Sankey
A Sankey chart is great to use when visualizing the flow between sets of values. Use the Sankey chart when you want to show how values map between two categories.
To create a Sankey chart, you must have data segmented into categories.
Input
The Sankey chart requires string and number columns to use in the chart.
To build a Sankey chart in Varicent ELT, we require the following pieces of information:
From - First column of the Sankey chart
To - Final column of the Sankey chart
Value - Numerical
Configuration
Use the following configuration options to configure the Sankey chart.
Note
These steps give configuration options through the Pipe module. If you have already created charts, you can access them through your Dashboards.
Go to the Pipes module from the side navigation bar.
From the Pipes tab, click an existing pipe to open, or create a new pipe. To create a new pipe, read the Creating a pipe documentation.
In the Pipe builder, add at least one data source to your pipe. For more information on adding a data source, see the Data Input tool.
Add tools to build out your pipe. For more information about adding tools to your pipe, see the Using the Pipe builder canvas documentation.
Create a chart from your pipe by clicking Charts on the canvas toolbar.
Click Create Chart.
The chart page opens.
From the configuration pane, go to the Setup tab, and select the tool that you want to create a chart for.
Note
Whatever tool you select in your pipe when you add the chart is selected by default.
Under Chart type, start typing Sankey to filter the list, then click the Sankey graphic to select it.
Under From, select the text column to use as the first column to start the chart from.
Caution
The From and To fields cannot contain the same values if they would flow into each other. Put another way, if a value would flow from one category into the same category, this will cause an error.
Under To, select the text column to use as the last column to end the chart with.
Caution
The From and To fields cannot contain the same values if they would flow into each other. Put another way, if a value would flow from one category into the same category, this will cause an error.
Under Value, select a numeric column to use for the values.
Expand the Advanced field, click Show to select either Preview or Last built:
Preview displays the first 100 rows of your data from your last build.
Last build displays the first 1000 rows of your entire dataset from your last build.
Click the Customize tab to add custom styling to your chart.
Table 130. Customize tab configurationsField
Description
Chart and axis titles
Select the following to add titles to your charts:
Include chart title
Include chart subtitle
Colour
Expand the Colour field, click on the column colour, and select a new colour.
Click Return to pipe to go back to your pipe. To view your chart or create a dashboard for your charts, read the Dashboards documentation.
Usage example
You could use a Sankey chart to show how budget categories flow into different departments. This is a simple example with only a few categories, but you can use Sankey diagrams to show complex value flows. Our example data set looks like this:
Department | Budget (in thousands) | Category |
|---|---|---|
Sales | 80 | Personnel |
Sales | 40 | IT |
Sales | 20 | Misc. |
Development | 120 | Personnel |
Development | 67 | IT |
Development | 30 | Misc. |
Support | 75 | Personnel |
Support | 45 | IT |
Support | 12 | Misc. |
HR | 72 | Personnel |
HR | 20 | IT |
HR | 10 | Misc. |
When we create a Sankey chart using this data, we can show how each department's budget flows into the different categories. We can easily see which departments are spending the most in each category and how much of our total budget each category represents.
Creating a Sankey diagram with more than 2 columns
Tip
When creating a Sankey diagram with more than 2 columns, it is helpful to do some planning in advance, and consider how to organize your data set.
For example, below is a sample data set. Investigate and think about how A flows to B, and then B to C. Map and write that down before listing the ribbons below A.
From | To | Value |
|---|---|---|
A1 | B1 | 4 |
A1 | B2 | 2 |
A2 | B1 | 1 |
A2 | B2 | 3 |
A3 | B1 | 2 |
A3 | B2 | 1 |
B1 | C1 | 2 |
B1 | C2 | 2 |
B1 | C3 | 3 |
B2 | C1 | 2 |
B2 | C2 | 4 |