How to work around impossible to resize chart components?

[#1]

I have some charts (pies) where its completely impossible to resize the chart components with CTRL-SHIFT. 

Generally what I am trying to do is deal with a legend that has longer text in the legend entries.  I want the pie on top and the legend on bottom.  I also have the pies in grid containers which may be contributing as it makes for tight real estate.

With CTRL-SHIFT, the red boxes show.  But slightly changing any component such as the legend or pie size instantly results in one or more of the following:

(1) slightly drag/shrink the legend but for some reason the pie disappears

(2) slightly drag/shrink the legend but for some reason the pie becomes gigantic overlapping the legend and its red box permanently disappears

(3) attempt to make some space for the legend and shrink the pie box vertically and it gets gigantic (despite shrinking the box!) and its red box disappears

(4) grab/drag the legend red box down first to try to get it out of the way, but then the pie becomes gigantic again and its red box disappears

etc...

I now know how to get them back to default with the Reset User Sizing and Reset User Docking buttons, the problem is I just can't work with some charts at all because of the problem. 

I think part of it is that changing one component causes the others to automatically resize.  Is there a way to turn that off?  Or even just manually set coordinates with the components?  Outside the box solutions are fine.

[Oleg_Troyansky]

Hi Lee,

unfortunately, there is no way to control the "red frames" more tightly (unless there is a Macro API that I'm not aware of).

As a work around for pie chart, I'd suggest replacing the legend with a Straight Table, colored in the same way, and positioned at the desired location.

cheers,

Oleg Troyansky

Upgrade your Qlik skills at the Masters Summit for Qlik - coming soon to Milan, Italy and Austin, TX!

[Anonymous]

You say "Outside the box solutions are fine".... so :

• Are Pie Charts the best way to visualize your data ?
• How many Pie Charts do you have ?
• What is the maximum number of dimension values in a single Pie Chart ?
• Could you share a screen grab of your dashboard ?

Maybe a combination of Bar Charts and Straight Tables could result in a better visualization that is also easier to manage at the development stage.

The book Information Dashboard Design by Stephen Few is well worth buying and reading. 

• This pdf has some bits he took out of his book, https://www.perceptualedge.com/articles/Whitepapers/Common_Pitfalls.pdf
• He is not a fan of Pie Charts, https://www.perceptualedge.com/articles/visual_business_intelligence/save_the_pies_for_dessert.pdf

[#4]

Pies are a requirement.  I know about the better visualizations but I'll lose the gig if I come in the door with other charts. I've already mentioned to the client some of the other visualizations and that pies are actually one of the worst charts that Qlikview offers.

[#5]

That is a very good suggestion.  Unfortunately I have a dozen dashboard and dozens of charts I would have to change at this point to accommodate that model.

However, there is more to this picture.  The quirky thing is, I have another chart almost identical to the problem one, right next to it in the grid (only diff is a set criteria diff and title).  And that chart does what I want. 

So I:

1. deleted the problem chart

2. cloned the near identical but resizable chart that doesn't destroy itself when you play with the red boxes (or has a workable threshold before destroying itself)

3. changed the clone to the set criteria and title of the one I deleted

Voila, I now have the desired chart with resizable components.  So we're missing something.  Why would one chart work and a near identical chart not work?  There must be a setting or something.

[Oleg_Troyansky]

It sounds more like a glitch. Sometimes, certain unexpected combinations of conditions cause QlikView Chart engine to behave in unexpected ways. For example, I've seen examples when disabled Expressions or missing Dimension fields caused unexpected behaviors.

Sometimes certain charts may get "stuck" and no matter what you do to them, they stop reacting to any changes. In these cases, rebuilding the chart from scratch would help.

cheers,

Oleg Troyansky

[#7]

Oleg, you are correct, I have seen the "stuck" behavior.  Sometimes I can't even delete the chart and when that happens I can no longer save the doc.  The save gives no error but the little '*' next to the filename never goes away and when you try to close, it keeps asking if you want to save first.  IMO I think the grid containers, especially when nesting them, are buggy and invite some of this behavior.

I like your suggestion, I think that may be my approach going forward.  Just ditch legends and use tables to do the same thing.

[Oleg_Troyansky]

I noticed some buggy behavior with the nested containers, too. I left them alone and never re-tested since then.

With just a bit of extra work, using buttons (text objects) in combination with show/hide conditions offers a lot more consistent and versatile navigation. I described this process in detail in my new book QlikView Your Business. Check it out, if you want to learn this and many other advanced QlikView techniques.

cheers,

Oleg Troyansky