Charting

The Essentials Charting feature is only available for ArcGIS Server feature layers.

Charts represent feature data on a single feature layer. For example, you could have a chart for a layer containing data about hurricanes, or a different chart for a layer containing census data.

Chart Types

Charts are divided into two high-level types:

Match the Chart Type to Your Data

To extract the most benefit from charting, you need to select the best chart type for your data. For example, bar charts are good for comparing data, line graphs are better for examining trends over time, but pie charts are useful for examining how different parts make up a whole.

Chart Types

If you want to...

Use this chart type...

 For example...

Compare data

 

Bar chart

Compare one or more categories of data, particularly if each category has sub-categories.
Show trends in data

Line chart or Area chart

Examine trends over a period of time, particularly if the number of data points is high - like population trends.
Show the composition of data

Pie chart for static data, column or area charts for data that changes over time.

Indicate several types of data (nominal or ordinal) and the percentage of the whole each represents - like the ethnicity breakdown within a census tract.

Show the distribution or relationships between data

Scatter chart to show relationships with two or three attributes.

Column or Bar charts for many data points.

See the relationship between two different attributes, particularly if there are many data points – like the correlation between crime incidents in a city and average income per person.

Data Sources for Charts

In Geocortex Essentials, you can use the fields in a layer or a data link as source data for a chart.

The fields configured on a layer provide the data used to create charts. The charts you can make are therefore dependent on the field data for that layer, unless you configure data links to extend the layer data.

To use a data link as a source for a chart, you would first need to set up the data link for the layer. Once the data connection is set up and the data link is working, you can use these external data sources in charts. This allows you to incorporate data from a relational database into a chart.

About Series

A series in a chart is a way to represent a field or an attribute of one or more features on the map. In a pie chart, each series becomes another slice of the pie. In a linear chart, each series is added as a separate Y-axis and can be represented as a different chart type, for example, a bar or line graph. The X-axis represents the data set that is shared with the other features in the chart.

For example, the chart below contains three series that each use a different chart type. The blue bar chart shows the Total Population of each city. The brown area chart shows the area of each city in square miles. The green line chart shows the average family size in each city. While the X-axis, City ID, remains constant, the three series—Average Family Size, Total Population and Area—represent how these attributes change for different cities. Using multiple series and different chart types makes it easier to visualize and analyze the relationship between the given attributes of each city.

Chart with the X-axis Cities and a series of Y-axes for Family Size, Total Population and Area

You can also use multiple series in a single pie chart. For example, you could have a pie chart that contained a different series for each age group in the population. The chart would then display a slice for each age group, with the size of the slice indicating the relative number of individuals within the population for each given age. There is no limit to the number of series you can have in a pie chart, although too many might make the chart difficult to understand.

Chart Settings

The following chart configuration settings are available when you add or edit a chart on the Charts tab of a layer. Some settings only appear when you select a particular chart type. For example, pie charts have fewer settings than linear charts, and single-feature charts have fewer settings than multiple-feature charts.

Chart settings are organized as follows:

Chart Setup

The chart setup settings are:

More Options

These option are available when you select More Options.

When you select a pie chart, fewer options are available than when you select a linear chart.

Category Setup (Horizontal Axis)

These settings appear when you select Linear in the Type field under Category Setup. The Horizontal Axis settings determine the appearance and data sources for the X-axis in linear charts.

Series Setup (Vertical Axis)

These settings appear when you click Add Series. Use the series settings to define the Y-axes in a linear chart or the segments of a pie chart. You can have multiple series in both linear and pie charts.

When you select Linear in the Type field in Category Setup, many more options are available under Series Setup than when you select Pie. Other options may appear or disappear based on the type of data source selected.

Create Charts

There are different ways to approach how you create a chart:

Create a Single-Feature Chart

You can configure pie charts or linear charts as a single-feature chart. A single-feature chart opens in the feature details when the user clicks on a single feature in the Results List, or when the user views additional details from a map tip.

Although it is possible to create single-feature charts that are linear, it is more likely that you will use a data link configured on the layer in order to populate a linear single-feature chart with meaningful data.

To create a single-feature pie chart:

  1. In Manager, click Map in the side panel, click the Map Services tab, expand the map service that the layer belongs to, and then click the Edit icon next to the layer.

  2. Click the Charts tab and select the Add Chart button.

  3. In the Chart Wizard, type in a Display Name for the chart.

  4. In the Type drop-down menu, select Pie and then Finish.

    The new chart appears in the chart list.

  5. Click the Edit icon to open the chart settings page.

  6. In the Charts drop-down menu, select Single Feature.

  7. Open More Options, select the Show Tooltips checkbox, and then use OK button to save the configuration.

    You can also change other elements of appearance of a chart, including the colors, gridlines, shading strips, horizontal axis, chart orientation, legend position, zoom, and common series range.

  8. To choose a color palette for the chart series, select Color Palette in the Series Setup section and then Enable Color Palette.

  9. Select a palette from the drop-down menu, and then click OK.

  10. Click Add Series.

  11. To create a series, in the Edit Series window, set the following:

    • Name: The label you want to use as the name of this series.

