Pie Chart :: SAS(R) BI Dashboard 4.31: User's Guide, Second Edition

Definition

A pie chart is a circular chart that is divided into slices by radial lines. Each slice represents the relative contribution of each part to the whole.

Example of a Pie Chart Indicator

For a sample of the indicator data that was used to create this indicator, see “Sample Data Structure” for this indicator.

Usage Information

Data best suited for	Pie charts work best when working with limited components (five or fewer) and when including text in either a legend or next to the pie itself so that the business user does not have to guess the meaning and value of each slice.
Not suited for	Although pie charts are commonly used in reports and presentations, they can be difficult to interpret because the human eye can have difficulty estimating area and comparing angles, both of which are necessary to draw conclusions from a pie chart. Due to these difficulties, avoid pie charts with many slices or slices with values that are close to each other. Also note that pie charts take up a lot of space because they are round, and are therefore not an efficient use of space on an indicator. A bar chart is usually a more efficient and easier to interpret indicator type option.
Target audience	This indicator type is appropriate for all user audiences. Most people will find this indicator type familiar and easy to interpret if the previous suggestions are used.
Data aggregation support	This indicator type sums the applicable indicator data.
Range support	Ranges are not supported.
Alert support	Alerts are not supported.
Link support	This indicator type can be used to define a link or as the destination of a link.For more information about defining an indicator with a hyperlink, see Adding Links to Indicators or Other Content.
Interaction support	Data filter support: This indicator type can be used as either a source or target indicator. Interactive highlighting support: This indicator type can be used as either a source or target indicator. For more information, see Adding Interactions between Indicators.
Filter multiple items support	Filtering multiple items is supported.For more information, see Supporting Multiple Selections in a Filtered Data Interaction.

General Settings

The General Settings section provides controls that support the following tasks:

Display Settings

The following display settings are used in the preceding figure. For more information, see “Sample Data Structure” for this indicator.

Display Setting	Selection Used for Figure
Category value	Product Line
Response value	Sales
Show labels	This setting is selected.
Show legend	This setting is not selected.

You can customize the following display settings for this indicator:

(Required) From the Category value list, select the value that you want to use for the indicator.
(Required) From the Response value list, select the response value that you want to use for the pie slices that are drawn in the indicator.
Select Show labels if you want the indicator to include the labels for each map portion or pie slice.
Select Show legend to specify that the legend is displayed in the indicator.

Sample Data Structure

To create a pie chart, you must provide a variable (category value) and a measure (response value).

The following data sample is associated with the figure previously shown. Underneath each column heading is its associated display setting.

Product Line (Category value)	Sales (Response value)
Caramels	$625,601
Chocolate Bars	$6,988,757
Sugar Free	$1,133,940
Truffles	$2,230,216