Gantt visualization

The sample Gantt custom visualization is a type of bar chart that illustrates a project schedule.

About this task

For more information about the Gantt custom visualization sample on IBM Accelerator Catalog, see Gantt.

To view the source code and packed bundle (.zip file) for the Gantt sample custom visualization, go to this public GitHub repository. To download the files, navigate to the root of this directory and click Clone or download.

Gantt visualizations show the dependency relationships between activities and current schedule status. They list the tasks to be done on the vertical axis, and time intervals on the horizontal axis. The width of the horizontal bars in the graph shows the duration of each activity. Gantt visualizations illustrate the start and finish dates of the elements and summary elements of a project.

Gantt visualizations are supported as of IBM® Cognos® Analytics with Watson 11.1.6

Note: This example was created for advanced custom visualization developers. It is a code sample with specific requirements and does not include all the features, interactivity, and properties of an out-of-the-box Cognos visualization. It is intended to provide a baseline for developers to extend their visualizations. If you are not an advanced visualization developer, Cognos Analytics already delivers a full set of fully-featured and powerful visualizations that are ready to use.

For more information about custom visualizations, see Developing custom visualizations. For an excellent tutorial to get you started, see Custom visualizations - tutorial.

There are two ways to use the custom visualization:
  • You can download the packed bundle (.zip file) and upload it directly into IBM Cognos Analytics with Watson.
  • You can download the source code to create your own version of it to pack and upload into Cognos Analytics.

The following steps demonstrate how to use the stock heat map visualization and populate it with data.

Procedure

  1. Create a dashboard and click the Visualization Change visualization icon icon in the toolbar.
  2. Click the tab Custom.
    If there are no custom visuals available, then you can add a custom visual by clicking the Add a custom visual Add a custom visual icon on the Custom tab.
  3. From the Custom visuals, select the waterfall visualization.
  4. Upload Gantt_sample_data.xlsx (https://public.dhe.ibm.com/software/data/sw-library/cognos/mobile/C11/custom_visualizations/data/Gantt_sample_data.xlsx) use it as the tab data source.
  5. Create the pane Gantt visualization by dragging the following data items from Gantt_sample_data.xlsx in the Sources pane Data icon:
    • Drag Issue key onto the field Tasks.
    • Drag Created onto the field Start date.
    • Drag Target End onto the field End date.
    • Drag Progress onto the field Color.
    • Drag Summary onto the field Label.
    • Drag Fix Version and Progress onto the Additional columns field.
    If you have multiple items on the same row, the items are displayed next to each other.

    This sample Gantt visualization displays data from a fictional software development project. It shows a series of tasks that are scheduled over time with start/end dates, progress, and overlap.

    Gantt custom visualization

What to do next

An explanation of the specific properties within this visualization that can be adjusted:

Property Purpose
x-axis placement Position of the x-axis top or bottom.