Editing a Chart

If you need to make any changes to a chart, click the ‘Chart Tools’ icon at the top right of the cell.

Click the ‘Edit chart’ icon.

The options at the top of the screen will show if any Filters or Colours for example have been applied to the chart. 

Example

The ‘Edit chart’ screen shows that one Filter has been applied to this map.

You can view what these are by clicking either the Filters or Colours menu and if you make any changes to your chart, remember to click the Save icon again. 

Viewing Chart Information

The Chart information icon can be used to check what type of chart has been created and which data source has been used to build the chart.

After clicking the ‘Chart Tools’ icon  at the top of the chart cell to open the Chart tools menu, click the ‘Chart information icon’.

The Chart information dialog box will show details about the selected chart.

Peek button

If you are making changes to your chart but need to refer to the original on the dashboard for clarification, click the ‘Peek’ button at the bottom-left of the ‘Edit chart’ screen.

This will open a read only view of the dashboard over the top of the ‘Edit chart’ screen. To return to the ‘Edit chart’ screen, move the mouse away from the ‘Peek’ button. 

Chart SQL

Using this functionality, you can manually define the SQL to be used for a chart or data table.

Normally (i.e., when not utilising this screen) the SQL is automatically generated depending on the definition of the objects, tables and table joins in the metadata and the application of filters, sorting, category objects etc. 

However, once you have overwritten/changed the SQL using this screen the functionality of the dashboard in relation to this chart is fundamentally changed and the SQL for this chart will no longer automatically update as a result of things you may do elsewhere in the dashboard. For example, you will need to code all filters etc. manually, and if changes are made to the definition of an object, or table joins etc. they will no longer automatically be reflected in the SQL of any chart where you have used the functionality of this screen. 

Normally there are better approaches then manually altering the SQL. That said, there are a few circumstances when this can be useful, if you want to utilise database hints for example.

To manually edit the SQL, select the SQL tab and enter the SQL you wish to use.

Once the SQL has been overridden, the indicator says ‘on’. This is so that you can spot a chart with manual SQL quickly. If someone asks you to debug a chart, be sure to check for manual SQL first. Many hours have been lost trying to figure out what has happened, only to notice this at the last moment.