    • Data Source: Whether the data source is a field in the layer or a data link.

    • Field: The field on the layer to use as the source data for this series.

      • Value Format: What formatting to use when this field is sorted.

    • Data Aggregator: How to treat this data in the series.

      • Value Format: How to format each data point in this series.

    For more information about these settings, see Series Setup (Vertical Axis).

  12. Create at least one more series.

  13. Click Apply Changes.

    When you click on a single feature in the Results List, or View Additional Details in a map tip, the chart appears as a new tab in the Feature Details dialog box.

Create a Multiple-Feature Chart

Multiple-feature charts display data about all the features currently in the Results List. When a chart is open, the user can search for or identify other features and the chart updates to show the new data.

You can create both pie and linear multiple-feature charts and in each case, they can have multiple series. In a linear chart, the series on the Y-axis can include multiple series using different chart types, for example, a mix of line, spline or bar types.

If you have several charts set up for a layer, you can set which charts open by default when a user views charts.

To create a multiple-feature chart:

  1. In Manager, click Map in the side panel, click the Map Services tab, expand the map service that the layer belongs to, and then click the Edit icon next to the layer.

  2. Click the Charts tab and select the Add Chart button.

  3. In the Chart Wizard, type in a Display Name for the chart.

    Because both administrators and end users will use the Display Name, choose a descriptive name that states what data the chart displays.

  4. In the Type drop-down menu, select Linear or Pie, and then select Finish.

    The new chart appears in the chart list.

    The new chart is currently the only multiple-feature chart, so it is set as the default chart to open.

  5. Click the Edit icon beside the new chart to open the chart settings.

  6. Set up the data to display on the X-axis:

    In the Category Setup area:

    • Category Title: Type in the label to appear under the X-axis on the chart.

    • Data Source: Select whether to use a Field on the layer, or a Data Link as the source of data for this axis.

    • Field: If you selected Field as the Data Source, select the layer field you want to use as the data for this axis, for example, City ID.

    In the Chart Setup area:

    1. Use the More Options button.

    2. In the Legend area, select Top.

    3. Click OK.

  7. To use a color theme, select Color Palette in the Series Setup area, then Enable Color Palette, configure a palette, and click OK.

  8. To add three series that use different chart types, in the Series Setup area do the following:

    1. Click Add Series to add the first series as a bar type chart.

      1. In the Name field, type the label for this series, for example, Total Population.

      2. Set the Type to Bar.

      3. Set the Data Source to Field, and select the layer field, for example, Total Population.

      4. Set the Data Aggregator to Sum, so that all the values for the population fields are added together. Click OK.

      5. Set None for the Point Marker as it is not visible with the Bar chart type.

      6. Type in the Axis Title, for example, Total Population.

    2. Click OK.

    3. Click Add Series to add the second series as an area chart type.

      1. In the Name field, type the label for this new series, for example, Area Size.

      2. Set the chart Type to Area.

      3. Set the Data Source to Field, and select the layer field, for example, Area (square m).

      4. Leave Data Aggregator on Sum.

      5. Set Point Marker to None.

    4. Click OK.

    5. Click Add Series to add the third series as a line chart type.

      1. In the Name field, type the label for this new series, for example, Average Family Size.

      2. Set the chart Type to Line.

      3. Set the Data Source to Field, and select the layer field, for example, Average Family Size.

      4. Set the aggregator to Average, so that the average value of all the selected features is calculated.

    6. Click OK.

  9. Click Apply Changes.

    When the end user select a group of features and views charts, the chart displays.

Copy a Chart

You can only copy charts on the same layer. Currently, you cannot copy charts from a different layer or site.

To copy a chart:

  1. In Manager, click Map in the side panel, click the Map Services tab, expand the map service that the layer belongs to, and then click the Edit icon next to the layer.

  2. Click the Charts tab.

  3. Click the Duplicate Chart icon beside the chart that you want to copy.

    An exact copy of the chart appears at the bottom of the list of charts with the word Copy added to the Display Name.

  4. To edit the copied chart, click Edit beside the copied chart and change the chart settings.

  5. Click Apply Changes.

Create an Empty Chart

To add a chart to a layer in Manager:

You can add charts to feature layers only.

  1. In Manager, click Map in the side panel, click the Map Services tab, expand the map service that the layer belongs to, and then click the Edit icon next to the layer.

  2. Click the Charts tab.

  3. Click Add Chart.

  4. In the Chart Wizard, type in a Display Name for this particular chart.

    The Display Name appears on this page in the list of charts, in the drop-down box in the viewer where end users select a chart to display and in the feature details dialog for single-feature charts. Choose a descriptive name that makes it clear what data the chart displays.

  5. From the Type drop-down list select Pie or Linear.

  6. From the Charts drop-down list select Multiple Features or Single Feature.

    A single-feature chart displays information about only one feature. A multiple-feature chart displays information about any number of features in the Results List.

  7. Click Finish to create the new chart and add it to the list of charts.

    You now need to configure the chart.

