PhixFlow Help

18 Create further Stream Views

By the end of this exercise you will be able to:

  • Create a line chart (time series)
  • Create a 3D bar chart
  • Create a 3D pie chart
  • Create an aggregate view
  • Create a pivot view

Note in this exercise that you set series, Data Point attribute and Horizontal Axis Attribute by dragging stream attributes into the boxes against these fields.

Create a line chart (time series)

  • Open the model Dashboards and Forms 01-08: Views, filters and dashboards
  • Open the stream configuration form for Overall Debt Levels
  • Go to the Views section

You will create a line chart, plotted over time, of debt levels broken down by payment means:

  • Press  - Insert
  • Set:

    • Name: Debt levels by payment means

    • Display Type: Line Chart (time)

  • Press OK

The best way to configure views is to add them to a dashboard first. Create a dashboard for this view:

  • In the repository browser, find - Dashboards
  • Press  - Add Dashboard
  • Set the dashboard name to Debt levels by payment means
  • Click Apply to save your changes
  • In the repository, navigate to Dashboards, and find the dashboard you just created (Debt levels by payment means)
  • Right click on this and click Display to open your dashboard in a new window
  • Use the Phixflow task bar (grey bar at the bottom of the screen) to navigate back to the model Dashboards and Forms 01-08: Views, filters and dashboards
  • Double click on the stream Overall debt levels
  • In the stream configuration form, navigate to the Views section
  • Use the Phixflow task bar to reopen the dashboard Debt levels by payment means
  • In the stream configuration form for Overall debt levels, find the view you created (line chart), and drag this on to the dashboard Debt levels by payment means
  • Because you are in design mode, you will see a set of configuration fields

To complete the configuration:

  • In the stream view configuration form, navigate to the Views panel
  • Double click on the view you created (Debt Levels by Payment means) to open the stream view configuration form
  • In the View Attributes panel, click on - Show Stream Attributes
  • Drag attributes from this list into configuration fields in the chart builder as:
FieldAttribute

SERIES

PaymentMeans

Y ATTRIBUTESDebtLevel
X ATTRIBUTECalculationDate

Notice that as you drag attributes across, they are added to the list of stream view attributes, with the appropriate role set. For DebtLevel (Y axis), the correct role is Datapoint.

  • In the stream view configuration form, navigate to Chart Layout, and update the following settings:
FieldValue

Show Legend

tick

Vertical Axis Title

Debt level

Horizontal Axis Title

Date

Label angle

Horizontal

Primary Axis Unit

Day

Primary Axis Format

Day in month

Secondary Axis Unit

Month

Secondary Axis Format

January, February

  • Press 
  • To update the dashboard into display mode (from design mode), anywhere on the view in the dashboard:
    • Right click → Dashboard Options → Lock the layout
  • You will now see you chart

To go back into design mode - that is, to see the chart builder - on the chart:

  • Right click → Unlock the layout

When you are in design mode, from this right click menu you can also bring up the configuration for the view, and for the underlying stream.

Setting an upper limit

There is one data point in the data which is much greater than all the others, so movements in the levels of debt cannot be seen. Add a maximum value in the chart layout to exclude this outlier and generate a more useful graph:

  • under Vertical Axis, set Maximum Value to 30000

Then view the chart to see the results.

Setting a lower limit

You decide you are only interested if there is a debt level of more than 5,000:

  • under Vertical Axis, set Minimum Value to 5000

Then view the chart to see the results.

Fixing the scale

You now decide that you want to show the graph always including the Y-Axis starting at zero:

  • Set the Minimum Value to 0
  • Tick Fixed Scale

Then view the chart to see the results.
Note: Fixed Scale is relevant when the graph data changes. The Minimum Value and Maximum will always be plotted on the Y-Axis, even when the largest data value is lower than the Maximum Value and the lowest data value is larger than the Minimum Value.

Create a 3D bar chart

Now you will create a graph of the same data, but this time using a bar chart. Add a new view on the stream Overall Debt Levels:

Create a view with:

  • Name: Debt levels by payment means 2
  • Display Type: 3D Barchart
  • Press Apply
  • Create a dashboard with Name: Debt levels by payment means 2
  • Click Apply to save your changes
  • In the repository, navigate to Dashboards, and find the dashboard you just created (Debt levels by payment means 2)
  • Right click on this and click Display
  • Use the Phixflow task bar (grey bar at the bottom of the screen) to navigate back to the model Dashboards and Forms 01-08: Views, filters and dashboards 
  • Double click on the stream Overall debt levels 
  • In the stream view configuration form, navigate to the Views section
  • Use the Phixflow task bar to reopen the dashboard Debt levels by payment means 2 
  • In the stream configuration form for Overall debt levels, find the view you created (3D bar chart), and drag this on to the dashboard Debt levels by payment means 2
  • Then complete the configuration using the chart builder and the stream view configuration view to update the following settings:

SERIES

PaymentMeans

Y ATTRIBUTESDebtLevel
X ATTRIBUTECalculationDate

Show Legend

tick

Vertical Axis Title

Debt level

Horizontal Axis Title

Date

Label Angle

Sloping

  • Save the new view, and view the results

The view looks very cluttered – but we will filter this later to make this more useful.

Create an aggregate view

Now you will create a grid view on the data in Overall Debt Levels, but to show aggregated totals by payment method:

  • Add a new grid view, called Debt totals by payment means
  • Drag the attribute PaymentMeans into the View Attributes list
  • Drag the attribute Count() into the View Attributes list (this attribute is available on any grid view in PhixFlow, regardless of what attributes have been set up in the stream)
  • Drag the attribute DebtLevel into the View Attributes list
    • Now double-click on this attribute in the View Attributes list
    • You will see the stream view attribute configuration form:
      • Set the Name to TotalDebtLevel
      • Select the Stream Function: Sum
      • Press 
  • Press  on the main stream view configuration form to save your changes

View the results.

Create a 3D pie chart

Now you will create a further chart on the stream Overall Debt Levels, to give an overview of proportions of debt by various payment means. Create a new view and dashboard with the settings:

Name

Debt overview by payment means

Display Type

3D Pie Chart

DATA ATTRIBUTE

DebtLevel - make this an aggregate attribute. Once you have added it to the view:

  • Double click it to open the view attribute configuration form
  • Set the aggregate function to Sum
  • Save your changes

LABEL ATTRIBUTE

PaymentMeans

Show Legend

tick

Show Values on Charts

tick


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