Stacked Columns and Bars

Learn about building and configuring stacked column and bar charts in Mappica.

Overview

Stacked column and bar charts allow for the comparison of multiple series of data within each category, providing insight into how individual components contribute to a total value.

These charts use vertical columns or horizontal bars segmented into stacked sections, with each section representing a value from a different series. This format is ideal for visualizing how categories break down across groups, making it easy to compare both the overall totals and the contributions of each series.

Setup

In the Setup section, under the Chart tab, you can assign the following properties:

The name will be used to reference it in the Layers tab and on the canvas.
The top, right, bottom, and left Margin that will be added between the chart axes and the edge of the chart container.

TIP

Because the margin sets the space between the chart axes and the edge of the container, ensure you add enough margin for any axis ticks or labels. If needed, use options in the Axes section such as Limit Tick Width, Limit Tick Characters, and Rotate Ticks to constrain the size of tick and label text.

The Size Ratio of the chart container. Since the chart will always take up the available width inside its parent section, the size ratio effectively determines the chart's height.
Optionally, the chart's Minimum Height and/or Maximum Height. If the height calculated by the size ratio is smaller than the Minimum Height or larger than the Maximum Height, then the Minimum Height or Maximum Height is used instead of the size ratio.

Connecting to Datasets

In the Dataset section, you can select the dataset for your chart. If you need to add a dataset, this can be done by selecting New Dataset in the Project tab.

MAPPICA Pro

If you are on the Pro plan, you can upload your own files (in csv format) to use as datasets, by clicking New Dataset and then Upload Dataset.

After you have selected a dataset, you can optionally enable the Prefilter Dataset switch, which lets you filter the data that is supplied to the chart. The filter is a "prefilter" because it is applied before the visualization is generated; end users are unable to adjust the filter dynamically.

Next, the Data Format is displayed. You can select either Wide Data or Long Data. The data format should reflect the structure of the selected dataset.

Finally, choose the Fields that should be used to construct the chart:

Horizontal Axis Field (for stacked columns) or Vertical Axis Field (for stacked bars): A text or date field that serves as the chart's independent variable. Each unique value is represented as an individual column or bar. Any repeated values are merged, with their corresponding series values aggregated.‍
Series Fields (for wide data): The chart's dependent variables, which are number, percent, currency, or measurement fields corresponding to each column or bar segment in the stack.
Value Field (for long data): A numeric, percent, currency, or measurement field that serves as the chart's dependent variable, representing the values for each segment in the stack. Each value in this field corresponds to a specific series, defined by the Color Field (found in the Color section of the right panel).

Connecting to Filters

You can establish connections to filter elements under the Chart tab, in the Connections section, by making a selection under Filter.

A Filter element can be styled as a series of checkboxes, a dropdown menu, or a slider. Values from the specified Filter Field appear as individual checkboxes, dropdown menu items, or (for numeric filtering) slider values. A given chart can be connected to one or more filters, and the same filter can be connected to multiple charts or other elements.

When a filter element is connected to a chart, it dynamically controls the dataset records displayed in the chart based on the user's selections. Filters can also adjust the chart's axis range dynamically, provided one of the chart's axis fields is the same as the filter's Filter Field and the Minimum and Maximum Range values of that axis are set to auto.

Additionally, filter elements can inherit color formatting from a chart, provided that the chart is using Long Data format and the chart's Color Field is the same as the filter's Filter Field. For more information, see the Color Formatting section of the documentation for filter elements.

TIP

If your chart uses Wide Data format, use a Selector element instead of a filter to dynamically control the chart color series.

Typically, the Filter element you connect to will use the same Dataset as the chart element. However, this is not strictly necessary. If the filter and chart elements use different datasets, the filter will only affect the chart if the chart's dataset contains a field (column) with the same name as the Filter Field in the filter element. In this case, the values in these fields must at least partially align for the filter to take effect. Any non-matching values between the fields will be ignored during filtering.

Connecting to Selectors

If you are using Wide Data format, you can establish a connection to a selector element under the Chart tab, in the Connections section, by making a selection under Selector.

