Candle Chart

A candle chart displays four different measures (low, high, open, close) against a date dimension, and is most often used to plot trading information. A candle chart is functionally similar to a Stock Chart.

candle chart example

To create a candle chart that displays the averaged high, low, opening, and closing prices by week, follow the steps below.

If you are new to charting, see the following sections first:

Configure Your Data…​

The data source for the chart (data block or data model) should represent dimensions and measures as independent columns or fields, as shown below. See Prepare Your Data for information on how to manipulate your data, if it is not currently in this form. (Note: A properly designed data model will already have the correct structure.)

data source with dimensions and measures as columns

In some cases (e.g., Pie Chart), you may want your data to provide just a single measure. In other cases (e.g., Line Chart), you may want the data to supply multiple measures. If the data does not provide the correct number of measures, you may be able to alter the number of measures to suit the needs of the chart by “pivoting” or “unpivoting” the data. See Pivot Data in Prepare Your Data for more information about this procedure.

Open a Chart for Editing…​
Watch Video: Create a Chart (Open the Chart Editor)

This video might show an earlier version of the feature or operation that differs in minor ways from the current version.

Follow the steps below to get started with a new Chart. See Basic Charting Steps for more details.

  1. If necessary, create a new Dashboard. (See Create a New Dashboard.)

  2. From the Toolbox panel, drag a Chart component into the Dashboard.

    drag Chart component into Dashboard

  3. Resize the Chart as desired by dragging the handles.

    drag handles to resize Chart

  4. Press the ’Edit’ button in the center of the Chart or press the ‘Edit’ button Edit in the top-right corner.

    press Edit button on Chart

    This opens the same Visualization Recommender available for creating a new Dashboard. (See Create a New Dashboard.)

  5. To bypass the Recommender, press the ‘Full Editor’ button Full Editor at the top right to open the Chart Editor.

    press Full Editor to open Chart Editor

  1. Drag a dimension from the ‘Dimensions’ folder of the Data Source panel to the ‘X’ region. For a candle chart, the dimension is usually a date field.

    What is a dimension?

    A dimension is used to break-down the dataset into multiple groups, often within a Crosstab, Chart, or Selection List. Adding a dimension to the ‘X’ region of a Chart distinguishes the different dimension groups by location on the X-axis. Adding a dimension to the ‘Y’ region distinguishes the different dimension groups by location on the Y-axis. You can add multiple dimensions into the ‘X’ or ‘Y’ regions of a Chart, or into the ‘Rows’ or ‘Columns’ regions of a Crosstab, to create multiple grouping levels. You can also distinguish groups in a dimension by using color, shape, size, or label in a Chart.

    drag dimension to X region

    To convert a measure to a dimension, right-click the measure in the data source and select ‘Convert to Dimension’.

  2. Press the ‘Edit Dimension’ button Edit Dimension next to the field name in the Chart Editor, and set the ‘Level’ to the desired date grouping. Then press the ‘Apply’ button Apply.

    press Edit Dimension, set Level

  3. Optional: You can add additional dimensions to the Chart if desired. See Trellis Chart (Grid) for information about adding multiple dimensions to a chart axis.

  4. Press the ‘Select Chart Style’ button Select Chart Style. Choose the ‘Candle’ style. Press the ‘Apply’ button Apply.

    select Candle chart style

    Note that the Chart Editor now provides binding regions for ‘High’, ‘Close’, ‘Open’, and ‘Low’.

    candle chart binding regions

  5. Drag the high, close, open, and low measures from the data source to the appropriate regions, as shown below.

    drag measures to candle regions

  6. Press the ‘Edit Measure’ button Edit Measure next to the High field, and choose ‘Max’ from the ‘Aggregate’ menu. Press the ‘Apply’ button Apply. Press the ‘Edit Measure’ button Edit Measure next to the Low field, and choose ‘Min’ from the ‘Aggregate’ menu. Press the ‘Apply’ button Apply.

    press Edit Measure, set Max aggregate

  7. Press the ‘Edit Measure’ button Edit Measure next to the Close field. Choose ‘Last’ from the ‘Aggregate’ menu and choose your ‘X’ field (e.g., ‘Date’) from the ‘By’ menu. Press the ‘Apply’ button Apply. Press the ‘Edit Measure’ button Edit Measure next to the Open field. Choose ‘First’ from the ‘Aggregate’ menu and choose your ‘X’ field (e.g., ‘Date’) from the ‘By’ menu. Press the ‘Apply’ button Apply.

    press Edit Measure, set Last aggregate

  8. Press the ‘Finish’ button Finish to close the Editor.

    finished candle chart

  9. To observe the structure of the chart more closely, use the ‘Zoom Chart’ button Zoom Chart to view a more limited date range. (See Drill Down into Data for more information.)

    zoom to view limited date range

    Note that for each week, the high and low measures are represented by the extremes of the candle “wick,” and the open and close measures are represented by the extremes of the candle “body.” Candles for which the open exceeds the close are shown filled. Candles for which the close exceeds the open are shown empty.

You can proceed to edit the titles, legend, etc. See Basic Charting Steps and Chart Properties for more information. See Add Data Format for information on how to format text on a Chart.

Explore More…​

The sample Executive Sales Summary Dashboard provides an example of a candle chart.

candle chart dashboard example

To explore this sample Dashboard, download and import the Executive Sales Summary Dashboard into your environment. (This requires access to Enterprise Manager.) See Import and Export Assets for instructions on how to import.