Using a Range Bar Chart and Visualizing a Project Schedule (Gantt Like Chart)

This applies to: Managed Dashboards, Managed Reports

The Range Bar chart is a bar chart that displays bars for each dimension (category), ranging between a start value and an end value. For example, Range Bar charts can be used to represent the beginning and end of operations/tasks along a time axis, similar to a Gantt chart, for tracking project schedule. This article demonstrates a few Range Bar chart configurations that can be used in order to visualize measurement ranges, tasks, and project schedules.

Creating a Range Bar Chart

A range bar chart has at least two measures (to be used as the start and end of the range bars) and one hierarchy. For example, in the following chart, the measures represent low and high temperatures for a day and work as a range of temperature values.

Showing Task Schedules and Dependencies

A project can have multiple phases, such as Planning, Design, Implementation, etc. Each phase can have milestones and dependencies. You can use a Range Bar chart to show these milestones and their dependencies within a project phase.

Data Preparation

The following table is used to create the chart. It has five milestones (M1, M2, etc.) and their timelines from the Design phase of a project. M3 is dependent on M2 and M5 is dependent on M4.

Creating the Chart

Re-Visualize your data into a Range Bar chart.

Note: The Range Bar Chart option under the heading Recommended applies the following settings automatically. Alternatively, set them yourself as shown.

In the toolbar under Chart Properties, select Horizontal Bars to display the data this way.

Since the range bar series will be created using start and end dates instead of two measures, you may need to configure the Data Analysis Panel Visualization settings accordingly:

Also, make sure that you have the appropriate hierarchy as your axis.

In the Properties window for the chart, select the bottom axis, and set the Scale Type to Date/Time.

For this chart example, the Skip Missing Data option is selected under Bottom Axis 1 > Intervals to show only the dates available in the series.

Indicating Task Dependencies

There are multiple ways to indicate dependencies among tasks. A suitable option is to make use of states and creating state styles to indicate dependencies. There must be at least one measure in the metric set to be able to create states.

We have added a Dependencies column to our example data for this purpose:

Create a state group named Dependencies and add states as shown below:

You can add conditions in the Configure State dialog to compare hierarchy values, creating a state for each type of dependency. See Set Up States on a Metric Set.

In the Properties window for the chart, select your data point series, and click + to add three State Styles. For each style, set the corresponding State and Fill color.

As an additional step, you can show connecting lines between tasks to indicate the tasks that are supposed to run in sequence, e.g. connecting M2 to M3 and M4 to M5.

In the Properties window for the chart, select your data point series, open Lines & Fills, and set Connecting Line to Bridge.

Showing the Project Schedule for Multiple Projects

You can use a Range Bar chart to display a schedule with multiple projects, along with their phases.

Data Preparation

The following table is used to create the chart. It shows several project phases along with the start date and end date for each project.

Creating the Chart

With your data added as shown above to a metric set or dashboard, Re-Visualize this into a Range Bar chart. Under Chart Properties in the toolbar, select to display Horizontal Bars.

Make sure that the Visualization tab of the Data Analysis Panel has the following settings:

In the Properties window for the chart, select your data point series, and under Layout & Spacing set the value of Custom Side-By-Side Position to 1.

In the properties for the bottom axis, set the Scale Type to Date/Time. In this example chart, Skip Missing Data is selected, and Interval Method is set to Show Data Point Values to include only the dates available in the series.

Miscellaneous

Adding a Line to Indicate the Current Date

Often there is a requirement to show a vertical line in the chart to indicate the current date. This is useful to highlight where the project schedule stands. In the example shown above, you can add another metric set to the same chart using the Data Analysis Panel. In the following example, the hierarchy Now has the current date.

Adding this metric set will create a new data point series to the chart: in its properties, set Series Chart Type to Line. In the Visualization tab of the Data Analysis Panel, add this hierarchy under Horizontal Position.

This will show the current date as a vertical line.

Adding Milestone Dates

You may want to show the milestone dates of each phase within a project timeline. Assume that you have the following chart:

You can add another metric set using the Data Analysis Panel to create a new data point series, and in the Properties window set the Series Chart Type to Point.

The Data Analysis Panel Visualization tab should have the following settings

In the series properties, we have set the Fill for the markers to White and the marker Shape to Diamond. Now you can see the milestone dates along the project timeline for each project. You can use states and state styles for the point series to illustrate the status of the milestones, such as In-progress, Delayed, Completed, etc.

You can also make use of notes to record and show further details about the project milestones.

For more information, see:

• Video: States

• Set Up States on a Metric Set

• Using Chart Properties