An Interactive Bubble Graph widget is a conventional bubble plot that allows you to visualize the trends of three different metrics for a set of attribute elements. The data structure for an interactive bubble graph is very specific. At minimum, one attribute and three metrics are required. In the bubble graph:
One bubble is displayed for each attribute element.
Each bubble's position on the X-axis represents the value of the first metric.
Each bubble's position on the Y-axis represents the value of the second metric.
The size of each bubble represents the value of the third metric.
The Interactive Bubble Graph is interactive, unlike a standard bubble graph report. For example:
Analysts can drill into the components of a bubble to see the underlying data within that bubble's data. For example, an analyst can drill on a Region bubble (the parent attribute) down to bubbles that represent different cities (child attributes) within that region. To drill on a bubble in the bubble graph, the analyst clicks on any of the parent attribute bubbles. In the image below, the green bubbles have been drilled to their child attribute element bubbles. To enable drilling in the bubble graph, the designer must add an additional attribute to the left of the other attribute on the rows of the Grid/Graph that contains the widget.
Analysts can see a time-series animation that plots the bubble values through time. To see this kind of animation, an analyst can move the time slider or click the animation play button.
To enable time series animation in the chart, a designer must place an additional attribute at the left most widget template row. If, in addition to time series analysis, the analyst is interested in drilling, a designer must place an additional attribute in the rows (for a total of 3 attributes in the rows).
Insert an Interactive Bubble Graph widget into the document. For steps, see Inserting a widget into a document.
Add objects to the widget template. To do this, from the Dataset Objects panel on the left, select attributes and metrics and drag them on top of the widget, using the following requirements:
Place at least one attribute in the rows. To enable drilling on the bubble graph, add one additional attribute to the left of the attribute in the rows. For specific requirements to enable drilling, see Enabling drilling in an Interactive Bubble Graph widget.
To enable time series animation, add a third attribute on the left most side of the rows.
Place at least three metrics on the columns. These metrics are displayed on the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis, in order from left to right. To display a different color bubble (series) for each attribute element on the bubble graph, add an additional (a fourth) attribute above the three metrics on the columns.
If you added a second attribute (to enable drilling) or a third attribute (to enable time series analysis) to the widget template, you must enable drilling and/or time series support in the widget, as follows:
Right-click the widget and select Properties. The Properties and Formatting dialog box opens.
Select either or both the Enable drilling and Support time series check boxes, as necessary, and click OK.
View and test your results by selecting Flash Mode from the View menu.
If Flash Mode is not available in the View menu, you must make Flash Mode available in the document. For steps, see Defining which display modes are available to users.
Modify the widget
In Flash Mode, right-click the widget and select Properties. The Interactive Bubble Graph dialog box opens. These are the options:
General
Inherit graph formatting: This option allows you to select whether the widget values -- the percentage or currency, for example -- display in the same format as they do in the grid or graph from which they were added to the widget.
Display legend outside of graph: Determine where you want to place the graph legend. If the legend is displayed inside the graph, it may overlap with the data on the axes. Select this option for a more streamlined-looking graph.
Use width (vs. area) to size the bubbles: Select this option if you want smaller bubbles. This option may be beneficial if you have a lot of bubbles on the graph and want to be able to see all of them individually without their overlapping.
Maximum bubble radius size: Determine the size of the bubbles. You can select a number between 1 and 60, 1 being the smallest and 60 being the largest.
Assign colors based on: Change the color of the bubbles based on which object you select from the drop-down. For instance, if you add brand to the widget, then each brand's bubble will display in a different color
Time Analysis
Enable time series analysis: Select this option to control the time series animation. To enable time series animation, place a third attribute on the widget template's rows.
Auto-hide time controls: The time control bar, which appears at the top of the widget graph area, allows you to jump between attributes in the widget. For instance, when you add region and product to the widget, product will display as bubbles in the graph and region will display as the heading in widget graph area. In this instance, the time controls allow you to move between the different regions -- for example, Northwest, Mid-Atlantic, South, etc. Select this option to display the time control bar.
Control background color: Determine the background color of the time control bar. Select a color from the pallette.
Control background opacity: Determine how dark or light the background color of the time control bar will appear -- 0% being colorless and 100% being completely filled.
Button background colors: The time control bar has a play button that migrates from one set of data to the next in continuous play mode. Determine what color scheme you would like to see in the button. Select two colors from the pallette.
Control highlight color: When you scroll over the play button or the slider, the slider allows you to manually jump from one set of attribute data to another, like moving from Northwest to Southeast, without having to see all of the attribute data included in the graph.
Control size: Determine the size of the time control bar. The options are Small, Medium, and Large.
Font family: Determine the font of the attribute header in the widget graph area.
Font size: Determine the font size of the attribute header in the widget graph area.
Color: Determine the color of the attribute header in the widget graph area.
Bold: Select whether to bold the attribute header in the widget graph area.
Italic: Select whether to italicize the attribute header in the widget graph area.
Drilling
Enable drilling: Select this option to be able to click on a bubble in the chart and drill down on that bubble's data. This presents a drilled-to (child) bubble with related data. To enable drilling you must also place a second attribute to the right of the attribute in the rows.
Connect bubbles when drilling: Select this option to determine whether a line appears between a drilled bubble and its corresponding drilled-to (child) bubble. The line allows you to better visualize which bubbles contain related information.
Selectors
Change selection on mouse over: Select this option to be able to change what is displayed in the selectable area by mousing over the area you want to see.
Click OK to save your changes and close the dialog box.
In Flash Mode, you can interact with the widget to control targeted Grid/Graphs and panel stacks in the document.
The following parts of an Interactive Bubble Graph widget can be used as selectors to display data in Grid/Graphs and panel stacks:
The bubbles in the widget can be used as selectors if their corresponding attributes are enabled as selectors in the Grid/Graph that contains the widget.
For example, in Flash Mode, you can click a Northeast region bubble to display Northeast data in all target Grid/Graphs and panel stacks.
In Flash Mode, you can double-click a bubble to drill down to the child elements of that bubble and to display data in the dashboard related to the bubble. To display data related to the drill-to element, a user can click the child bubble. All target Grid/Graphs and panel stacks are updated with data related to the selection. For more information about drilling in an Interactive Bubble Graph widget, see the MicroStrategy Document Creation Guide.
The attribute elements in the legend can be used as selectors if the columns of the Grid/Graph that contains the widget have an attribute that is enabled as a selector.
In Flash Mode, you can click an attribute element in the legend. Only one item in the legend can be selected at a time. For example, a user can click the legend item for the Central region to display data for the Central region in all target Grid/Graphs and panel stacks.
When a user hovers the cursor over these selectable parts of the widget, the cursor turns into a hand, indicating that it can be selected.
In Design or Editable Mode, do one of the following:
Right-click the attribute, custom group, or consolidation in the Grid/Graph to use as the selector, and choose Edit Selector. The Configure Selector dialog box opens.
Right-click the Metrics column in the Grid/Graph, and choose Edit Selector. The Configure Selector dialog box opens.
Select the target Grid/Graph or panel stack in the list of available targets on the left. Click > to add it to the list of selected targets on the right. You can select multiple targets.
The attribute, custom group, or consolidation you selected in the Grid/Graph is the source, and the selected Grid/Graph is the target. The Action Type of the selector is set to Select Element.
To ensure that the user can select more than one element in the widget, select the Show option for All check box.
To ensure that the element displayed in the selector changes if an element is chosen in another selector, select Allow selection to be updated by other selectors.
Click OK to apply the changes and return to the document.
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