Add a Note to a Chart

Notes are pieces of text that appear in the chart. You can add notes to a chart to provide additional detail, such as explanatory information, or to highlight a notable value.

You can use text, an item label or value, or a report expression as the source for a note.

Notes overwrite whatever is under them so you must position them properly.

If you apply more than one note, ensure that each note has a different position in the report so that they do not overwrite each other. You can also specify in which order they should be drawn when the report runs. They are drawn from top to bottom. If you have two notes with the same coordinates, the first one in the list is drawn first and the next one is drawn on top of the first.

If you apply a background color to the chart, the note area does not use the same background color. You must also change the background color of the note.

Tip: The Top 10 Retailers for 2005 sample report in the GO Data Warehouse (analysis) package includes a note. For more information about The Great Outdoors Company samples, see Sample Reports and Packages.

Steps

1. Click the chart object.

2. In the Properties pane, under Chart Annotations, double-click the Notes property.

3. Click the new button  and click OK twice.

   A note icon appears in the Markers, notes, and baselines box.

4. Click the note icon  and set the note size, position, and border in the Properties pane.

   The location and size are statically set based on the number of pixels.

5. Double-click the note text to define the text.

   Tip: To delete a note, click the note icon and click the delete button .

Example - Add a Note to the Order Trends Chart

You are a report author at The Great Outdoors Company, which sells sporting equipment. You created a column chart that shows the contribution that each order method makes to revenue.

You decide to add a note to draw attention to an unexpected result.

Before you can try this example, you must create the chart in Example - Add a Baseline to the Order Trends Chart.

Steps

1. Open the Order Trends chart.

2. Click the chart object.

3. In the Properties pane, under Chart Annotations, double-click the Notes property.

   The Notes dialog box appears.

4. Click the new button , and then click OK twice.

   A note icon appears in the Markers, notes, and baselines section.

5. Select the note icon .

6. In the Properties pane, set the Bottom Position property to 285 and the Left Position property to 110.

   The location and size are statically set based on the number of pixels.

7. In the Properties pane, double-click the Note Border property.

8. Select the Note border check box, click a line color and line style, and click OK.

9. Run the report.

   If necessary, change the position again.

10. Double-click the note text and type Fax orders increased when declines were expected.

11. Save the chart.

Example - Format the Axis Values of the Order Trends Chart

You are a report author at The Great Outdoors Company, which sells sporting equipment. You created a column chart that shows the contribution that each order method makes to revenue.

You decide to format the y-axis values to make them easier to read.

Before you can try this example, you must create the chart in Example - Add a Note to the Order Trends Chart.

Steps

1. Open the Order Trends chart.

2. Select the y-axis.

3. In the Data section of the Properties pane, double-click the Data Format property.

4. Under Format type, click Number.

5. Under Properties, in the Scale box, click -3, and click OK.

6. Expand Axis titles.

7. Select the y-axis title and, in the Properties pane, set the Default title property to No.

8. Double-click the y-axis title and type

   Revenue (thousands)

9. Save the chart.

Example - Create a Drill-through Chart

You are a report author at The Great Outdoors Company, which sells sporting equipment. You are requested to create a chart that shows the revenue for each product line and allows the reader to drill through from the revenue chart to view the product details for any item selected. You create a drill-through report to link two reports containing related information. You can then access related or more detailed information in one report by selecting a value in the chart. You create two reports: a target list report that contains the details for the item and a source chart that shows the product line revenue.

For more information about using drill-though reporting in Report Studio, see Set Up Drill-through Access in a Report.

Steps to Create the Target Report

1. Open Report Studio with the GO Data Warehouse (query) package.

2. In the Welcome dialog box, click Create a new report or template.

3. In the New dialog box, click List and click OK.

4. In the Insertable Objects pane, on the Source tab , expand Sales and Marketing (query), Sales (query), and Product.

5. Double-click the following data items to add them to the list:

   • Product line
   • Product type
   • Product name
   • Introduction date
   • Product image

   Now you must create a filter to use as a drill-through parameter. A drill-through parameter begins and ends with a question mark (?) symbol.

6. Click the filters button .

7. Click the add button  and type the following in the Expression Definition window:

   [Sales (query)].[Product].[Product line]=?p_PL?

8. Save the report as Product Line Details.

Steps to Create the Source Chart

1. Create a new report.

2. In the New dialog box, click Chart and click OK.

3. In the Chart group pane, click Column.

4. In the Chart type pane, click Column.

5. Click OK.

6. In the Insertable Objects pane, on the Source tab , expand Sales and Marketing (query) and then Sales (query).

7. Expand Sales fact and drag Revenue to the Measure (y-axis) drop zone.

8. Expand Order method and drag Order method to the Series drop zone.

9. Expand Product and drag Product Line to the Categories (x-axis) drop zone.

10. From the Data menu, click Drill Behavior.

11. On the Basic tab, under Report output drill capabilities, select the Allow this report to be a package-based drill-through source check box and click OK.

12. Right-click the chart object and click Drill-Through Definitions.

13. Click New Drill Through.

14. Under Report, click the ellipsis (...) button.

15. Select the Product Line Details report you created and click Open.

16. Under Action, click Run the Report.

17. Under Format, click HTML.

18. Click the edit button .

    Any existing drill-through parameters appear. You see the parameter you created for Product Line Details.

19. For item p_PL, under Method, click Pass data item value, and under Value, click Product line.

20. Save the chart as Product Revenue.

21. Run the report.

The chart shows the product lines as clickable links. When you click a product line, the second report runs for that product line.