  8. Click Apply Changes.

To reorder list items, click and drag the  Sort handle Click and drag to change the order.

Edit a Chart

To edit a chart:

  1. In Manager, click Map in the side panel, click the Map Services tab, expand the map service that the layer belongs to, and then click the Edit icon next to the layer.

  2. Click the Charts tab.

  3. Click the Edit icon beside the chart.

  4. Configure the Chart Settings.

  5. Click Apply Changes.

Configure Series

You can add series to both pie and linear charts. In pie charts, each series is represented as a slice of the pie. In pie charts, the slice indicates what percentage of the overall pie that slice represents. In linear charts, series are represented on the Y-axis and can be rendered as many different chart types, for example, bar, line, spline, etc.

To make it easier to create multiple series that are relatively similar, you can copy an existing series and edit it rather than create each one from the beginning. You can also select a palette of colors to use to ensure that the colors used in multiple series contrast both contrast and blend with each other.

Add a Series

To add a series:

  1. In Manager, click Map in the side panel, click the Map Services tab, expand the map service that the layer belongs to, and then click the Edit icon next to the layer.

  2. Click the Charts tab.

  3. Click the Edit icon beside an existing chart.

  4. If the chart does not contain an X-axis, define the X-axis in the Category Setup (Horizontal Axis) section.

  5. In the Series Setup (Vertical Axis) section, click Add Series.

  6. In the Edit Series dialog box, do at least the following:

    • Type a Name for this series. The name appears in the Series list.

    • If this is a linear chart, select the chart Type from the drop-down list.

    • Select a Data Source that is either a Field or a Datalink.

    • Select the layer Field to use as the data set for this series.

    • Select a Data Aggregator to indicate the aggregation method to use on the data.

    • Ensure that the Axis Title is the exact wording you want to appear as the label on the Y-axis.

      For more information on these settings, see Series Setup (Vertical Axis).

  7. Click OK to add the new series and add it to the Series list.

  8. Click Apply Changes.

To reorder list items, click and drag the  Sort handle Click and drag to change the order.

Copy a Series

To copy a series:

  1. In Manager, click Map in the side panel, click the Map Services tab, expand the map service that the layer belongs to, and then click the Edit icon next to the layer.

  2. Click the Charts tab.

  3. Click beside the chart that contains the series you want to copy.

  4. In the Series Setup section click the Duplicate icon beside the series.

    A exact copy of the series appears at the bottom of the list of series.

  5. To edit the copied series, click Edit beside the copied series and change the Name and any other settings.

  6. Click Apply Changes.

To reorder list items, click and drag the  Sort handle Click and drag to change the order.

Edit a Series

To edit a series:

  1. In Manager, click Map in the side panel, click the Map Services tab, expand the map service that the layer belongs to, and then click the Edit icon next to the layer.

  2. Click the Charts tab, and then click beside the chart you want to edit.

  3. In the Series Setup section, click beside the series you want to change.

  4. Edit the series by changing any of the Edit Series settings.

  5. Click Apply Changes.

Use a Color Palette for Multiple Series

When you create charts, you can select the colors for each series individually. When you have multiple series within a chart, it can be difficult to ensure that the colors contrast well but also blend with each other. To make it easier to create series that contain multiple colors, you can enable palettes and then select one of the 8-color palettes to use in your series.

Once you have enabled palettes, the selection of individual series colors is disabled.

To use a color palette for multiple series:

This procedure assumes that you have already created the chart.

  1. Edit the chart.

  2. If the chart does not contain any series, add the series you want.

    As you add each series, they form a list in the Series Setup area.

    List of series with individual colors selected.

  3. To apply a color palette to all of the chart series, click in the Series Setup section.

  4. Select the checkbox to enable the Color Palette.

  5. From the drop-down list, select the palette you want to use.

    The Color Palette dialog shows a preview of each palette. Colors are used in order from left to right.

  6. Click OK and then Apply Changes.

    When you open the chart in a viewer, it displays the new set of colors from the selected palette.

Remove a Series

To remove a series:

  1. On the Charts tab, in the Series Setup section, click Remove beside the series you want to delete.

    The series disappears from the list.

  2. Click Apply Changes.

Configure Charts to Open by Default

You can set one or more charts to open initially when the map's chart region opens. In most cases, you would not set more than three charts to open by default.

To set the default charts to open in the chart region.

  1. In Manager, click Map in the side panel, click the Map Services tab, expand the map service that the layer belongs to, and then click the Edit icon next to the layer.

  2. Click the Charts tab.

  3. In the Default column, select each chart that you want to open when the user views charts.

  4. Click Save Site.

Remove a Chart

To remove a chart:

  1. In Manager, click Map in the side panel, click the Map Services tab, expand the map service that the layer belongs to, and then click the Edit icon next to the layer.

  2. Click the Charts tab.

  3. Click the Remove icon beside the chart you want to delete.

  4. When the Delete Chart dialog box opens, click OK to confirm the removal of the chart.

    The chart disappears from the list.

  5. Click Apply Changes.