Needle Plot :: SAS(R) BI Dashboard 4.31: User's Guide, Second Edition

Definition

A needle plot is a plot in which data points are connected by a vertical line that connects to a horizontal baseline. The baseline intersects the 0 value, or the minimum value on the vertical axis.

Example of a Needle Plot 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	Needle plots can be used when working with many data points that all extend from the same baseline. A common example of needle plot is the magnitude of earthquakes, which are represented by the needles in a needle plot. The horizontal axis typically represents time. Use a needle plot whenever there are too many data points to represent the data as a bar chart.
Target audience	Most people find this indicator type familiar and easy to interpret. However, it can sometimes be difficult for users to read. It is best for helping users to identify patterns, rather than read individual values.
Data aggregation support	This indicator type does not aggregate the 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
X-axis value	Week Number
Y-axis value	Sale Amount
X-axis title	Set to Week Number in 2007
Y-axis title	Set to Chocolate Bar Sales
Scale X axis	This setting is selected.

You can customize the following display settings for this indicator:

(Required) From the X-axis value list, select the column in your data that you want to use for the X-axis value in the indicator. When you view your indicator data, the columns in the data set are described by the values in the Column Name column. The selections available in the X-axis value list are all of the values in the Column Name column.
(Required) From the Y-axis value list, select the column in your data that you want to use for the Y-axis value in the indicator. When you view your indicator data, the columns in the data set are described by the values in the Column Name column. The selections available in the Y-axis value list are all of the values in the Column Name column.
In the X-axis title field, type the title to use for the X axis in the indicator. If you do not specify a title, the value that you selected from the X-axis value list is used by default. If you do not want a title, type a space in the field. If you select Scale X axis, a measurement label is added to the title.
In the Y-axis title field, type the title to use for the Y axis in the indicator. If you do not specify a title, the value that you selected from the Y-axis value list is used by default. If you do not want a title, type a space in the field. If you select Scale Y axis, a measurement label is added to the title.
Select Scale X axis if you want to scale that axis. When you make this selection, a measurement label is added to the X-axis title if the data is numeric. For example, if the X-axis title is set to Revenue and you select Scale X axis, the X-axis title is displayed as Revenue (millions).
Select Scale Y axis if you want to scale that axis. When you make this selection, a measurement label is added to the Y-axis title if the data is numeric. For example, if the Y-axis title is set to Revenue and you select Scale Y axis, the Y-axis title is displayed as Revenue (millions).
From the X-axis format list, select the format that you want to apply to the data on that axis. If you do not want to specify a format, select (none). When set to (none), the indicator uses the format that is used in the data source.
From the Y-axis format list, select the format that you want to apply to the data on that axis. If you do not want to specify a format, select (none). When set to (none), the indicator uses the format that is used in the data source.
From the X-axis labels list, select the style to apply to the data labels that are used on the X axis. Depending on your labels, one style might be easier to read than others.

Sample Data Structure

To create a needle plot, you must provide two measures (X-axis value and Y-axis value).

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

Week Number (X-axis value)	Sale Amount (Y-axis value)
0.00	$16,653
1.00	$38,456
2.00	$24,601
3.00	$66,171