Formatting a Waterfall widget

For an image of a Waterfall widget and steps to add one to a document, see Defining a Waterfall widget.

The table below lists the different aspects of the Waterfall widget that you can format, and lists the steps to format them in MicroStrategy Web. The steps can be performed in Flash Mode. They can also be performed in Interactive Mode if the widget has been defined to display as a widget in DHTML, and DHTML is enabled in Web. For instructions to determine how the widget is displayed, see Determining how a widget is rendered in non-Flash modes. For instructions to enable DHTML, see Enabling DHTML in MicroStrategy Web.

What to Format in the Widget

How to Format it

Colors and shadow effects for the increments and decrements bars

  1. In Flash Mode or Interactive Mode, right-click the widget and select Properties. The Waterfall dialog box opens.

  2. Click the Color tab.

  3. Select the Apply Increment/Decrement Color check box.

  4. Select a color for the increments bars from the Increments Base Color drop-down menu.

  5. Select a color for the decrements bars from the Decrements Base Color drop-down menu.

  6. Select or clear the Apply Shadow Effect On Bars check box.

  7. Click OK to save the changes.

Note: The first increment/decrement series uses the base color, and subsequent series are colored in a shade of the base color. If the base color is dark, additional series use lighter shades, otherwise they use darker ones.

Border color

  1. In Flash Mode or Interactive Mode, right-click the widget and select Properties. The Waterfall dialog box opens.

  2. On the Color tab, select a color from the Border color palette.

  3. Click OK to save the changes.

Whether increments and decrements are calculated by the widget or based on the metrics

  1. In Flash Mode or Interactive Mode, right-click the widget and select Properties. The Waterfall dialog box opens.

  2. Click the Data tab.

  3. Do one of the following:

    • If the data contains the amounts of increase or decrease per period, select the Increments/Decrements Provided check box to display the increment or decrement data. To use this setting, the Grid/Graph should contain metrics on the rows and attributes on the columns, which allows you to place the metrics along the X-axis in a specified order. This displays the increment and decrement bars in the order specified.

    • If you want the widget to compute the increments or decrements, clear the Increments/Decrements Provided check box. To use this setting, the Grid/Graph should contain metrics in the columns and attributes in the rows. The metrics should depict the total value of each unit of time.

  4. Click OK to save the changes.

Whether the final bar ( which is located on the far right of the widget) is calculated by the widget or provided by the Grid/Graph data

  1. In Flash Mode or Interactive Mode, right-click the widget and select Properties. The Waterfall dialog box opens.

  2. Click the Data tab.

  3. Do one of the following:

    • If the data contains the information for the final bar, select the Final Bar Provided check box.

    • If you want the widget to calculate the final bar, clear the Final Bar Provided check box. You can also define a name for the final bar (see below).

  4. Click OK to save the changes.

A label or name for the final bar

  1. In Flash Mode or Interactive Mode, right-click the widget and select Properties. The Waterfall dialog box opens.

  2. Click the Data tab.

  3. Specify the label text in the Text for Last Entry field.

  4. Click OK to save the changes.

Note: This is used as a label for the bar on the far right of the widget. By default, it is displayed as Final, but you can rename it as Final Value or End of 2008, for example. This option is available only if the final bar is calculated by the widget (see above).

Whether or not lines connecting adjacent bars of the same series are displayed

  1. In Flash Mode or Interactive Mode, right-click the widget and select Properties. The Waterfall dialog box opens.

  2. Click the Data tab.

  3. Select or clear the Add Connecting Lines check box.

  4. Click OK to save the changes.

Note: This option is available only if the widget contains a single series.

Whether or not to show additional series in tooltips

  1. In Flash Mode or Interactive Mode, right-click the widget and select Properties. The Waterfall dialog box opens.

  2. Click the Data tab.

  3. Select or clear the Show Additional Series in Tooltip check box.

  4. Click OK to save the changes.

Note: This option is available only if the Grid/Graph contains attributes and metrics on different axes.

Whether to display X axis labels on a single line or on staggered lines

  1. In Flash Mode or Interactive Mode, right-click the widget and select Properties. The Waterfall dialog box opens.

  2. Click the Data tab.

  3. Do one of the following:

    • To stagger X axis labels if all the labels do not fit below the widget, select the Stagger But Do Not Drop X-Axis Labels check box. All the labels are displayed; none are removed from the widget.

    • To display the labels on a single line, clear the Stagger But Do Not Drop X-Axis Labels check box. Labels that do not fit are not displayed.

  4. Click OK to save the changes.

Whether or not horizontal target lines are displayed in the widget, and the number of target lines to display

  1. In Flash Mode or Interactive Mode, right-click the widget and select Properties. The Waterfall dialog box opens.

  2. Click the What-if tab.

  3. Do one of the following:

    • To hide the target lines, select 0 in the Number of Target Lines field.

    • To display horizontal target lines, select the number of lines in the Number of Target Lines field.

  4. Click OK to save the changes.

  5.  If target lines are displayed, you can move the target lines up and down in the widget.

Whether or not "what-if" analysis is enabled

"What-if" analysis allows users to modify the size of bars using bar handlers. Increasing or decreasing the size of a bar affects the values in the widget. A user can also review the history of his changes to the bar size, and reset the bars to their original values.

  1. In Flash Mode or Interactive Mode, right-click the widget and select Properties. The Waterfall dialog box opens.

  2. Click the What-if tab.

  3. Select or clear the Enable What-if Analysis check box.

  4. Click OK to save the changes.

Whether or not bar handlers are to be displayed

Bar handlers enable users to perform "what-if” analysis with the widget. If bar handlers are hidden, a user can display them by pointing to a bar.

  1. In Flash Mode or Interactive Mode, right-click the widget and select Properties. The Waterfall dialog box opens.

  2. Click the What-if tab.

  3. Select or clear the Show Bar Handlers check box.

  4. Click OK to save the changes.

Note: This option is available only if "what-if" analysis is enabled.

 

Apply formatting inherited from the widget's Grid/Graph to the widget

The following formatting options can be inherited from the widget's Grid/Graph:

  •  

  • Number formatting

  • Font color and type options

  • Background and border color of the widget

  • Legend formatting, including legend background color, border color, and font used to display items in the legend

  1. In Editable Mode, right-click the widget, then point to View Mode and select Graph View.

  2. From the Format menu, select Graph. The Format: Graph dialog box opens.

  3. From the Graph type drop-down list, select Vertical Bar. Click Apply to apply your changes.

  4. Format the widget's Grid/Graph by selecting the appropriate options in the Format: Graph dialog box. For specific steps to format the widget's Grid/Graph, see the Advanced Reporting Guide.

  5. Click OK to return to the widget.

  6. In Flash Mode or Interactive Mode, right-click the widget and select Properties. The Waterfall dialog box opens.

  7. Do one of the following:

    • To apply formatting from the widget's Grid/Graph, select the Inherit grid formatting check box.

    • To display the widget without inheriting formatting, clear the Inherit grid formatting check box.

  8. Click OK to save the changes.

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