Cloudera Docs

Areas

An Area visual shows how values change over time. Use it to show how several series contribute to a total, or to compare the values and trends of individual series over time. For example, you can compare population trends across countries or see how those countries contribute to a combined total.

When you add a field to the Colors shelf, the visual creates a separate area for each value of that field. You can choose how those areas are displayed:
  • Stacked (default): The areas sit on top of one another. The Y-axis shows their cumulative total, making it easier to see how each series contributes to the whole.
  • Unstacked: Each area starts from the same zero baseline and can overlap with other areas. The Y-axis and tooltips can show each series’ individual value, rather than a cumulative total.

The following steps show how to create an Areas visual. This example uses the World Life Expectancy from the samples connection. For an overview of shelves that specify this visual, see Shelves for areas.

  1. Create a new visual.
    For instructions, see Creating a visual.
  2. In the VISUALS menu, select Areas.

    The shelves of the visual changed. The mandatory shelves are X Axis and Y Axis. To swap the fields on these shelves, click

  3. Populate the shelves from the Dimensions and Measures fields available in the DATA menu.
    1. Drag year from Dimensions to the X Axis.
    2. Drag population from Measures to the Y Axis.
  4. Set the aggregation of population to Average:
    1. Click population on the Y Axis to open FIELD PROPERTIES.
    2. Select Aggregates > Average.
    3. Close FIELD PROPERTIES and click REFRESH VISUAL.

      The Areas visual appears.

  5. Add clearer field labels.
    1. Click year to open FIELD PROPERTIES.
    2. Under Alias, enter Year.
    3. Repeat for population on the Y Axis, entering Population.
    4. Close FIELD PROPERTIES and click REFRESH VISUAL.
    The shelves now show the fields with their alias names.
  6. Drag country from Dimensions to the Colors shelf to create a separate area for each country.
  7. To show only selected countries, drag country from Dimensions to the Filters shelf and set the filter settings to include only Kenya, Sweden, and Thailand.
  8. Optional: Under Visual Settings > Marks > Area display mode, select Display areas unstacked to display series as overlapping areas on a shared zero baseline. Leave it unselected to stack the areas and show their cumulative total.
  9. Click REFRESH VISUAL to display the updated chart.
  10. Enter a title for the visual.

    You can also add a subtitle.

  11. In the upper-left corner of the Dashboard Designer, click SAVE.