Forum Replies Created
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Pamela, et al.
Thank you for the kind words. Regarding the x-axis, I had a problem to overcome. I use a water-year construct for segregating the datasets. This created issues for me in both Microsoft Excel (where I post-process much of my data) and DataGraph. My water-year begins on the 1st day of the 10th month of a traditional year and ends on the 30th day of the 9th month. Sorting and segregating daily data using date fields was a challenge.
In essence, I assigned each row (daily) of data a new index called the Day of Wateryear (DWY). October 1 was DWY 01; September 30th of the following year was DWY 365 (0r 366 in leap years). DWY was the first data column imported into DataGraph. It was formatted as a number field.
I also created a new yearly index called a water-year in the form of yyyy-yz in my spreadsheet. In Datagraph, these water-years form the column names containing the annual dataset for each water-year respectively (e. 1948-49, 1949-50, etc.)
So the x-axis is plotted to the DWY field (a number). Specified tick marks were added on the last DWY of each month. Text labels were added as aides to viewers to help them find their way along the x-axis.
I crafted a quick web page with screen shots and more detail. As mentioned, it was quickly pulled together; there are likely errors on that page. More detail to follow on that web page in the coming days:
https://www.litterrocks.com/datawork-primer
Thanks again for the feedback. It’s very much appreciated.
I was actually able to answer this on my own. The short answer is to create a time or a number variable in the form of a date (e.g. yyyy:mm:dd). Then, create two instances of the variable in a label or text field, formatting the first, using the example in my question, as:”d Mon”. And using the second variable formatted as “yyyy”.
This was probably a simple and obvious answer for many, but I had a little mental block on it. It finally occurred to me after my second cup of coffee this morning. It is probably why the Datagraph team formatted dates the way they did – to offer the user a lot of flexibility.
Here’s a screen shot of it in action. I formatted my dates a little differently in this example than I did in my first question to the forum:
Your masked column method works like a charm! I performed a quick trial based on your answer to test this and need to go back a clean it up a little, but it will work for multiple charts I publish. It saves me the trouble of processing the median for select days in Excel, which is not bad but is extraneous and more subject to error.
Thank you so much!
BTW – I also use an variable for the data’s most recent update day. ?I can use this variable within the masked column definition to avoid need to update the new Median variable each time I publish.
I publish upwards of 600-700 charts almost daily (including a chart for each state or district for many variables). This and other tricks the Forum has given me has enabled me to publish this data relatively quickly each day.
Here is an image of the resultant chart. The median value is represented by the dashed black line. The median numerical value is also given in the legend.
Thanks again for the quick reply…
Peter,
A Datagraph moderator named David gave me the correct solution to my question. It is quite easy to set up and implement. He gave good directions, but I’ll elaborate here with screen shots of my own datagraph file.
Setting the Table
I download COVID data for all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia from John Hopkins University in the form of a large .csv file. I import this file into my master COVID Datagraph file directly and as-is.I have a minimum of six (6) sets of state-level data I like to develop charts for and publish. These include:
- Cumulative COVID Testing by State
- Daily COVID Testing by State
- Cumulative COVID Cases by State
- Daily COVID Cases by State
- Cumulative Positivity by State
- Daily Positivity by State
In the past, the way I had my Datagraph file set up meant I had (306) charts to update and publish. I found ways to minimize this to updating six sets of charts most days through the use of title, text and axis variables.
However, if there was a change in the data structure (e.g. the underlying .csv file) or to the design of a chart, I was required to update multiple elements in all (51) charts for each set of data. Both happened frequently, especially early on in this data project. It was very tedious to update these with the way I originally set up my datagraph file.
1. The y-column Variable Solution
An administrator from Datagraph named David really simplified my process by offering two key bits of advice.The first was to create a “Redirect” column. This is located in the top menu bar of the Column Definitions menu under the “Other” drop-down menu. Selecting this, you see there is a Redirect-type column (A). It appears in the list of column definitions below (B). You also see it in the table of data (C).
In the column definition section, you can select which column to redirect data from (B1). This is how you can set up a ‘master’ chart and with a y-value variable.
2. Publishing Graphics via a Loop Mechanism
The second piece of advice David gave me was equally useful, maybe even a little more. My former Datagraph file contained a separate chart for each state. Now I can publish a unique graphic for each state from a single master chart.
The first step is to build a text variable menu (D). After typing in the first two-letter state postal code abbreviation for Alaska (AK), you have the option to populate the remaining names by clicking on the gear wheel of this new variable and selecting “Add unique values (the column) state”.
Steps E1 and E2 shown in the graphic set up the variable masks for the red state data line and the state red text element in the chart.
Once D, E1 and E2 are finished, Step F shows how to publish all 51 charts in a single click.
I hope this helps.
David B.
