Creating Basic Bar and Line Visuals

The following steps demonstrate how to create a new combined bar and line chart on dataset World Life Expectancy [data source samples.world_life_expectancy].

  1. Start a new visual based on dataset World Life Expectancy [data source samples.world_life_expectancy]; see Creating Visuals.

  2. In the visuals menu, find and click combined bar/line (row 1, column 5).

    selecting line chart type

  3. Note that the shelves of the visual changed. They are now Dimension, Bar Measures, Line Measures, Tooltips, and Filters.

    The mandatory shelves for bar and line visuals are Dimension that maps to the X-axis, and Bar Measures and Line Measures that both map to the Y-axis.

  4. Populate the shelves from the available fields (Dimensions, Measures, and so on) listed in the left navigation menu.

    • Under Dimensions, select year and drag it over Dimension shelf on the main part of the screen. Drop to add it to the shelf.
    • Under Measures, select life_expectancy and drag it over Bar Measures shelf on the main part of the screen. Drop to add it to the shelf.
    • Under Measures, select gdp_per_capita and drag it over Line Measures shelf on the main part of the screen. Drop to add it to the shelf.

  5. On the shelf of the visual, on sum(life_expectancy) field, click the icon (down arrow), select Aggregates, and then select Average.

    changing the aggregation of life expectancy

  6. Note that the shelf now contains the modified field avg(life_expectancy).

    life expectancy with avg aggregation

  7. On the shelf of the visual, on sum(gdp_per_capita) field, click the icon (down arrow), select Aggregates, and then select Average.

    changing gdp aggregate to average

  8. Note that the shelf now contains the modified field avg(gdp_per_capita).

  9. The shelves of your visual should now look something like the following image:

    basic shelf configuration of bar and line chart type

  10. Click Refresh Visual.

    The bar and line visual appears.

    Note that the two legends for the Y axis match the color of the plot: the orange line for sum(gdp_per_capita), and the blue for the blue bars for avg(life_expectancy). However, you may not be able to see the bars because the values of that measure are so much smaller than the values for the line measure.

  11. Alias the life_expectancy field:

    • On the shelf, on life_expectancy field, click the icon (down arrow), select Alias, and then select Set.

    • In the Enter a column alias modal window, enter Life Expectancy.

    • Click Save.

  12. Alias the gdp_per_capita field:

    • On the shelf, on gdp_per_capita field, click the icon (down arrow), select Alias, and then select Set.

    • In the Enter a column alias modal window, enter GDP per Capita.

    • Click Save.

  13. Click Refresh Visual again.