Creating line charts

Note: Where possible, use qlik-embed and qlik/api rather than this framework.

The line chart is a common, widely used visualization. It is often used to show trends over time.

When the number of dimension values exceeds the width of the visualization, a mini chart with a scroll bar is displayed. You can scroll by using the scroll bar in the mini chart, or, depending on your device, by using the scroll wheel or by swiping with two fingers.

Learn more about the line chart, or review the line chart API specification.

line chart example 
// Configure nucleus
const nuked = window.stardust.embed(app, {
  context: { theme: "light" },
  types: [
    {
      name: "line-chart",
      load: () => Promise.resolve(window["sn-line-chart"]),
    },
  ],
});
// Rendering a line chart on the fly
nuked.render({
  element: document.querySelector(".lines"),
  type: "line-chart",
  fields: ["Date.autoCalendar.YearMonth", "=Avg(Gold)", "=Avg(Bitcoin)"],

  // Overrides default properties
  properties: {
    title: "Price of Gold and Bitcoin",
    dataPoint: {
      show: true,
      showLabels: true,
    },
    gridLine: {
      auto: false,
    },
    dimensionAxis: {
      show: "all",
      dock: "near",
    },
    measureAxis: {
      spacing: 0.5,
      dock: "near",
      show: "all",
      logarithmic: true,
    },
  },
});

In a line chart you need at least one dimension and one measure. With one dimension, you can include up to 15 measures. You can also have two dimensions and one measure.

DimensionsMeasuresResults
11A simple line chart with a single line
12-15A line chart with one line for each measure.
21A line chart with the first dimension on the axis, and a line for each value of the second dimension

Requirements

Requires @nebula.js/stardust version 1.2.0 or later.

Installing

If you use npm: npm install @nebula.js/sn-line-chart. You can also load through the script tag directly from https://unpkg.com.

More examples

One dimension, two measures, area styling

line chart example - area 
nuked.render({
  element: document.querySelector(".lines"),
  type: "line-chart",
  fields: ["Date.autoCalendar.YearMonth", "=Avg(Gold)", "=Avg(Bitcoin)"],

  // Overrides default properties
  properties: {
    lineType: "area",
  },
});

One dimension, two measures, vertical orientation

line chart example - vertical 
nuked.render({
  element: document.querySelector(".lines"),
  type: "line-chart",
  fields: [
    "Date.autoCalendar.Quarter",
    "Date.autoCalendar.Year",
    "=Avg(Bitcoin)",
  ],

  // Overrides default properties
  properties: {
    orientation: "vertical",
    dimensionAxis: {
      continuousAuto: false,
      dock: "near",
    },
    dataPoint: {
      show: true,
      showLabels: true,
    },
    preferContinuousAxis: false,
  },
});

Two dimensions, one measure

line chart example - 2 dimensions 
nuked.render({
  element: document.querySelector(".lines"),
  type: "line-chart",
  // Two dimensions, one measure
  fields: [
    "Date.autoCalendar.Quarter",
    "Date.autoCalendar.Year",
    "=Avg(Bitcoin)",
  ],
  properties: {
    measureAxis: {
      dock: "near",
      show: "all",
      logarithmic: true,
    },
    dataPoint: {
      show: true,
      showLabels: true,
    },
  },
});

One dimension, two measures, two reference lines

line chart example - reference lines 
nuked.render({
      element: document.querySelector('.lines'),
      type: 'line-chart',
      fields: ['Date.autoCalendar.YearMonth', '=Avg(Gold)', '=Avg(Bitcoin)'],

      // Overrides default properties
      properties: {
        refLine: {
          refLines: [
            {
              label: '',
              paletteColor: {
                color: 'green',
              },
              refLineExpr: {
                value: 52500,
              },
              show: true,
            },
            {
              label: '',
              paletteColor: {
                color: 'red',
              },
              refLineExpr: {
                value: 3570,
              },
              show: true,
            },
          ],
        },
        measureAxis: {
          dock: 'near',
          show: 'all',
          logarithmic: true,
        },
        dataPoint: {
          show: true,
        },
      },
    });
  });

Line chart plugins

A plugin can be passed into a line chart to add or modify its capability or visual appearance. A plugin needs to be defined before it can be rendered together with the chart.

