Line Graph Multiple Series

[DavidMieksztyn]

I am attempting to create a line chart from a dataset where I would have multiple series (lines) in the chart. I can do this in excel by customizing the data ranges and designating exactly what I want the x and y axis to be, and what the series should draw from. See the chart below that I produce in excel:

In this example I am able to create a number of series (categories) and display the year and the total number of jobs on the different axes. 

However, in Insights, I seem to be constrained to only show one series at a time with a drop down menu on the left hand side to choose to look at a different series one at a time. How can I display multiple series all at once in Insights?

[Scott_Aulen]

David,

I think this is likely due to the structure (ie, Wide vs Tall) of your data.  Can you send a screenshot of how your table is arranged?

Scott

[DavidMieksztyn]

Hi Scott, 

Here is a screen shot of the spreadsheet, just a section of it (there are more columns, ie, the series I am looking to have all on the chart all at the same time):

[Scott_Aulen · Accepted solution]

David,

Perfect thanks. The industry category data you currently have is organized in wide format.  That is to say you have industry category variables (Transportation/Management/Educational/etc.) in separate columns.  To create the multi-series line chart you need to convert these categories to tall format.  This is often referred to as pivoting the data and you have multiple options to achieve this.

Depending on the number of categories, you can do this somewhat easily in Excel or you can use the scripting console within Insights and use either Python or R.  I've attached a document that details this process (excuse any formatting issues, I'm in the process of converting this to a blog post but wanted to go ahead and send to you).

You want your final table to look something like this.  This would allow you to chart Number Variable (y axis) by Year (x axis) and symbolize by Industry Category.

Industry Category	Year	Number Variable
Unclassified Industry	2019	45
Unclassified Industry	2020	50
Unclassified Industry	2021	54
Transportation and Warehousing	2019	24
Transportation and Warehousing	2020	30
Transportation and Warehousing	2021	65
Educational Services	2019	40
Educational Services	2020	38
Educational Services	2021	42

Let me know if this helps.

Scott

[DavidMieksztyn]

Thank you Scott for showing Wide v Tall tables! That worked right away for Insights! 

[Scott_Aulen]

Great, glad it was helpful.