SharePoint 2010 PerformancePoint Services : Examining Analytic Chart Reports

There are two ways to create an analytic chart. You can either select Analytic Chart from the Create tab in Dashboard Designer or you can right-click a PerformancePoint list in the Workspace Browser and then select Report from the pop-up menu and Analytic Chart from the dialog box (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Right-click a PerformancePoint Content list to create an analytic report.

The next step is to select a data source. To do this, you can either select a data source that exists in your workspace or select a data source that has been deployed to SharePoint.

When you click Finish, the new report is added to your workspace. In this example, name the report Viewers per Season, as shown in Figure 2. Notice that the report appears in the Workspace Browser list under PerformancePoint Content.

Figure 2. Viewers per Season is an example of analytic chart report.

You now have the ability to drag and drop measures, dimensions, and named sets and add these to the series (x-axis), bottom axis (y-axis), or background. The exact effect varies on the type of report, but in general, it is similar to the way Excel renders effects when data is added.

The analytic chart automatically appears as a bar chart. Even though this is the default setting, you can change the default analytic chart to any of the following chart types:

• Grid

• Stacked bar chart

• 100% stacked bar chart

• Line chart

• Line chart with markers

• Pie chart

Right-click anywhere on the report to change the report type. From the context menu that appears, select Report Type, and then select the type of report you want (see Figure 3).

Figure 3. Use the context menu to change the report type.

Adding Data Elements

In this example, you modify a default report by adding data elements to break down viewers by season to illustrate how the interactivity of the analytic chart enables data to be displayed in many different ways and at different levels of detail.

Figure 4 shows you what the Design workspace looks like before any elements have been added.

Figure 4. Drag the measures, dimensions, or named sets from the Details pane to the Design workspace.

The first step in this process is to add the Viewers measure to the Bottom Axis and the Season-Episode hierarchy from the Episode dimension to the Series axis. Add the measure and hierarchy by dragging the items from the Details pane on the right to the appropriate area in the Design workspace, as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5. The report now displays viewers by season

Adding Additional Measures and Dimensions

Now you can continue to add additional measures, hierarchies, and attributes as necessary. One more attribute, Year, has been added to the report shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6. Including additional items enhances the informational value of your report.

You can select the members you want to use in your chart. In this example, you added the Season-Episode hierarchy and all members of that hierarchy to the chart. You can also select individual members. Click the arrow next to the hierarchy name (Episode Season-Episode) to see the dialog box through which you can filter members. Figure 7 shows the dialog window that enables you to pick members.

Figure 7. Select Individual members from the hierarchy to customize your report further.

In this example, you selected episode 101, 102, and 103. Information for these episodes is now featured in the chart (see Figure 8).

Figure 8. Additional items enhance the informational value of your report.

Using Measures and Dimensions as Filters

The background series enables you to add measures and dimensions that act as a filter. Continuing with this example, you add the Region-Affiliate hierarchy from the Affiliate dimension to the background series, and then you select the East region (see Figure 9).

Figure 9. You can select to use measures as filters.

Notice that chart in Figure 10 has changed and now displays data for the East region only. By enabling the information bar, you can select to display the region in the upper-left corner of the report, underneath the report title.

Figure 10. Using measures and dimensions as filters increases the informational value of your report.

Dimensions added to the background series are available when you add filters to your dashboard, too. For example, you can add a time hierarchy to the background series, configure it to use the All member, and then filter data based on year after the dashboard has been deployed.

Using Interactivity Features and Context Menus

When you right-click an analytic chart, you expose interactive options that enable you to modify and refine the view on your data. Two context menus are available. One context menu is available by clicking a bar or line on the chart (see Figure 11) The second context menu is available by clicking outside of a bar or line in a chart (see Figure 12).

Figure 11. This context menu appears when you click a bar or line in a chart.

Figure 12. This context menu appears when you click outside of a bar or line in a chart.

With the context menu shown in Figure 11, you can do the following:

• Drill down to another dimension.
  
  
• Show only selected member.
  
  
• Show details (drill through).
  
  
• Remove the selected member.
  
  
• Remove all members but the selected one.
  
  
• See additional actions. These are actions defined in the cube such as drill through.
  
  
• Sort and filter data member such as Top 10, Largest to Smallest, Filter Empty series.
  
  
• Show or hide the information bar. This bar is displayed at the top of the chart.
  
  
• Pivot.
  
  
• Show a decomposition tree report.
  
  

With the context menu shown in Figure 12, you can do the following:

• Add or remove measures.
  
  
• Filter.
  
  
• Pivot.
  
  
• Change report type. For example, this context menu enables you to change from a bar chart to a grid, to a stacked bar chart, or to a pie chart.