Reference Lines and Reference Range

The xViz Gantt Chart provides you with the option to display Reference Lines (based on dates) and Reference Ranges on the chart thereby giving an indication of where you are in the project and to assess the level of completeness.

In this document:

• Introduction to Reference Lines and Reference Ranges

• Setting up using configurations

• Setting up using data-fields

Introduction

Reference Line - A date line spanning across all the tasks. Configuration of one date will add the reference line on the Chart.

Reference Band - Range of continuous dates highlighted in the tasks. Configuring two dates ranges will be highlighted as a band in the chart.

Setting up using configurations:

1. Go to the Advanced Editor -> References tab

a. For Reference lines

The xViz Gantt provides users the option to set multiple reference lines based on different logic:

2. Date configuration

We need to configure one single date to add the Reference Line on the Chart:

• First-of-date – Displays Reference Line on the earliest start date from the data where the Timeline starts.

• Last-of-date- Displays Reference Line on the latest start date from the data, where the Timeline ends.

  
• Today- Displays Reference Line on the present day dynamically.

  
• Custom Date- Displays Reference Line for the static date provided in the configuration.

3. Formatting options for Reference Lines:

• Reference Color - Choose from color palette and set the color as per needs.

• Display Line Type and Stroke - Apply Line type formatting from the options below:

1. Dotted

2. Dashed

3. Solid

4. Dashed-Dotted

Adjust the Width of the Line type using Stroke Option.

• Text- Font Weight, Position and Background-Format the text using Font size, Position, and background color options.

b. Reference Band

Use the reference range, Custom Date Range option to highlight a specific range on your Timeline.

2. Date configuration

We need to configure Custom Date from and Date to dates to highlight the specific Range in the Chart.

For the date range as well, the from and to dates can be set using the different date options shown in Reference Line section.

3. Formatting options for Reference Band:

• Band Pattern and Color: Choose from various Patterns provided as per needs and set the color using color palette.

• Text- Font Weight, Position and Background-Format the text using Font size, Position, and background color options.

Data driven reference line and range using the data fields of References:

We can also display the Reference line and Reference Range using the Data Fields of Reference Start Date and Reference End Date.

In the above example, ‘Planned Start’ measure is added in Reference Start Date and ‘Planned End’ measure is added in Reference End Date. ‘Task’ measure is added to Reference Text which will display the text on the Reference Line.

From the above example, the Reference Line is displayed using dotted lines, the Range pattern is displayed using checkerboard and the text is displayed on the lines.

Steps to configure:

Go to the Format Pane->References.

Format the lines and the range using the options as shown below:

Line type has four options:

• Dotted

• Solid

• Dashed

• Dashed-dotted.

The width of the Line can be set using Line Stroke option and the color can be set using Line Color option.

There are fourteen options to set the Range Pattern:

Text can be formatted using the weight, color and text type options.

Try the xViz Gantt Chart (Microsoft certified) for Power BI from Microsoft AppSource here.