You can use the Sparkline report control as a simple means of displaying the trend of data in a small graph. The Sparkline displays the most recent value as the rightmost data point and compares it with earlier values on a scale, allowing you to view general changes in data over time. With the height similar to the surrounding text and the width not more than 14 letters wide, the sparkline fits well in dashboards, reports, and other documents.
Customize the Sparkline control with the following types.
Properties for the Sparkline are available in the Sparkline dialog. To open it, with the Sparkline control selected on the report, under the Properties Window, click the Property dialog link.
The Sparkline dialog lets you set properties on the report control with the following pages.
Value: Enter an expression to use as the sparkline value.
Name: Enter a name for the sparkline that is unique within the report. This name can be called in code. A name is created automatically if you do not enter one.
Group on: Enter an expression to use for grouping the data. If you open the expression editor, you can select a field from the dataset.
Detail Grouping: Enter an expression to use if you do not want to repeat values within the details. If you open the expression editor, you can select a field from the dataset.
Parent Group: For use in recursive hierarchies. Enter an expression to use as the parent group.
Sparkline Type: Choose Line, Columns, Whiskers, Area or StackedBar. Each of these types has its own set of Appearance properties that appears when you select the type.
Line Type Appearance Properties
Last point marker is visible: Select to display a marker at the last point on the sparkline.
Marker Color: Select a color to use for the last point marker, or select the <Expression...> option to open the Expression Editor and create an expression that evaluates to a .NET color.
Line Style
Color: Select a color to use for the line, or select the <Expression...> option to open the Expression Editor and create an expression that evaluates to a .NET color.
Width: Enter a value in points to set the width of the line.
Enable Wall Range: Select this check box to display a wall range for the sparkline. Selecting this box enables the rest of the properties in this section.
Lower Bound: Select a value or enter an expression that defines the lower bound of the wall range.
Upper Bound: Select a value or enter an expression that defines the upper bound of the wall range.
Wall Range Backdrop
Fill Color: Select a color to use for the wall range, or select the <Expression...> option to open the Expression Editor and create an expression that evaluates to a .NET color.
Gradient: Choose the type of gradient to use for the backdrop: None, LeftRight, TopBottom, Center, DiagonalLeft, DiagonalRight, HorizontalCenter or VerticalCenter.
Gradient End Color: Select a color to use for the end of the wall range gradient, or select the <Expression...> option to open the Expression Editor and create an expression that evaluates to a .NET color.
Columns Type Appearance Properties
Fill Color: Select a color to use for the fill of the sparkline, or select the <Expression...> option to open the Expression Editor and create an expression that evaluates to a .NET color.
Maximum Column Width: Select the maximum width of columns in the sparkline. If blank, all columns are sized to fit.
Enable Wall Range: Select this check box to display a wall range for the sparkline. Selecting this box enables the rest of the properties in this section.
Lower Bound: Select a value or enter an expression that defines the lower bound of the wall range.
Upper Bound: Select a value or enter an expression that defines the upper bound of the wall range.
Wall Range Backdrop
Fill Color: Select a color to use for the wall range, or select the <Expression...> option to open the Expression Editor and create an expression that evaluates to a .NET color.
Gradient: Choose the type of gradient from these choices: None, LeftRight, TopBottom, Center, DiagonalLeft, DiagonalRight, HorizontalCenter or VerticalCenter.
Gradient End Color: Select a color to use for the end of the wall range gradient, or select the <Expression...> option to open the Expression Editor and create an expression that evaluates to a .NET color.
Whiskers Type Appearance Properties
Fill Color: Select a color to use for the fill of the sparkline, or select the <Expression...> option to open the Expression Editor and create an expression that evaluates to a .NET color.
Maximum Column Width: Select the maximum width of columns in the sparkline. If blank, all columns are sized to fit.
Enable Wall Range: Select this check box to display a wall range for the sparkline. Selecting this box enables the rest of the properties in this section.
Lower Bound: Select a value or enter an expression that defines the lower bound of the wall range.
Upper Bound: Select a value or enter an expression that defines the upper bound of the wall range.
Wall Range Backdrop
Fill Color: Select a color to use for the wall range, or select the <Expression...> option to open the Expression Editor and create an expression that evaluates to a .NET color.
Gradient: Choose the type of gradient from these choices: None, LeftRight, TopBottom, Center, DiagonalLeft, DiagonalRight, HorizontalCenter or VerticalCenter.
Gradient End Color: Select a color to use for the end of the wall range gradient, or select the <Expression...> option to open the Expression Editor and create an expression that evaluates to a .NET color.
Area Type Appearance Properties
Fill Color: Select a color to use for the fill of the sparkline, or select the <Expression...> option to open the Expression Editor and create an expression that evaluates to a .NET color.
Enable Wall Range: Select this check box to display a wall range for the sparkline. Selecting this box enables the rest of the properties in this section.
Lower Bound: Select a value or enter an expression that defines the lower bound of the wall range.
Upper Bound: Select a value or enter an expression that defines the upper bound of the wall range.
Wall Range Backdrop
Fill Color: Select a color to use for the wall range, or select the <Expression...> option to open the Expression Editor and create an expression that evaluates to a .NET color.
Gradient: Choose the type of gradient from these choices: None, LeftRight, TopBottom, Center, DiagonalLeft, DiagonalRight, HorizontalCenter or VerticalCenter.
Gradient End Color: Select a color to use for the end of the wall range gradient, or select the <Expression...> option to open the Expression Editor and create an expression that evaluates to a .NET color.
StackedBar Type Appearance Properties
Fill Color: Select a color to use for the base color of the stacked bars, or select the <Expression...> option to open the Expression Editor and create an expression that evaluates to a .NET color. The other colors of the stacked bars are calculated using this based color.
The Filters page of the Sparkline dialog allows you to control the Filter grid collection for the sparkline. Use the plus sign button to add a filter, and the arrow and X buttons to move or delete filters. You need to provide three values to add a new filter to the collection: Expression, Operator, and Value.
Expression: Enter the expression to use for evaluating whether data should be included in the group.
Operator: Select from the following operators to decide how to compare the expression to the left with the value to the right.
- Equal Only choose data for which the value on the left is equal to the value on the right.
- Like Only choose data for which the value on the left is similar to the value on the right.
For more information on using the Like operator, see the MSDN Web site.
- NotEqual Only choose data for which the value on the left is not equal to the value on the right.
- GreaterThan Only choose data for which the value on the left is greater than the value on the right.
- GreaterThanOrEqual Only choose data for which the value on the left is greater than or equal to the value on the right.
- LessThan Only choose data for which the value on the left is less than the value on the right.
- LessThanOrEqual Only choose data for which the value on the left is less than or equal to the value on the right.
- TopN Only choose items from the value on the left which are the top number specified in the value on the right.
- BottomN Only choose items from the value on the left which are the bottom number specified in the value on the right.
- TopPercent Only choose items from the value on the left which are the top percent specified in the value on the right.
- BottomPercent Only choose items from the value on the left which are the bottom percent specified in the value on the right.
- In Only choose items from the value on the left which are in the array of values specified on the right.
Selecting this operator enables the Values list at the bottom.
- Between Only choose items from the value on the left which fall between the pair of values you specify on the right. Selecting this operator enables two Value boxes instead of one.
Value: Enter a value to compare with the expression on the left based on the selected operator. For multiple values used with the Between operator, the lower two value boxes are enabled.
Values: When you choose the In operator, you can enter as many values as you need in this list.
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