Selector elements control which series fields are displayed in connected elements that use a wide data format. Selectors can be displayed as checkboxes, dropdowns, or legends. While a chart can be connected to only one selector, a single selector can be connected to multiple charts and other elements that use series fields. Once connected, the selector element dynamically controls the dataset fields (columns) passed to the chart as series fields based on user selections.

Sorting

You can choose how to sort the chart bars or columns under the Chart tab in the Sort section. Choose either to sort by the independent or dependent variable. In both cases, you can also choose to reverse the natural sort order.

Axes

In this section, you can configure how the Horizontal Axis and Vertical Axis are configured. Whichever of these two axes is used for the independent variable is listed first in the user interface.

‍Add Label: When enabled, label text appears adjacent to the axis. You can also align the label text.
Customize Range: Specify a custom minimum and maximum value for this chart axis. This option is available on axes used for a chart's dependent variable. On charts with bars, the minimum value should be less than or equal to 0 and the maximum value should be greater than or equal to 0. On histograms, the minimum value is set to 0 and cannot be changed.‍
Set Axis Line Location: When enabled, this option lets you control the position of the axis line. Auto places the axis line at the bottom of the chart (in the case of the horizontal axis) or the left of the chart (in the case of the vertical axis). Zero aligns the axis to the zero value and Hidden removes the axis line entirely.‍ If this option is turned off, the chart's independent axis line will be displayed in a default location and the dependent axis line will be hidden (Pro users can adjust these default settings in the Theme page).‍
Customize Ticks: When enabled, you can control which tick values will be displayed on the axis. Values lets you specify exact tick values, which should be separated with commas. Choose Count to set an approximate number of ticks (this option is only available on axes displaying continuous data). Or choose Hidden to remove ticks from the axis.‍

TIP

If you choose to specify exact tick values, ensure that they don't overlap with one another on tablet and mobile viewports.

Limit Tick Width: This is the maximum width, in pixels, applied to text on this axis. Leaving the tick width set to auto will result in tick text remaining on one line. Text wraps at spaces, so longer words will sometimes extend beyond the specified value. This option is only available on independent axes that use a text field.‍
Limit Tick Characters: This feature allows you to set a maximum number of characters for tick labels. When enabled, longer labels will be truncated to fit the character limit, with ellipses displayed to indicate that the word has been truncated. You can specify a custom value or leave it at auto for default behavior. ‍This option is only available on independent axes that use a text field.‍
Rotate Ticks: On horizontal axes, you can rotate tick labels to angles of 0°, 30°, 45°, 60°, or 90°. This can improve readability, especially when dealing with long or overlapping tick labels.
Use Short Format: On the dependent axis, you can display axis tick values in a compact format, such as 1K for 1,000 or 1M for 1,000,000.

The following chart formatting option applies to both axes:

Clip Chart: Restrict chart items such as bars and symbols from extending beyond the boundaries of the chart container, ensuring all items remain within the outermost values on both axes.

Colors

Color formatting is defined in the Colors section under the Chart tab.

If the chart uses Wide Data format, separate colors can be assigned to each of the selected series fields.

If the chart uses Long Data format, you can specify a Color Field, which can be a text field or numeric (number, currency, percent, or measurement) field from the selected dataset. If you select a text field, each unique value in that field will be treated as a category and can be assigned a color. For numeric fields, you can configure a Color Gradient, Domain Minimum and Maximum, and Color Scale. These features are explored in greater detail in our Colors page.

Annotations

In the Annotations section under the Chart tab, you can toggle on Add Data Point. This overlays a dot annotation on each stacked bar, representing a calculated value based on all items in the stack. Specify the following options:

Choose the Data Point Operation to calculate the "Sum," "Average," or "Median" of the stack's values.
Apply a color to the dot using the Data Point Color setting.
To include the data point in a connected legend element, enter a custom label in the Legend Text field. If left blank, the data point will not appear in the legend.

Tooltips

Tooltips can be enabled by selecting the Chart tab, navigating to the Tooltip section, and selecting Display Tooltip. These are automatically configured to display the fields selected in the chart.

Overview
Setup
Connecting to Datasets
Connecting to Filters
Connecting to Selectors
Sorting
Axes
Colors
Annotations
Tooltips