Using Custom Graphs to Display Results :: SAS® Visual Analytics 7.4: User's Guide

About Custom Graphs

The graph builder enables you to create custom graph objects. To access the graph builder, on the Objects tab, click the New button

. The Create Custom Graph window is displayed. For more information, see Creating and Using Custom Graph Objects.

When a custom graph is saved in the My Folder location, it is displayed under the Custom heading on the Objects tab. Then, you can insert the custom graph into a report and add data to it. For information about adding a custom graph to the Objects tab, see Show or Hide Report Objects in the Objects Tab.

Note: If a data role is not available for a report object in the designer, then the data role is not available in the graph builder. For example, a bar chart in the designer does not have a Color data role. Therefore, a bar chart in the graph builder does not have a Color data role either.

For a definition and a picture of each custom graph type, see Graphs, Charts, and Plots.

Specify Custom Graph Properties

To specify the properties for custom graphs:

If it is not already selected, select the custom graph in the canvas that you want to update.
In the right pane, click the Properties tab.
Update the general properties for the graph. You can update the Name, Title, Format (for the title’s font style), and Description.
Update the specific properties for the graph. The available properties depend on the selected custom graph type.

By default, the Enable selection in the viewers property is selected for custom graphs. This means that users who use the web viewer or a mobile device can select the custom graph and click to see the custom graph name and any incoming filter information.

Note: No properties are available for the schedule chart.

Specify Custom Graph Styles

To specify styles for custom graphs:

If it is not already selected, select the custom graph in the canvas that you want to update.
In the right pane, click the Styles tab.
Update the styles for the graph. The available styles depend on the selected custom graph type. For example, you can specify Border and Fill, Data Styling, Frame Styling, Text Styling, and Data Colors for custom graphs.

By default, the background of a graph is set to white. Use the Wall background option (under Frame Styling) to specify a different color.

Note: A three-color Gradient data color style is available for custom graphs that have a Color role.

Your custom colors are saved between SAS Visual Analytics sessions. Your custom colors are displayed in the color palette. For an example of the color palette, see A Color Palette in the Designer.

Assign Colors to Overlays in Custom Graph Elements

Each time a new graph element is overlaid on top of an existing graph element, the data colors that are assigned to each subsequent graph element are the colors after all of the colors have been assigned to the first graph and its elements. If 12 colors are assigned to the first graph element (for example, a bar chart), then the graph element that is overlaid (for example, a line chart) is assigned color 13.

To have the overlaid graph element start with the first color, change the Overlaid plot colors property for the cell in the graph builder to All graphs start with the same color.

The Properties Tab in the Graph Builder with the Overlaid Plot Colors Property Selected

Setting the Overlaid plot colors property affects the Fill colors on the Styles tab when you open the custom graph in the designer.

Data Colors on the Styles Tab in the Designer

If a custom graph contains more than eight groupings, the Fill colors are repeated. Here is the pattern for colors:

Colors	Pattern
1-8	The colors are specified in the Fill color palette.
9-16	Repeat colors 1 through 8 in a lighter hue.
17-24	Repeat colors 1 through 8 in a darker hue.
More than 24 colors	Repeat the color patterns above.