A Gauge widget is a simple status indicator that displays a needle that moves within a range of numbers displayed on its outside edges. An example of a gauge is a car's speedometer. Like the Cylinder and Thermometer widgets, this type of widget is designed to display the value of a single metric. The needle within the gauge is a visual representation of that single metric value.
The Gauge widget is most useful when combined with a selector because this allows users to choose specific metric values to display in the gauge. In the image below, the location of the needle in the gauge represents revenue in million (the Revenue metric).
Insert a Gauge 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 on the widget template's rows. Its elements are displayed in the selector.
Place one metric on the widget template's columns. This ensures that the needle in the gauge represents the metric values.
Right-click the widget template, select View Mode, and then Graph. The widget template is displayed in a graph view.
Right-click the widget template and select Format. The Format: Graph dialog box is displayed.
On the General tab, from the Graph Type drop-down list, select Gauge.
By default, the numbers displayed on the Gauge widget are the same minimum and maximum Y1 values specified for the Gauge graph. To specify a minimum and maximum value, on the Axes tab select the Minimum Value and Maximum Value check boxes and type minimum and maximum Y1-axis values appropriate for your data.
To format the Gauge widget, click the Options tab. For details, see Formatting a Gauge widget.
Click OK to apply the changes and close the dialog box.
Insert a selector next to the Gauge widget. This selector allows users to choose different attribute elements. Assign the attribute as the selector's source. For steps to insert a selector and select a source for it, see Inserting a selector into a document.
Set the Gauge widget template as the target of the selector. To do so, right-click the selector and select Select Target. Then click the Gauge widget template to assign it as the selector's target.
It is recommended you also drag the dataset report from the Dataset Objects panel and place it beneath the selector. This allows you to see the report's values as you select different attribute elements from the selector and see how they change the appearance of the Gauge widget.
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 Gauge widget
In Flash Mode, right-click the widget and select Properties. The Gauge dialog box opens. These are the options:
Show data labels: Determine whether you want to display labels in the widget. For example, if you select profit as a component of the widget, then you can select this option to display the profit values in the widget.
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 graph from which they were added to the widget.
Click OK to save your changes and close the dialog box.
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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