What is the chart editor?

Owned by Tim C
Last updated: Oct 23, 2024
3 min read

If you’re new to creating a chart, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the chart editor.

Chart editor with labels on the Visual SQL, result table, and chart preview panes.

There are three main sections in the chart editor:

  1. Visual SQL: The series of query and transformation steps taken to achieve your final result set

  2. Result table: Shows the result set for the selected step in Visual SQL

  3. Chart preview: Shows your chart and lets you customize the chart type and chart settings

Visual SQL

Building a chart always starts with a query step and ends with a chart step. Each step you add in between transforms the data from your initial query. These steps include a variety of operations such as sorting columns, pivoting data, and adding calculated columns. The flexibility of adding steps in any order allows you to get your data exactly how you want it.

Learn more about Visual SQL.

Result table

The result table is where the result set for your steps are shown. You can review the result sets to get a better understanding of what happens in each transformation step.

Column data types

Check the column’s data type in your result set by hovering over the column’s name in the result table—the data type appears in parentheses. Knowing a column’s data type can be helpful for troubleshooting, especially when performing arithmetic operations.

The column named Canceled in the result table is an integer data type.

Resize the result table

Hover over the top border of the result table then select and drag the bar to change the table to the desired height.

Chart preview

The chart preview pane is where you select your chart type and modify your chart settings. The chart preview always shows the final result set in your Visual SQL steps; it does not update for individual step’s results.

Edit the chart title inline

Select Untitled chart above the chart preview to quickly give the chart a title, then press Enter or click outside of the text field to save the new title.

Chart settings

Select the Gear icon () in the chart preview to view and edit available chart settings. Each chart type offers different customization options. Learn more about customizing charts.

Save to dashboard

When you’re ready to save your chart to a dashboard, select Save to dashboard. With new charts, you can choose from the list of existing dashboards or you can create a new dashboard. Upon saving, you’ll be redirected to that chosen dashboard.

When editing an existing chart, you have a few more save options when you open the Save to dashboard menu:

  • Save without exit: Saves your changes but stays in the chart builder upon saving

  • Save to another dashboard: Saves the chart to a different or new dashboard

  • Save copy of chart: Saves the chart to the same or different dashboard—think of this like a “Save As” option.