[OBIEE11g] - Creating Effective Bar Graphs

Trying to accommodate all the information into a graph is little tricky, but let us see how best we can do by using the X-Y axis and legends.

1. Open Analytics URL: http://localhost:9704/analytics and login with administrator user “weblogic”.
2. On the main “Oracle BI Answers” menu select “New” -> “Analysis” -> “Sample Sales Lite” and select the below columns:
   
3. Click the “Results” tab and select the “New View” icon 
4. Then select “Graph” -> “Bar” -> “Vertical”.
5. Once the Graph is displayed then Drag the Graph’s Title bar so the whole graph is placed on top of the Table view as show below:
   
6. Click the “Edit View” icon on the Graph Title bar.
7. Click the “Show in Legend” checkbox in the “Layout” section.
8. Drag the “Product Type” Column in the “Layout” -> “Bar Graph” -> “Bar” section to the “Vary Colors By (Horizontal Axis)” area.
9. In the Graph’s Menu bar select “3D” where “2D” is shown.
10. The Graph in the “Edit View” of the “Compound Layout” is as show below:
    
11. Click “Edit Graph Properties” icon  in the menu bar
12. Once the “Graph Properties” window opens select the “Style” tab.
13. In the “Plot Area” section select the “Background” and enter “#6699CC” in the text box and click “OK” button.
14. For the “Gridlines” select “Specify” and select both “Horizontal Lines” and “Verticle Lines” checkboxes.
15. For the “Color” under “Major Grid” enter “#000000″ and click “OK” button.
16. For the “Color” under “Minor Grid” enter “#0000FF” and click “OK” button.
17. Make sure your options are as shown in below screenshot.
    
18. Click “OK” to close “Graph Properties” and Click “Done” button on the Graph’s menu.
19. Click on the “Criteria” tab and then the “Per Name Year” column options select “Sort” -> “Sort Descending” option.
20. Click “Show how results will look on a Dashboard” icon  in the “Results” tab section.
21. The Dashboard view should show this appealing Graph and Table report as shown in the below screenshot:
    
22. On click on the “2010″ year on the X-Axis you should be able to Drill Down to view more detailed reports as show below:
    

Summary:
There is more ways of trying to accommodate more information into a graph while at the same time reducing the cluttered information by playing around with the graph properties.
Above is one way we were able to achieve this.