How to Create a Tree Map Chart

What is a Tree Map Chart

Tree Maps are single-series charts that divide the whole surface into rectangles with area proportional to each value. They display the largest value in the top-left corner, then fill with the rest going down with the next greatest value, filling to the bottom, then to the right and continue this way.

All values must be strict positive and sorted in descending order, to avoid warning messages on screen.

Steps to Create a Tree Map 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 one single numeric column as Stacked Charts – Tree Map.
3. Select a textual descriptive column as Label.

Tree Map Chart Demo Query

Look for the Tree Map demo query, under the Bar Charts folder.

All numeric values are strict positive and sorted in descending order, from the greatest to the lowest value. The chart shows by default the selected Label (if any), followed by the calculated percentage value of how much is that from the whole.

Customize your Tree Map Chart

1. Show as monochrome, to display all rectangles with the same color.
2. Replace the data labels with actual values, no percents.
3. Show eventually with no colors at all, just grays.

Conclusion

• Creating a Tree Map chart in Data Xtractor or Visual Xtractor is fast and easy: set one numeric data column as Tree Map, with one optional Label.
• Sort all values in descending order, and use only strict positives, to avoid warnings.