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Chart Component

The Chart component covers the most commonly used visual patterns in project reporting: bars, lines, pies, areas, and their stacked and grouped variants. A single Chart component supports all twelve standard variants through the chart type selector in the Properties panel, making it straightforward to change the visual without rebuilding the data binding.

Report Forge chart component example

Chart variants

VariantBest for
Bar (vertical)Comparing categories side by side. Default chart type.
Bar (horizontal)Long category labels or ranked comparisons.
Stacked barShowing category totals broken down by a series dimension.
Grouped barComparing two or more series within each category.
100% stacked barShowing proportion of each series within a category, ignoring total size.
LineTrends over time. Highlights rate of change.
AreaTrends over time where the filled area emphasises volume.
Stacked areaVolume trends for multiple series stacked to show a combined total.
PieSimple part-to-whole proportions (use with ≤6 categories).
DonutSame as pie with a centre area for a headline metric.
ScatterCorrelations and outliers between two numeric fields.
HistogramDistribution of a numeric field in configurable buckets.

Required setup

PropertyDescription
Category / date fieldField used for the X axis (bar, line, area) or slice labels (pie, donut).
Value fieldThe numeric measure to plot. Multiple value fields create multiple series.
AggregationHow multiple rows with the same category become one plotted point: Sum, Average, Count, Min, Max, or Custom expression.
Series (legend) fieldOptional field to split the value into multiple series per category.

Dual-axis setup

To plot two measures on different scales (e.g., count on the left axis and percentage on the right):

  1. Add both value fields to the series list.
  2. For the secondary series, set Axis to Right in the series settings.
  3. Configure each axis independently (range, label format, gridlines).

Dual-axis is available on Bar, Grouped Bar, Line, and Area variants.


Trend lines and reference lines

Trend lines

Overlay a best-fit line on a scatter or line chart to indicate the trend direction:

Trend typeDescription
LinearStraight-line least-squares regression.
Moving averageRolling average over N preceding periods (configurable window).

Reference lines

Add horizontal or vertical reference lines to mark a target, threshold, or baseline:

PropertyDescription
AxisWhich axis the reference line is drawn on (X or Y).
ValueFixed numeric value or a field reference for a dynamic value.
LabelText shown at the line (e.g., "Target", "Budget").
StyleSolid, dashed, or dotted.
ColorCustom hex color.

Data labels

Enable data labels to show plotted values on the chart itself. Configurable positions:

PositionAvailable on
AboveBar, grouped bar
Inside topBar, stacked bar
Inside centerBar, stacked bar
Inside baseBar, stacked bar
Outside endBar, horizontal bar
On pointLine, area
Above pointScatter
Inside slicePie, donut
Outside slicePie, donut

For stacked charts, data labels can be shown per segment, on the total, or both.

Format: Data labels follow the same number format as the axis (configurable as percentage, number, currency, or custom format string).


Pie and donut: Auto "Other" grouping

When a pie or donut has more than the configured maximum number of slices (default 8), all remaining categories are automatically merged into an "Other" slice. Configure the threshold and the "Other" label text in the series settings.


Null / missing value handling

When a data point has no value for a period or category:

ModeBehaviour
ZeroTreats null as zero. Maintains chart continuity.
GapLeaves a visual gap at the null position. Suitable for line charts where missing data should not be interpolated.
ConnectConnects the surrounding data points with a straight line, omitting the null. Suitable for sparse data.

Axis options

Axis optionDescription
TitleText label for the axis.
Min / MaxForce a fixed axis range. Leave blank for auto-scale.
Step / intervalForce a fixed tick interval.
Label densityReduce crowding by showing every Nth label.
Label angleRotate labels (0°, 45°, 90°) for long category names.
GridlinesShow/hide major and minor gridlines with configurable color and style.
Log scaleUse logarithmic scale for wide value ranges.

Custom tooltips

Customise which fields appear in the hover tooltip:

  1. In Properties → Tooltip, add or remove fields from the tooltip field list.
  2. Each field is shown with its label and formatted value.
  3. Fields not in the chart binding can still be added to the tooltip (e.g., show "Activity ID" on a bar chart grouped by discipline).