5 Output Format

The HTML5 output format allows you to render a chart in the browser using a built-in JavaScript engine. This output format is only available for charts. Charts with this output format utilize the latest capabilities of the HTML5 web standard, including animation, high-quality vector output, and attractive alpha-channel and gradient effects. The HTML5 JavaScript engine creates charts and dashboards that are automatically Mobile-ready. The HTML5 button is shown in the following image.


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Multiple Axis Assignment

Bar, Line, and Area chart types can have multiple axis charts, such as dual-axis charts and multi-y charts, meaning that you can compare one X-axis value with up to five Y-axis measures. InfoAssist allows you to assign each individual series to the Y1 axis and Y2 axis for dual-axis charts. For more information, see How to Use Axis Assignment in Multiple-Axis Charts in the WebFOCUS InfoAssist User’s Manual.


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File Menu

You can use the File menu to create an image file from a chart. When you select the File menu or if you choose Select a location and format from the File drop-down menu, you will be able to name the file and select the output type. The available output types are PNG, GIF, SVG, and JPEG. Once you select the File menu, the output type selection is disabled. If you do not wish to disable the File menu, click the File menu again.

Note: In order to create the image file, you will need to execute the procedure.

When you select Chart from the Format group, the File menu is available from either the Format group under the Home tab or the Destination group under the Format tab, as shown in the following image.


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Output Formats

There are additional output formats available in InfoAssist that are only available for charts. These output formats include PNG, GIF, JPEG, SVG, and PDF/GIF. These output types do not appear by default. You can enable them by opening the WebFOCUS Administration console and selecting Utilities and then InfoAssist Properties. For more information, see Using the Format Tab in the WebFOCUS InfoAssist User’s Manual.


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Reversing the Order of a Series

When All Series is selected in the Select group, the Reverse Order button allows you to reverse the order of the entire series of your chart. The Display group, under the Series tab, provides access to the Reverse Order button and is available for all chart types. The Reverse Order button is shown in the following image.


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Advanced Chart Dialog Boxes

Multiple advanced dialog boxes have been added to customize and style charts. These dialog boxes can be found under the Legend, Grid Line, Axes, Gauge, Frame and Background, Data Labels, and Series options. To access the dialog boxes, either select the drop-down arrow from the Ribbon and select More Options, or right-click the option in the Results panel and select More Options.


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Custom Chart Size and AutoFit

The AutoFit button allows you to make chart size dynamic. This means that other applications can override the size of the chart when the chart is embedded. The AutoFit button, in the Size and Arrange group, is only available for charts. For more information, see How to Resize a Component in the WebFOCUS InfoAssist User’s Manual.


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Additional HTML5 Chart Types (Candidate for Release)

HTML5 is the new web standard for constructing and viewing interactive content on the web and is supported by all the major browsers. WebFOCUS Release 8.0 Version 02 introduces the following Candidate for Release HTML5 chart types:

A Mekko chart is a variant of a stacked bar chart that adjusts the width of each stack relative to its total value for the entire data set. These graphs are very popular in the management consultancy industry.

When to use: Use a Mekko chart when you want to show the relative width (contribution) of each category at the same time you examine the percentage breakdown within the category.

When to use: Use a Tag Cloud to display the relative prominence of terms.

A Parabox, or parallel coordinates graph, is a common way of visualizing high-dimensional geometry and analyzing multivariate data. WebFOCUS Parabox graphs are single-dimension and multi-measure graphs. They are highly interactive with each vertex becoming an interactive slider enabling ad hoc filtering. As elements are filtered, the non-selected lines are automatically grayed-out, indicating that they are no longer in the active data set.

When to use: Use a Parabox when you wish to show many dimensions, limited only by horizontal space.

A Streamgraph is a form of stacked area chart that is particularly useful for visualizing data with a fluid timescale format.

When to use: Use a Streamgraph when you wish to show the relative magnitude over time of multiple entities.


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Advanced Graph Assistant Functionality Not Available in InfoAssist

The following topics list all properties, features, and functionality available in Advanced Graph Assistant, but not implemented in InfoAssist Charting mode for WebFOCUS 8. Based on our experience, many of them are seldom used in customer environments.

Chart-based Properties

Legend

Ordinal Axis

Secondary Ordinal Axis (3D Charts)

Numeric Axis (Y Axis)

Secondary Numeric Axis (Y2 Axis)

Series

Other Reference Objects

Annotations

Miscellaneous/Advanced


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