You can view report data as a graphic representation, such as a pie chart, or a tabular format which lets you view information as a spreadsheet. You can switch between these views at any time.

When using graphical charts, it is recommended that you match the type of data to the appropriate type of chart. For example, if you want to show trends over a period of time, it is best to use a line chart instead of a pie chart because a pie chart is designed to display information for a specific moment in time.

Graphic Charts

There are several types of default graphic reports as follows:

•Column

•Bar

•Pie

•Line

•Area

Once report data is open as a graphic chart, with the appropriate rights, you can make changes to the way the chart looks and export the graphic to a .pdf file. See Changing the Appearance of a Report for more information.

•Pie Chart—Displays information in a circular format with specific data represented as slices of the overall pie. Best used to display information for a specific point in time.

Tip: When working with pie charts, single click on a slice of the pie to separate it from the rest of the pie. Single-click again to move it back to the pie.

•Line Chart—Display information as points connected by a line. Best used to show trends in data over a period of time.

•Bar chart—Displays information in horizontal bars. Best used to display a small amount of information over time and under different conditions.

•Column chart—Displays information in vertical bars. Best used to display a small amount of information over time and under different conditions.

•Area chart—Displays information in a filled area display. Best used for cumulative totals over time.

Tabular Chart

Tabular chart data is displayed in a spreadsheet format. You can sort the information in ascending or descending order by clicking the column header. (Data which spans columns does not have a column header, thus cannot be used for sorting.) You can export tabular data to Excel or to a .pdf format.