Introduction
This article looks at the cumulative waterfall chart data objects available in Astrato.
Waterfall charts are valuable tools for analyzing and visualizing the cumulative impact of sequential changes or events across various business functions. They are useful for decision-making, performance monitoring, and communication.
Budget Allocation: Waterfall charts can be used to track budget allocations for a project, showing how funds are distributed across different categories, such as labor, materials, equipment, and overhead costs.
Sales Performance: Waterfall charts can illustrate changes in sales revenue over time or across different products or regions, showing the contributions from factors such as price changes, volume changes, discounts, and returns.
Cost Breakdown: Waterfall charts can break down total costs into individual components, showing how each cost item contributes to the overall cost structure.
Figure 1 shows an example of a cumulative waterfall chart being added to a sheet in a workbook.
Cumulative Waterfall Chart Settings
Building a Cumulative Waterfall Chart
In the data tab, you define the data to use in the chart and define all the settings for the measures.
A cumulative waterfall chart data includes only one dimension and one measure.Measure Settings
Color- set the color and opacity of the bars.
Format- set the number format for the measure
Show data labels - display the bar value in the chart.
Advanced calculation- apply advanced calculations in the chart, such as period-over-period, moving average, and more.
To learn more, check out this article.Axis- set the axis for the measure between Primary and Secondary.
Limiting
Limit the number of visible values in the dimension and show all other values grouped.
To learn more about the limit options, check this article on TopN.
Trendlines
Select a measure to calculate the trendline and a type of trendline.
Customize the line look and feel.
Add multiple trendlines.
Reference Lines
Add a reference line on either axes to show goals or important timestamps.
Customize the reference line display.
A reference line can have a static or dynamic value set by a variable.
Using a variable allows users to change the display interactively as part of their data exploration.
To learn more about how to use variables, check out this article.
Styling a Cumulative Waterfall Chart
Bar bridge- show the line connecting the end of a bar with the neat bar string point.
Show aggregate- add a bar that shows the cumulative result of all the other bars, and define the cumulative bar label. By default, it will be "Total".
Bar padding- set the padding between the individual bars.
Bar radius- set the curve radius for the upper corners of the bars.
Round all edges- apply to the curve radius and also to the bottom corners of the bar.
Transparent bars- apply gradient transparency to the bars
Border- define the bar's border settings
Colors- define how to color the bars and add conditional coloring for the bars.
Legend- set the legend position and title.
Axes Settings of a Cumulative Waterfall Chart
Control the axes display and add grid lines and a scroll bar to improve the chart display.
Dimension
Control the color and display of labels, titles, ticks, and lines.
Show axis tooltips: When enabled, hovering over the axis will show a vertical dashed line across the chart (see an example in the image below).
Enable continuous axis- This feature is not supported in a cumulative waterfall chart and shows that it remains unchecked.
Axis labels- Set how labels should behave when they overlap.
Auto- will distribute labels evenly.
Show last- will always display the last label.
Label length- control the length of the label or keep it auto-fit for the best display.
Limit visible domain (scroll bar) -
Set the limit of data point width or number of data points displayed; if the limit is reached, a scroll bar will appear below the axis.
* This setting is disabled when the continuous axis is enabled.
There are two options to set the limit:Minimum size- this option is better when building for different screen sizes, as it sets the limit by the number of pixels given for each data point.
Minimum count- this option is simpler to control when the scroll bar will appear.
Gridlines- add vertical grid lines to the chart.
Measure
Control the measure axis display and range.
Control the color and display of labels, titles, ticks, and lines.
Default axis name- Override the axis title with a manual value.
Range- control the range of values display on the axis.
Gridlines- display horizontal gridline.
Axis bands- define ranges of bands that color the chart's background.
This feature helps show when values vary off the expected range.
This can be used to create control charts, for example.