The idea of a sparkline was introduced by Edward Tufte as a succinct means of displaying the trend of data over time in a “small” graph inserted into text. Such small-sized graphics present the most recent measurement as the rightmost data point and compare it with earlier measurements placed in front of the most recent data point on a scale. As a result, a sparkline contributes to a more unbiased data analysis as it clearly demonstrates general changes in time along with local details. Consuming not more than 14 letterspaces of the horizontal length and being as high as the surrounding text, sparklines can be easily included in dashboards, reports, and other documents.

Data Dynamics Reports provides a user with several sparkline types:

1. Line

   Line sparkline is widely used in financial and economic data analysis and is based on a continuous flow of data. The currency exchange rates, changes in price are the examples of application of this type of sparklines.

2. Area

   The Area sparkline is similar to the Line sparkline but visually you see the space under the line as shaded.

3. Stacked Bar

   The Stacked bar sparkline is presented as a horizontal bar with different segment lengths marked by distinct color hues. The Stacked bar illustrates how the various segments of a part-to-whole relationship correspond to one another; the largest segment represents the highest value and the change in brightness indicates a new value on a scale.

4. Column

   The Column sparkline is used for sports scores, cash register receipts, and other cases where previous values and the current value do not closely influence one another. In this case you are dealing with discrete data points, and not a continuous flow of data as in the Line sparkline.

5. Whisker 

The Whisker sparkline is typically used in win/loss/tie or true/false scenarios. This type is similar to the Column sparkline, but it renders a tie (0 value) in a different manner.

To learn how to do this in Data Dynamics Reporter, refer to Creating a Sparkline of this User Guide or go the Data Dynamics web site.