// Step 1: define the plugin

// Modifying the look of the minor axis title
const minorAxisTitlePlugin = {
  info: {
    name: "minor-axis-title-plugin",
    type: "component-definition",
  },
  fn: ({ keys, layout }) => {
    const componentDefinition = {
      type: "data-title",

      // Provide the same name as the exisiting component to override it
      key: keys.COMPONENT.MINOR_AXIS_TITLE,
      style: {
        fontFamily: "Tahoma, san-serif",
        fontSize: "15px",
      },
    };
    return componentDefinition;
  },
};

// Step 2: passing the plugin definition into the render function

// Rendering a line chart with plugins
nuked.render({
  element: document.querySelector("#object"),
  type: "sn-line-chart",
  plugins: [majorAxisTitlePlugin],
  fields: ["Date.autoCalendar.YearMonth", "=Avg(Gold)", "=Avg(Bitcoin)"],
  // eslint-disable-next-line no-undef
  properties: {
    title: "History Price of Gold vesus Bitcoin (USD)",
    measureAxis: { show: "all", logarithmic: true },
  },
});

The plugin definition is an object, with two properties info and fn. The fn returns a picasso.js component. To build this component, some important chart internals are passed into the argument object of fn.

// Structure of the argument object of fn
const pluginArgs = {
  layout,
  keys: {
    SCALE: {
      MAIN: {
        MINOR,
        MAJOR,
      },
    },
    COMPONENT: {
      LINE,
      MAJOR_AXIS,
      MAJOR_AXIS_TIME_INNER,
      MAJOR_AXIS_TITLE,
      MINOR_AXIS,
      MINOR_AXIS_TITLE,
    },
    COLLECTION: {
      MAIN,
    },
  },
};

With plugins, you can either add new components or modify existing components of the line chart.

Add new components

The new component can be a standard Picasso component or a custom Picasso component. Below is a custom component which add labels to the min/max positions of the line.

line chart min max labels plugin 
// Implement a custom min/max labels plugin, so that we can use it later
// to show the min/max of Bitcoin price since 2018
const minMaxLabelsPluginImplementation = {
  info: {
    componentName: "custom-labels-plugin",
    name: "custom-labels-plugin",
    type: "custom-component",
  },
  fn: ({ keys }) => {
    const implementation = {
      require: ["chart", "renderer"],
      render() {
        // We are only interested in data of Bitcoin after year 2018
        const items = this.chart
          .component(keys.COMPONENT.LINE)
          .data.items.filter(
            (item) => item.line.value === 1 && item.label >= "2018"
          );
        const scale = this.chart.scales();
        const timeScale = scale[keys.SCALE.MAIN.MAJOR];
        const lineScale = scale[keys.SCALE.MAIN.MINOR];
        const { width, height } = this.rect;
        const min = Math.min(...items.map((item) => item.end.value));
        const max = Math.max(...items.map((item) => item.end.value));
        const labels = [];
        items.forEach((item) => {
          if (item.end.value === min) {
            labels.push({
              type: "text",
              text: `min: ${item.end.label}`,
              x: timeScale(item.major.value) * width,
              y: lineScale(item.end.value) * height + 15,
              anchor: "middle",
              fontFamily: "Tahoma, san-serif",
              fontSize: "15px",
              fill: "darkred",
            });
          } else if (item.end.value === max) {
            labels.push({
              type: "text",
              text: `max: ${item.end.label}`,
              x: timeScale(item.major.value) * width,
              y: lineScale(item.end.value) * height - 15,
              anchor: "middle",
              fontFamily: "Tahoma, san-serif",
              fontSize: "15px",
              fill: "darkgreen",
            });
          }
        });
        return labels;
      },
    };
    return implementation;
  },
};

// Using the min/max labels plugin, defined above
const minMaxLabelsPlugin = {
  info: {
    name: "labels",
    type: "component-definition",
  },
  fn: ({ keys }) => {
    const componentDefinition = {
      // The type has to match with the componentName of the labels plugin definition above
      type: "custom-labels-plugin",
      key: "my-labels",
    };
    return componentDefinition;
  },
};

Modify existing components

As an example, the appearance of the line can be modified by plugin.

To override an existing component, fn should returns a picasso.js component that has the same key as the existing component (keys.COMPONENT.LINE in this example).

line chart line plugin 
// Modifying the look of the existing line component
const linePlugin = {
  info: {
    name: "line-plugin",
    type: "component-definition",
  },
  fn: ({ layout, keys }) => {
    const componentDefinition = {
      type: "line",

      // Provide the same name as the exisiting line component to override it
      key: keys.COMPONENT.LINE,
      settings: {
        layers: { curve: "monotone", line: { strokeWidth: 3 } },
      },
    };
    return componentDefinition;
  },
};

Plugins disclaimer

  • The plugins API is still experimental.
  • It is not guaranteed that the chart is compatible with all different settings, especially when modifying existing components.
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