Creating a Chart

User Help > Displaying Item Data Graphically > Creating a Chart

Creating a Chart

CLI EQUIVALENT

im createchart

In the GUI, you can create four types of charts:

• distribution chart (see “To create a distribution chart”)

• item fields chart (see “To create an item fields chart”)

• trend chart (see “To create a trend chart”)

• item fields trend chart (see “To create an item fields trend chart”)

Editing Restrictions

• The user who created the chart can edit it. Principals (users and groups) that a chart is shared with can edit it if they have edit permissions assigned to them by the chart creator. Only the user who created the chart or an administrator can delete the chart.

• While creating a chart, you cannot edit the query that the chart is based on.

• All charts are subject to visibility rules set by your administrator. Visibility rules restrict access to specific information based on project and/or item type. For more information, contact your administrator.

Minimum Information Required

• To create a distribution chart, you require a chart name, a field, and a query.

• To create a trend chart, you require a chart name, step type, start and end dates, and a field.

• To create an item fields chart, you require a chart name, query, and aggregate expression.

• To create an item fields trend chart, you require a chart name, query, step type, start and end dates, and numeric field.

• All other modifications and additional information are optional.

Calculations in Charts

Charts can do more than just display field information in a graphical format. You can also perform arithmetic calculations between numeric fields and display the values in the chart. For example, you can calculate the average for a group of field values or count the number of items in a specific state. To perform these calculations, you create a computed expression. For more information, see “What are Computed Expressions?”.

How Time Zones Affect Charts

• Symbolic dates in rules and queries are evaluated in the Windchill RV&S client’s time zone.

• Relevance and editability rules are evaluated in the Windchill RV&S client’s time zone.

• Computed expressions return dates/times in the Windchill RV&S client’s time zone and perform calculations in the Windchill RV&S server’s time zone where appropriate.

Document Versioning and Charts

If document versioning is enabled, charts do not display ambiguous computed expression values in versioned content item data, indicated by the

icon. If a chart contains an ambiguous computed expression, an error message displays.

Unless specified, backing queries in existing charts display all items (versioned and live). Modify backing queries in charts as needed to display appropriate data. If you choose to include versioned content item data in charts, modify the chart definition to exclude computed expressions that refer to document context (Document ID, Contains, Contained By fields or the Aggregate ByDocument() function).

Examples

For details on how to define the key elements of sample charts of each type, see “Detailed Chart Examples”. For an example of how to create a more complex chart using computed fields, see “Creating a Computed Expression in a Chart”.