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

Definition

A forecast chart is a type of line chart that is designed to show actual and forecasted data over time. Moreover, the forecast chart can show the confidence intervals for the future forecasted values.

Note: The forecasted data and confidence intervals are provided by indicator data that is generated by using SAS Time Series Forecasting. The applicable task is the Basic Forecasting task in the Time Series group.

Example of a Forecast 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	A forecast chart can be used when forecasted data is present. Note that the dashboard designer would have to determine a forecasting method and provide this data as a data source in order to display a forecast. Forecasts should have a time frame tied to them so that the business user is aware of how far out the forecasting is available or has been done.
Target audience	This indicator type is appropriate for all user audiences. Most people will find this indicator type easy to interpret, especially those with background knowledge of statistics.
Data aggregation support	This indicator type does not aggregate the indicator data.
Range support	Ranges are not supported.
Alert support	Alerts are not supported.
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.
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.
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	Month
Actual value	ColumnACTUAL
Forecasted value	ColumnFORECAST
Lower band	ColumnL95
Upper band	ColumnU95
X-axis title	<blank> (defaults to Month)
Y-axis title	Set to Sales Note: The Scale Y axis setting adds the label (thousands) to the title.
Actual legend label	Set to Actual
Forecasted legend label	Set to Forecast
Scale X axis	This setting is selected.
Scale Y 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 Actual value list, select the value to use for the actual value in a forecast chart indicator.
(Required) From the Forecasted value list, select the value to use for the forecasted value in a forecast chart.
(Required) From the Lower band list, select the value to use for the lower confidence band in a forecast chart.
(Required) From the Upper band list, select the value to use for the upper confidence band in a forecast chart.
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.
In the Actual legend label field, type the text that replaces the default legend label for the actual value in a forecast chart indicator.
In the Forecasted legend label field, type the text that replaces the default legend label for the forecasted value in a forecast chart.
In the Band legend label field, type the text that replaces the default title for the band legend in a forecast chart.
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.

Sample Data Structure

To create a forecast chart, you must provide one variable or measure (X-axis value) and four measures (actual value, forecasted value, lower band, and upper band).

The following data sample is associated with the figure previously shown. Underneath each column heading is its associated display setting. Note that this data was generated when 2011 dates were in the future.

Month (X-axis value)	Actual (Actual value)	Forecast (Forecasted value)	Lower Limit (Lower band)	Upper Limit (Upper band)
10/01/2010	$39,482.29	$44,163.35
11/01/2010	$52, 031.64	$51, 549.97
12/01/2010	$120,083.94	$80,948.36
01/01/2011		$69,889.80	$17,457.73	$122,321.88
02/01/2011		$61,965.83	$9,231.34	$114,700.31
03/01/2011		$36,283.89	($16,767.06)	$89,334.85