Working with Data Role Assignments

After you have selected a report object and a data source, the Roles tab in the right pane shows which data items have been assigned to which role.

Modify Data Role Assignments in Report Objects

Note: You cannot change data role assignments for any report object that is imported from the explorer.

To modify data role assignments:

Select a report object in the canvas that has data items assigned.
Click the Roles tab in the right pane.

Click

beside the role that you want to edit. For data roles that allow multiple data items, the menu items that are available can vary.

If you select a data item in Roles, then the Aggregation (if appropriate), Add, Remove, and Replace menu items are displayed. You can also right-click on a data item, and the actions specific to that data item are displayed.

Different data roles are available for different report objects.

In addition to the basic data roles, you can assign additional data roles. Here is a list of all the data roles available for each report object:

Report Object	Basic Data Roles	Additional Data Roles
Tables
List table	Columns	None
Crosstab	Columns Rows	Measures
Graphs
Bar chart	Category Measures	Group Lattice columns Lattice rows Data tip values Animation
Targeted bar chart	Category Measure Target	Lattice columns Lattice rows Data tip values
Waterfall chart	Category Measure	Lattice columns Lattice rows Data tip values
Line charts	Category Measures	Group Lattice columns Lattice rows Data tip values
Pie chart	Category Measures	Group Lattice columns Lattice rows Data tip values
Scatter plot	X axis Y axis	Color Lattice columns Lattice rows Data tip values
Time series plot	Time axis Measure (line)	Group Data tip values
Bubble plot	X axis Y axis Size	Group Color Lattice columns Lattice rows Data tip values Animation
Treemap	Tile	Size Color Data tip values
Dual axis bar chart	Category Measure (bar) Measure (bar 2)	Lattice columns Lattice rows Data tip values
Dual axis line chart	Category Measure (line) Measure (line 2)	Lattice columns Lattice rows Data tip values
Dual axis bar-line chart	Category Measure (bar) Measure (line)	Lattice columns Lattice rows Data tip values
Dual axis time series plot	Time axis Measure (line) Measure (line 2)	Data tip values
Gauges
Bullet Slider Thermometer Dial Speedometer	Measure	Target Group Data tip values
Controls
Drop down list List Button bar Text input	Category	Frequency
Range slider	Measure/Date	None
Other
Text Image Stored process Vertical container Horizontal container Stack container	None	None
Geo bubble map	Geography	Size Color Data tip values Animation
Geo region map	Geography	Color Data tip values

Here are definitions for some of the additional data roles:

Animation

animates the date category that you assign. You can specify a Loop for the animation, and you can specify the Speed of the animation. For more information, see Add Animation to Bar Charts, Bubble Plots, and Geo Bubble Maps.

Note: For a bubble plot only, you must assign the Group role to enable the Animation role. If you remove the Group role after assigning animation, the animation control is disabled.

Data tip values

enables you to add more measures to your data tips.

Group

groups the data based on the category data item that you assign.

Lattice columns

creates a lattice of charts with a column for each value of the category data item that you assign.

Lattice rows

creates a lattice of charts with a row for each value of the category data item that you assign.

Add Animation to Bar Charts, Bubble Plots, and Geo Bubble Maps

An animated bubble plot displays the changes in your data values over time. Each frame of the animation represents a value of the datetime data item that is assigned to the Animation data role.

For example, if you assign a category with the Year format to the Animation data role, then each frame of the animation displays a bubble plot of your data for a specific year.

A bar chart cannot have animation if it has a Group, Lattice Rows, or Lattice Columns role, or if it has a Stacked grouping style property set.

To add animation:

Select an existing bar chart, bubble plot, or geo bubble map, or create a new one.
Add the required roles:
- For a bubble plot, on the Role tab, assign a data item to the Group data role.
  
  Note: If you remove the Group data role after assigning animation, the animation control is disabled.
- For a bar chart or geo bubble map, on the Role tab, assign the other required roles.
Assign a data item with a datetime format to the Animation data role.

When an animated bubble plot is displayed, a set of animation controls appear at the bottom of the report object.

Animation Controls
Task	Action
Start the animation.	Click .
Go to the previous animation frame.	Click .
Go to the next animation frame.	Click .
Jump to a specific animation frame.	Use the slider.
Specify whether to repeat the animation.	Select or deselect Loop.
Select the animation speed.	Use the Speed slider.
Track the movement of a specific bubble.	Click the bubble that you want to track.

Note: If you select a bubble to track, the selected bubble is not highlighted.

Remove Data Role Assignments from Report Objects

To remove data items from their assigned data roles in a specific report object:

Right-click the report object in the canvas. A menu is displayed.

Here is an example of a bar chart with the object menu:
Select Remove All Data Items. All data items are removed from the assigned data roles and the report object turns gray. The status icon appears in the lower right corner to let you know that the required data roles are not assigned.

Here is an example of what a bar chart looks like after all the data items have been removed from their assigned data roles: