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Word Cloud Chart

Ken Rose
  • Updated

05/14/2020 This will require Builder privileges for setup and implementation.

***SEE VIDEO DEMONSTRATION BELOW!***

Released in iDashboards v10.3, I hope you find powerful and creative ways to use the Word Cloud Chart!

This chart is not a traditional chart by any means. It has a powerful capability built into the chart to analyze thousands of words (up to 1,000,000 characters total) and then:

  • Count the number of times a word appears. Then, display each word in a size based on the occurrence count
  • Properties include:
    • Color theme
    • Word Angle
    • Font
    • Excluded Words
    • Number of words to display

The first time I used the chart, I was blown away. I had a data set that contained over 300 feature requests captured between 2015 and 2017. I connected the X-Axis to the ID and the Y1-Axis to the Request Title. Within a few seconds, I had a cool analysis of popular words!

mceclip0.png

Right away, I felt the need to adjust the Maximum Word Count from 400 to 30. While the super-small words look cool, I wanted the message to be very clear...what are the most popular words! While there are many more properties to play around with, I was ready to take this to the next level...DRILLDOWN! Since I used the chart to process my word counts, I was subject to a level of confusion regarding axis values. This is pretty well documented in the Builder Manual, but I will share the information here.

From Builder Manual

Notice!

The Word Cloud chart does not follow normal drilldown practices. Refer to the Drilldown section in the Builder Manual for information on configuring chart drilldowns.

Consider the following example: For pre-processed data, this chart follows the same protocol as all other charts. However, charts using unprocessed data have a very different behavior because of the secondary data set.

Unprocessed

Processed
X axis Y1 axis X axis Y1 axis

A Number

Words

A Number

Words

1

The cat is a cat

cat

5

2

The cat is not a dog

the

4

3

The cat is not a bird or dog

is

4

4

The cat is not a fish or bird or dog

a

4
   

dog

3
   

or

3
   

not

3
   

bird

2
   

fish

1

In the example above, the drilldown setup will continue to show the original axis names, yet the data values will NOT be from the original (unprocessed) data set, but rather from the secondary (processed) data set. So, to drilldown on a word will require sending the axis A Number. Similarly, in rare situations the number may be the desired drilldown value and would require sending the axis Words.

Drilldowns within iDashboards have the ability to take the value of an axis (or axes) and send it onto another entity like a chart, dashboard, URL, or even a parameter. The unique behavior of using drilldowns with unprocessed data sets as discussed above. However, it is possibly desirable to drilldown on a word, like fish and see the original (unprocessed) data set in the form of a chart. To achieve this requires a unique setup, dynamic data sets, and custom queries.

Creating a Word Cloud Chart

Taking all of that into consideration, how do I build the target chart and how do I configure this drilldown?

I went back and clarified the X and Y axis labels of my source chart:

  • X-Axis:ID_part1
  • Y1-Axis:Title_part1

I created the target chart. This requires using the Custom Query option. Selecting the same data columns as the parent chart, I used the following WHERE clause:

WHERE
(ENHANCEMENT_TITLE LIKE '%'+' '+${param:ID_part1}+'%')
OR
(ENHANCEMENT_TITLE LIKE '%'+${param:ID_part1}+' '+'%')

I then created an input parameter:

  • Name:ID_part1
  • Label: <whatever you want>
  • Data Type: String

I used the following X and Y axis labels:

  • X-Axis:ID_part2
  • Y1-Axis:Title_part2

Normally, the practice of having mismatched axis labels (between the parent and target charts) would destroy the drilldown capability. But, stick with me, we can't follow conventional drilldown practices. Lastly, I chose a Tabular chart and added a few visual settings. Hope you enjoy this new chart!

Video Demonstration

For More Information:

If the above is unable to resolve the issue, then please contact truOI Support for further assistance.

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