Interesting question from a colleague this week. Can you add a filter to a chart to just show a specific set of data?
In an RTF template, you need to do a
little finagling in
the chart definition. In an online template, a couple of clicks and you're done.
RTF
Build your chart as you would normally to include all
the data to start with.
Now flip to
the Advanced tab to see
the code behind
the chart. Its not very pretty but with a
little effort you can get it looking a
little more friendly. Here's my chart showing employees and their salaries.
<Graph depthAngle="50" depthRadius="8" seriesEffect="SE_AUTO_GRADIENT">
<LegendArea visible="true"/>
<Title text="Executive Department Only" visible="true" horizontalAlignment="CENTER"/>
<LocalGridData colCount="{count(.//G_2)}" rowCount="1">
<RowLabels>
<Label>SALARY</Label>
</RowLabels>
<ColLabels>
<xsl:for-each select=".//G_2">
<Label><xsl:value-of select="EMP_NAME"/></Label>
</xsl:for-each>
</ColLabels>
<DataValues>
<RowData>
<xsl:for-each select=".//G_2">
<Cell><xsl:value-of select="SALARY"/></Cell>
</xsl:for-each>
</RowData>
</DataValues>
</LocalGridData>
</Graph>
Note
the emboldened text. Its currently grabbing all values in
the G_2 level of
the data. We can use an XPATH expression to filter
the data to
the set we want to see. In my case I want to only see
the employees that are in
the Executive department. My data is structured thus:
<DATA_DS>
<G_1>
<DEPARTMENT_NAME>Accounting</DEPARTMENT_NAME>
<G_2>
<MANAGER>Higgins</MANAGER>
<EMPLOYEE_ID>206</EMPLOYEE_ID>
<HIRE_DATE>2002-06-07T00:00:00.000-04:00</HIRE_DATE>
<SALARY>8300</SALARY>
<JOB_TITLE>Public Accountant</JOB_TITLE>
<PARAS>11000</PARAS>
<EMP_NAME>William Gietz</EMP_NAME>
</G_2>
So
the XPATH expression Im going to use to limit
the data to
the Executive department would be .//G_2[../DEPARTMENT_NAME='Executive'] Note
the ../ moves
the parser up
the XML tree to be able to test
the DEPARTMENT_NAME value. I added this XPATH expression to
the three instances that need it ColCount, ColLabels and RowData. Its simple enough to do. Testing your XPATH expression is easier to do using a table of data. Please note, as soon as you make changes to
the chart code. Going back to
the Builder tab, you'll find that everything is grayed out. I recommend you make all
the changes you can via
the chart dialog before updating
the code.
Online Template
Implementing
the filter is much simpler, there is a dialog box to help you out. Add you chart and fill out
the various data points you want to show. then hit
the Filter item in
the ribbon above
the chart. That will pop
the filter dialog box where you can then add a filter to
the chart.
You can add multiple filters if needed and of course you can use
the Manage Filters button to re-open and edit
the filters.
Pretty straightforward stuff!
