Column reports show how the value of one or more items changes over time with columns.

Values along the horizontal axis of the column chart represent the time measurement (years, hours, minutes, milliseconds, and so on). Values on the vertical axis represent the changes to the items being monitored. Users with the report_admin role can define the ranges that are used in a column chart report. See Report ranges for information on creating report ranges.

For example, you can create a column chart for incident counts, to show how the number of incidents changes over time. The incident count often increases during the first few months after a product upgrade is deployed. Over time, the number of reported incidents decreases as users become more accustomed to the changes in the product.

The figure shows resolved incidents stacked by category with a legend that indicates which category the colors represent.
Figure 1. Stacked column chart
Column chart
A grouped column chart shows the categories as individual bars, rather than stacked colors in a single bar.
Figure 2. Grouped column chart
Column chart 2

Create a column report

Create a column report to show how the value of one or more data elements changes over time using vertical columns.

Before you begin

Role required: itil, report_user, report_group, report_global, report_admin, or admin. To create a meaningful report, you must have the right to access the data you want to report on.

For a column report use case, Time series visualization example.

Procedure

  1. Perform one of the following actions:
    • On an upgraded instance that has not been fully migrated to Platform Analytics, navigate to All > Reports > Create New.
    • On a new instance or one that has been fully migrated to Platform Analytics, navigate to All > Platform Analytics Administration > Usage and governance > Reports and select New.
  2. On the Data tab, give the report a name that reflects the information being grouped.
  3. Select the applicable source for the report.
  4. Select Next.
  5. On the Type tab, enter Column in the filter, select the report type, and click Next.

    The application shows a preliminary version of the report. To view the updated report at any time, select Run.

  6. On the Configure tab, fill in the following fields and select Next.
  7. (Optional) Configure the sort order of the applicable fields in the report (column, row, Group by, Stack by or Trend by depending on the report type).
    Select the filter icon (Filter icon for lists) and choose Add Sort.
    1. In the Sorting Order list, choose the field you want to sort on and then choose a-z or z-a for alphabetical order or reverse alphabetical order.

      The list contains all possible fields from the report's source and fields on extended, or related, tables. The only effective values, however, are the fields chosen for the current report (column, row, Group by, Stack by, or Trend by depending on the report type).

      Note: On fields from dot-walked (extended) tables, you can only sort on date fields.
    2. Select the sort plus icon (Sort plus icon) to configure additional sorting order conditions. (Select the sort minus icon ( Sort minus icon) to delete configured sorting order conditions.)
    3. Select Save.

    For fields of the type Choice list, sort order is not determined alphabetically based on Label, it is sorted based on the Value of the choice field. For multi-level pivot table and heatmap reports, sort order is determined by the sequence of the choices in the list.

    Report sorted by priority choice list
  8. (Optional) To limit the information displayed in the report, select the filter icon (Filter icon) and specify conditions to filter the report data.
    To learn how to construct conditions, see Condition builder.
    Note: In aggregated and list reports, language-dependent filter conditions may return zero results on localized instances.
  9. On the Style tab, fill in the fields as appropriate to configure the appearance of the report.
  10. Select Save to continue editing the visualization, or Save and close to return to the Analytics Center main screen.

What to do next

  • Select the Report info icon (Info icon) and add a description of the report.
  • Select the sharing icon (Sharing icon) to open the Sharing menu. On this menu, you can add the report to a dashboard, export the report to PDF, publish the report to the web, and set visibility and schedules.

Column report style options

Change the look of your column report.

When you create or edit a report, click the Style tab for options to configure the look of your report. The options are organized under two or more of the following tabs: General, Title, Legend, and Axis. To see how the report looks with the changed settings, click Save.

Table 2. Column report style options
Field Description
General
Chart color Source of colors used in the report.

If you do not group or stack the report, Use one color is automatically selected. In this case, select a single, predefined system color.

If you group or stack the report, select one of the following options:
  • Use color palette: Select a color palette from the predefined system color palettes.
  • Use several colors: Define a custom set of Colors using hex codes. You can add any number of colors.
  • Use chart colors: Use the colors defined in Reports > Chart Colors.

For more information about the differences between these options, see Predefined colors in reports.

Set palette Color palette used in the report. This field appears when you select Use color palette from the Chart color list. The palettes are defined in the Chart Color Scheme [pa_chart_color_schemes] table.
Colors Colors used in the report. This field displays when you select Use several colors from the Chart color list. Enter a comma-separated list of hexadecimal color codes. These colors are independent of the predefined system colors that color palettes and the chart colors use.
Note: It is not possible to use transparency hex values.
Display data labels Check box to show the value for each data point.
Custom chart size Check box to specify the width and height of the report in pixels.
Note: The chart size is ignored when you export the report to PDF. In PDFs, the full page width is used to show the chart.
Chart width Width of the report in pixels. The default value is 600.

This field is available when Custom chart size is selected.

Chart height Height of the report in pixels. The default value is 450.

This field appears when Custom chart size is selected.

