Bar Chart Configuration

Configure bar and column charts for drizzle-cube dashboards. Bar charts display categorical data with rectangular bars, supporting vertical/horizontal orientation, stacking, and grouping.

Chart Type

chartType: 'bar'

Basic Configuration

{
  id: 'bar-chart-1',
  title: 'Employees by Department',
  query: JSON.stringify({
    measures: ['Employees.count'],
    dimensions: ['Departments.name']
  }),
  chartType: 'bar',
  chartConfig: {
    xAxis: ['Departments.name'],  // Category axis
    yAxis: ['Employees.count']     // Value axis
  },
  displayConfig: {
    orientation: 'vertical'         // or 'horizontal'
  },
  x: 0, y: 0, w: 6, h: 4
}

Chart Configuration (chartConfig)

xAxis (Categories)

• Type: string[]
• Purpose: Dimensions to display on category axis
• Example: ['Departments.name']

yAxis (Values)

• Type: string[]
• Purpose: Measures to display as bar heights/lengths
• Example: ['Employees.count', 'Employees.avgSalary']

series (Grouping)

• Type: string[]
• Purpose: Dimension to split into multiple series/bars
• Example: ['Employees.isActive']

Display Configuration (displayConfig)

orientation

• Type: 'vertical' | 'horizontal'
• Default: 'vertical'
• Purpose: Bar direction
• Vertical: Bars extend upward (column chart)
• Horizontal: Bars extend rightward

stacked

• Type: boolean
• Default: false
• Purpose: Stack multiple series or measures

showLegend

• Type: boolean
• Default: true
• Purpose: Display chart legend

showGrid

• Type: boolean
• Default: true
• Purpose: Show gridlines

showTooltip

• Type: boolean
• Default: true
• Purpose: Show tooltips on hover

colors

• Type: string[]
• Default: Uses palette colors
• Purpose: Custom bar colors

Examples

Simple Vertical Bar Chart

{
  id: 'simple-bar',
  title: 'Sales by Region',
  query: JSON.stringify({
    measures: ['Sales.totalRevenue'],
    dimensions: ['Sales.region'],
    order: { 'Sales.totalRevenue': 'desc' }
  }),
  chartType: 'bar',
  chartConfig: {
    xAxis: ['Sales.region'],
    yAxis: ['Sales.totalRevenue']
  },
  displayConfig: {
    orientation: 'vertical',
    showLegend: false
  },
  x: 0, y: 0, w: 6, h: 4
}

Horizontal Bar Chart

{
  id: 'horizontal-bar',
  title: 'Top 10 Products by Revenue',
  query: JSON.stringify({
    measures: ['Orders.totalRevenue'],
    dimensions: ['Products.name'],
    order: { 'Orders.totalRevenue': 'desc' },
    limit: 10
  }),
  chartType: 'bar',
  chartConfig: {
    xAxis: ['Products.name'],
    yAxis: ['Orders.totalRevenue']
  },
  displayConfig: {
    orientation: 'horizontal', // Horizontal bars
    showLegend: false
  },
  x: 0, y: 0, w: 6, h: 6
}

Grouped Bar Chart (Multiple Measures)

{
  id: 'grouped-measures',
  title: 'Employee Metrics by Department',
  query: JSON.stringify({
    measures: ['Employees.count', 'Employees.avgSalary'],
    dimensions: ['Departments.name']
  }),
  chartType: 'bar',
  chartConfig: {
    xAxis: ['Departments.name'],
    yAxis: ['Employees.count', 'Employees.avgSalary'] // Multiple measures
  },
  displayConfig: {
    orientation: 'vertical',
    showLegend: true // Show which bar is which measure
  },
  x: 0, y: 0, w: 8, h: 4
}

Grouped Bar Chart (Series Split)

{
  id: 'grouped-series',
  title: 'Active vs Inactive Employees',
  query: JSON.stringify({
    measures: ['Employees.count'],
    dimensions: ['Departments.name', 'Employees.isActive']
  }),
  chartType: 'bar',
  chartConfig: {
    xAxis: ['Departments.name'],
    yAxis: ['Employees.count'],
    series: ['Employees.isActive'] // Split by active status
  },
  displayConfig: {
    orientation: 'vertical',
    showLegend: true
  },
  x: 0, y: 0, w: 8, h: 4
}

Stacked Bar Chart

{
  id: 'stacked-bar',
  title: 'Employee Distribution',
  query: JSON.stringify({
    measures: ['Employees.count'],
    dimensions: ['Departments.name', 'Employees.seniorityLevel']
  }),
  chartType: 'bar',
  chartConfig: {
    xAxis: ['Departments.name'],
    yAxis: ['Employees.count'],
    series: ['Employees.seniorityLevel']
  },
  displayConfig: {
    orientation: 'vertical',
    stacked: true, // Stack series
    showLegend: true
  },
  x: 0, y: 0, w: 8, h: 4
}

Time-Based Bar Chart

{
  id: 'monthly-signups',
  title: 'Monthly User Signups',
  query: JSON.stringify({
    measures: ['Users.count'],
    timeDimensions: [{
      dimension: 'Users.createdAt',
      granularity: 'month',
      dateRange: 'last 12 months'
    }]
  }),
  chartType: 'bar',
  chartConfig: {
    xAxis: ['Users.createdAt'],
    yAxis: ['Users.count']
  },
  displayConfig: {
    orientation: 'vertical',
    showGrid: true
  },
  x: 0, y: 0, w: 12, h: 4
}

Custom Colors

{
  id: 'custom-colors',
  title: 'Department Performance',
  query: JSON.stringify({
    measures: ['Employees.count'],
    dimensions: ['Departments.name']
  }),
  chartType: 'bar',
  chartConfig: {
    xAxis: ['Departments.name'],
    yAxis: ['Employees.count']
  },
  displayConfig: {
    orientation: 'vertical',
    colors: ['#FF6B6B', '#4ECDC4', '#45B7D1', '#FFA07A', '#98D8C8']
  },
  x: 0, y: 0, w: 6, h: 4
}

Use Cases

• Category Comparisons: Compare values across different categories
• Rankings: Show top/bottom performers
• Distribution: Display data distribution across groups
• Time Series: Visualize data over time periods
• Multi-Metric Comparison: Compare multiple measures side-by-side
• Composition: Show part-to-whole relationships (stacked)

Best Practices

1. Limit categories - Too many bars make charts hard to read (max 15-20)
2. Use horizontal for long labels - Easier to read category names
3. Sort data - Order by value for better insights
4. Choose stacked vs grouped wisely - Stacked for totals, grouped for comparison
5. Keep colors consistent - Use same colors for same categories across charts
6. Add meaningful titles - Clear title explains what's being shown

Common Patterns

// Top N pattern
{
  query: JSON.stringify({
    measures: ['Metric'],
    dimensions: ['Category'],
    order: { 'Metric': 'desc' },
    limit: 10
  })
}

// Comparison pattern
{
  query: JSON.stringify({
    measures: ['Metric1', 'Metric2'],
    dimensions: ['Category']
  }),
  chartConfig: {
    yAxis: ['Metric1', 'Metric2']
  }
}

// Time series pattern
{
  query: JSON.stringify({
    measures: ['Metric'],
    timeDimensions: [{
      dimension: 'Date',
      granularity: 'month'
    }]
  })
}

Related Skills

• Use queries skill to build complex bar chart queries
• Use dashboard skill to add bar charts to dashboards
• Consider line-chart for continuous data trends
• Consider pie-chart for part-to-whole relationships