How to Create a Radial Column Chart

What is a Radial Column Chart

Radial Column charts are variations of vertical Column Charts, in which the XY plot is transformed into a circular polar area. A Radial Column chart becomes a Nightingale Rose chart when the gap between columns is removed (one single toolbar button click).

Single-series charts have one single column set as Radial Column. Columns could all have the same or different colors. Multi-series charts have more than one column set as Radial Column, and each column usually gets the same different color.

Our multi-series Radial Column charts are always stacked. Grouped series were possible, but they may introduce too much clutter and we decided to avoid them. Stacked columns can be normalized to 100%, for typical Full Stacked charts.

Steps to Create a Radial Column Chart

Start Visual Xtractor or Data Xtractor. Connect to a database. Create or design a SQL query. Run the query and check the results.

1. Display and enable the Chart query builder.
2. Select your first numeric column as Radial Charts – Radial Column.
3. For multi-series charts, select other columns with the same chart type.
4. Select one optional column as chart Label.
5. Select one other optional column as chart Category, to have different column colors.

Radial Column Demo Query

This is a great alternative to learn about and play with this type of chart, if you don’t want to create it from scratch.

Look for the ready-to-use single-series Radial Column Chart generated query under the Queries > Demo Queries > Charts > Circular Charts folder. Click on the “add demo queries” command link, if not already there.

The generated demo queries must work for any database, with no restriction. They use constant values generated on-the-fly and your database SQL engine, but do not depend on data from your tables, and never alter your database in any way.

Stacked Radial Column Demo Query

Look for the ready-to-use multi-series Stacked Radial Column Chart generated query under the Queries > Demo Queries > Charts > Circular Charts folder. Click on the “add demo queries” command link, if not already there.

Click on the Use Full 100% toolbar button to show a Full Stacked Radial Column chart.

Radial Column Chart with Category

For single-series charts, you may select another column as chart Category, in which case the chart legend will be populated with category items. A multi-color Radial Column with Category chart will show all columns of a category item with the same color. This makes it easy to select only those items to be displayed.

Look for the ready-to-use single-series Radial Column with Category Chart generated demo query under the Queries > Demo Queries > Charts > Category Charts folder. Click on the “add demo queries” command link, if the demo query is not already there.

Customize your Radial Column Chart

The chart toolbar at the bottom has many options you may change with one single click, to alter the graph. Here is just an example of what you can further do with this type of chart:

1. Make it single-color, to use the same first palette color for all columns.
2. Change the drawing style (to Mist) or make the whole graph monochrome.
3. With one click, show only the chart’s graph, with no plot or labels.
4. Click on legend items to hide some columns.
5. Make it a Nightingale Rose chart, by removing the gaps between columns.
6. Or make it a lollipop Radial Column chart, by showing thin sticks with bubble data labels.
7. Show data labels and markers, in single-series charts.

Conclusion

• Creating Radial Column charts in Data Xtractor or Visual Xtractor is fast, simple and trivial: set one or more numeric columns as Radial Column charts, one optional column as Label, and that’s it!
• Add a Category column to single-series charts, to filter all columns that belong to category items.
• Many builtin powerful features of these chart type are common to most other charts: filtering series through the legend items, interactivity, monochrome or grayscale colors etc.
• Switch to another builtin chart theme, or customize your own, for any possible color or other styles.