Google bar chart code sample

A bar chart that is rendered as an image that uses the Google Charts API.

About this task

For more information about the Google bar chart custom visualization code sample on IBM Accelerator Catalog, see https://community.ibm.com/accelerators/catalog/content/Google-bar-chart .

Note: Google bar chart is not supported in a report when you use Microsoft Internet Explorer 11.
Note: This code sample is intended for an advanced custom visualization developer. It provides an opportunity for developers to extend their visualizations. If you are not a visualization developer, IBM® Cognos® Analytics comes with a full set of powerful visualizations that are ready to use.
Note: We have enabled a number of properties. You can enable more properties if the chart engine supports that.

Google bar charts are supported as of IBM Cognos Analytics 11.1.7

This custom visualization code sample provides a way to show how to use Google charts as custom visualization inIBM Cognos Analytics. This code sample explains how to integrate a Google bar chart but similar code can be used to integrate other Google Charts.

Bar visualizations use horizontal data markers that are arranged in groups to compare individual values. You can use bar visualizations to compare discrete data or to show trends over time.

There are code samples available for developers of custom visualizations. The code samples illustrate certain aspects of the customvis library and tools. The main focus of each sample is not the completeness of the visualization, but rather to demonstrate how specific features work.

To view the source code and packed bundle (.zip file) for the Google bar chart sample, go to this public GitHub repository. To download the files, browse to the root of this directory and click Clone or download.

For more information, see Custom visualizations code samples.

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

There are three ways to use this sample custom visualization.
  • You can upload the packed bundle (.zip file).

    For more information, see Packaging the custom visualization.

  • You can package a sample with customvis pack and upload the bundle (zip file) to IBM Cognos Analytics

    For more information, see Packaging the custom visualization.

  • You can run any sample locally by running customvis start inside the folder that contains the sample. After that, you can use the Preview Vis in IBM Cognos Analytics Dashboard or Reporting to insert the custom visualization in your dashboard or report.

    For more information, see Using a D3 sample in your custom visualization.

The following steps demonstrate how to use the Google bar chart 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 Custom tab.
    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 pane, select the Google Bar visualization.
  4. Use the Customer Analysis sample data source from Team content > Samples > By industry > Insurance > Data.
  5. Create the Google Bar visualization by dragging the following data items from the Customer Analysis sample data source in the Sources pane Data icon:
    • From the Customer Analysis table, drag Marital Status onto the Categories field.
    • From the Customer Analysis table, drag Customer Lifetime Value onto the Value field.

    This sample Google bar chart displays data from a fictional insurance company. It shows the customer lifetime value by marital status.

    Google bar chart