How to Create an Inline Stacked Bar Chart

What is an Inline Stacked Bar Chart

Inline Stacked Bars concatenate together several small horizontal bars displayed in data grid cells, with or without the actual data, according to the cell values. Stacked Charts use as parameters reference names to other numeric columns, or constants. Each series in the stacked bar gets its own palette color.

There are three types of basic Inline Stacked Bars:

1. Inline Stacked Bars – concatenates as they are two or more Inline Full Bars.
2. Inline Full Stacked Bars – normalized to the full size of the grid column, with a percentage value instead for each bar segment.
3. Inline Butterfly (or Population Pyramid) Bars – centered stacked, two-series based, with one series mirrored on the negative side of the vertical axis.

Steps to Create an Inline Stacked Bar 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 Inline Chart query builder.
2. From any data column, select either Inline Stacked Bars – Stacked Bars…
3. Or select Inline Stacked Bars – Full Stacked Bars…
4. Or select Inline Stacked Bars – Centered Stacked Bars.
5. A new empty added column with the setting may appear.
6. In the Edit Inline Chart Series popup, select references to other columns and/or constant values.

Inline Stacked Bars Demo Query

Look for the ready-to-use Stacked Bars generated query under the Queries > Demo Queries > Inline Charts > Horizontal Bars folder. Click on the “add demo queries” command link, if not there.

Stacked 1, 2 and 3 combine up to three values from q1, q2 and q3. As that’s a multi-value based chart, you cannot assign it directly to an existing column data, but to an empty column, which may be generated if you selected it elsewhere.

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.

Full Inline Stacked Bars

Look for the ready-to-use All Stacked Bars generated query under the Queries > Demo Queries > Inline Charts > Horizontal Bars folder. Click on the “add demo queries” command link, if not there.

Ignore for the moment the centered stacked Butterfly chart type. The other two remaining columns with inline charts show one regular inline stacked chart, based on q1 and q2, and the Full Stacked version, based on the same two columns.

Stacked version concatenates the values as they are, while the Full Stacked version show same column width bars with how much each value occupies from the total length, as a percent.

Centered Inline Stacked Butterfly Bars

Inline Butterfly Bars or Inline Population Pyramid Bars or Inline Centered Stacked Bars use two (positive) series, with first series mirrored on the negative side of the vertical axis.

Customize your Inline Stacked Bar Chart

1. Show no text.
2. Show plain colors, with no gradient background.
3. Show as black-and-white, with no colors.
4. Show as thin lollipop sticks.
5. Hide the zero vertical axis, when alternate values.

Conclusion

• Creating Inline Stacked Bar Charts in Data Xtractor or Visual Xtractor is fast and simple: select either a  Stacked Bars or Full Stacked Bars or Centered Stacked Bars chart type, then specify the series – as chart parameters – as either references to other columns, or constants.
• Centered Stacked/Butterfly/Population Pyramid charts use two series only.
• Bars may also appear as thin lollipop sticks.
• Most powerful builtin features of this chart type are common to other inline charts: hiding the text or colors, or the gradient background.
• Switch to another builtin inline chart theme, or customize your own, for any possible color or other styles.