Chart size Chart size. This field is available when Custom chart size is cleared. Options are Small, Medium, and Large.
Note: The chart size is ignored when you export the report to PDF. In PDFs, the full page width is used to show the chart.
Drilldown view List view to show when a user selects a segment of a report for which no drilldown report type is specified. This view is also used when the user reaches the lowest drilldown level of a report. See Configure the list layout . If you specify a Report drilldown, Drilldown view is ignored.

For more information, see Define a report drilldown.

Decimal precision Number of decimal places to show. You can show from zero to four decimal places. Default value: 2. To change the default value, create the system property glide.chart.decimal.precision and specify the value.
Note: Percentage labels do not change accordingly with the decimal precision specified.
Decimal precision - Bar report Decimal precision - Donut report
Title
Show chart title When the chart title is shown for the report.
  • Never: Never show the chart title.
  • Report only: Shows the chart title on reports.
  • Always: Shows the chart title on reports, dashboards, and landing pages.
Chart title The chart title has a maximum length of 40 characters. If no title is entered, the report name is used for the title. This field appears when Report only or Always is selected from the Show chart title list.
Size of the chart title Size of the chart title in pixels. This field appears when Report only or Always is selected from the Show chart title list.
Chart title color Color of the chart title. This field appears when Report only or Always is selected from the Show chart title list.
Custom chart title position Check box to specify X and Y coordinates for the position of the chart title. This field appears when Report only or Always is selected from the Show chart title list.
Title horizontal alignment How the chart title is aligned horizontally. This field is available when the Custom chart title position option is cleared.
Title vertical alignment How the chart title is aligned vertically. This field appears when Custom chart title position is cleared.
Chart title X position Number of pixels to adjust the chart title position right or left. By default the title appears at the center top of the chart. To move the chart title to the right, enter a positive value. To move the title to the left, enter a negative value.

This field appears only when Custom chart title position is selected.

Chart title Y position Number of pixels to adjust the chart title position up or down. By default the title appears at the center top of the chart. To move up the chart title, enter a positive value. To move the chart title down, enter a negative value.

This field appears only when Custom chart title position is selected.

Legend
Show legend Check box to show a chart legend. This check box appears when a Group by field is selected on the report form.

Legends are truncated by default. To adjust truncation lengths, configure the properties glide.chart.label.legend.truncate_to and glide.chart.label.legend.truncate_to.large. For more information, see Reporting properties.

Legend horizontal alignment How the legend is aligned horizontally. This field appears when Show legend is selected.
Legend vertical alignment How the legend is aligned vertically. This field appears when Show legend is selected.
Show legend border Check box to show a border around the legend. This check box appears when Show legend is selected.
Left align legend text Check box to left-align the legend text when the report is viewed in a browser. By default, the legend text is centered. When the report is exported to PDF, PNG, or JPG, the legend remains centered. This check box appears when Show legend is selected.
Axis
Y axis and X axis Axis to configure the titles, appearance, and labels for.
Title Title for the axis.
Title size Size of the axis title in pixels. Default value is 12.
Title bold Check this box to show the axis title in a bold typeface.
Opposite On the X axis tab, select this check box to show the X-axis title on the right side of the report instead. On the Y axis tab, select this check box to show the Y-axis title on top of the report instead of across the bottom.
Display grid On the X axis tab, select this check box to show horizontal grid lines on the report.

On the Y axis tab, select this check box to show vertical grid lines on top the report.

Grid dotted Check this box to show dotted grid lines instead of solid lines.
From Specify a minimum Y-axis value to limit the amount of information in the report. If you select an aggregation field that is not of the type Number, the From and To fields are not available.
Note:
  • Depending on configured Highcharts settings, the minimum value may be rounded up or down. If you require the settings that affect this changed, contact the administrator.
  • If you format duration fields additionally using Set Value Formatting from the Configure tab:
    • Values entered in the From/To fields (Style > Y axis are in seconds. The visualization displays y-axis labels as the selected Minimum/Maximum duration unit (Configure > Set Value Formatting), and returns data that falls within the From/To (seconds) values.
    • Example: If you set the minimum and maximum duration unit to Minute, the visualization displays y-axis labels as minutes, and returns data which falls within the corresponding seconds values set in the From/To fields.
To Specify a maximum Y-axis value to limit the amount of information in the report. If you select an aggregation field that is not of the type Number, the From and To fields are not available.
Note:
  • Depending on configured Highcharts settings, the minimum value may be rounded up or down. If you require the settings that affect this changed, contact the administrator.
  • If you format duration fields additionally using Set Value Formatting from the Configure tab:
    • Values entered in the From/To fields (Style > Y axis are in seconds. The visualization displays y-axis labels as the selected Minimum/Maximum duration unit (Configure > Set Value Formatting), and returns data that falls within the From/To (seconds) values.
    • Example: If you set the minimum and maximum duration unit to Minute, the visualization displays y-axis labels as minutes, and returns data which falls within the corresponding seconds values set in the From/To fields.
X axis / Y axis label size On the X axis tab, specify the size of the labels for the rows of the report.

On the Y axis tab, specify the size of the labels for the columns in the report.

Label bold Check this box to show the labels of the report in a bold typeface.