Change axis options

In ThoughtSpot, you can start changing all axes options by selecting the axis, directly in the chart.

To change axis, you can select the axis itself. This opens the detail axis customization menu in the chart.

You can make the following changes to the axis:

Change axis

Change the axis aggregate

To change the axis aggregation, select the Aggregate option in the axis menu, and select an alternative from the list of options.

Depending on the type of data type and other settings, the aggregation options include Total, Avg, Min, Max, Total Count, Unique Count, Std Deviation, and Variance.

Change axis aggregate

Add, Change, and Remove Filters

To manage the filters applied to the axis (in this example, Total Sales), follow these steps:

  1. Select the Filters option in the axis menu.

    Change axis filter
  2. In the window modal, select + add a condition.

  3. Select the comparison option.

    Here, the options include is greater than, is greater than or equal to, is less than, is less than or equal to, is between, is in, and is not in.

    In this example, select is greater than or equal to.

    Set filter comparison operation
  4. Set the relevant numerical limits.

    Here, enter the maximum of 1000000.

    Set filter numerical limit

    Note that if you select the is between comparison operator, you must set two limits: minimum and maximum. Similarly, is in and is not in operators require a list of values separated by ";".

  5. To add another filter condition, select +add another.

  6. To remove a filter condition, select the delete icon (x) next to its definition.

  7. Select Done.

Here, you can see differences between the original chart and the one with the filter applied: Three (3) of the departments had sales under $1,000,000, and they don’t appear on the newer chart.

Chart with filter applied

To remove a filter from the chart, select the x icon on the filter tile.

Remove filter from a chart

Apply conditional formatting

To apply conditional formatting to the axis (in this example, Total Sales), follow these steps:

  1. Select the Conditional formatting option in the axis menu.

    Add conditional formatting
  2. The Conditional formatting window modal appears.

  3. In the window modal, select + add formatting.

  4. Select the conditional range.

    The text area on the left specifies the lower limit of the condition, so the condition applies to all values that are greater or equal to it. And the text area on the right specifies the upper limit of the condition, so the condition applies to all lower values.

    • To show show values with a lower limit, enter a value in the left text box.

    • To show values with an upper limit, enter a value in the right text box.

    • To show values in a specified range, enter the appropriate values in both text boxes.

    Here, we apply conditional formatting to values between 5,500,000 and 8,000,000.
    Add conditional format range

  5. To specify a different color of the conditional format, select the new color from the color selector.

    This option draws upper and lower limit lines on the chart, and colors the chart elements that meet the conditional requirements.

    Change conditional format color

    Alternatively, you can place a range band on the chart. Select the Fill chart option.

    Add conditional format band
  6. To add another condition, select +add formatting.

  7. To remove a defined conditional format, select the delete icon (x) next to its definition.

  8. Select Done.

Here, you can see a chart that highlights elements with conditional formatting on some elements. You can also see how the same chart appears with a background chart band.

Conditional formatting applied

Change the Sort

To change the sorting of a measure on an axis, click the Sort option in the axis menu, and select an alternative from the list of options: Ascending or Descending.

Change axis sort

Here, you can compare the original chart that wasn’t sorted on the Total Sales axis with the chart that uses descending sort.

Compare unsorted chart and chart sorted in Descending order

Change the position of the axis

It is generally easier to interpret a chart if axes that use the same units of measurement or scale appear on the same side of the chart. In our example, we can best visualize Item Cost and Item Price on the same side of chart.

To change the position of an axis, select the Position option in the axis menu, and then select an alternative from the list of options: Left or Right.

Here, we move the Item Price axis from the right side of the chart to the left side.

Change axis position

You can compare the original chart with the one where the Total Sales axis is on the right, while Item Cost and Item Price both appear on the left.

Compare charts with different position assignments

Change the Grouping

When two axes use the same unit of measurement and a similar scale, we can group them together.

To change the grouping on an axis, click the Group option in the axis menu, and select an alternative from the list of options, which are the measures on the other axes.

Here, we change the Item Price axis by grouping it with Item Cost.

Group two axes

Compare the original chart with one that groups Item Price and Item Cost as Item Price & Item Cost. The chart looks cleaner, and clearly communicates the distinct information for each of the two measures.

Compare ungrouped chart and chart that groups similar measures

Notice that the Edit chart: Customize menu shows a linkage between the two grouped axes.

Grouped axes

Rename the axis

You can always rename an axis for clarity, brevity, format, and so on.

In our example, it makes sense to rename the axis created from grouping as Item Price & Item Cost to something shorter, like Item Price and Cost.

To rename an axis, select the Rename option in the axis menu, type the new name, and either click out or select Enter/Return on your keyboard.

Rename axis

Edit the axis

When you choose to edit the axis, you get the comprehensive view of everything that can be changed on the axis: you can Configure the axis name, position (left or right), and the minimum and maximum values, and you can Format the category of the column, its units, and the representation of negative values.

Edit the axis

To edit this axis (in this example, Item Price), follow these steps:

  1. Select the Item Price axis.

  2. In the dropdown, select Edit.

  3. The Edit Axis menu appears.

  4. In the Edit Axis menu, make the changes to the axis configuration and number format:

    Configure
    Name

    Change the name of the axis. Also see Rename the axis.

    Position

    Change the position of the axis relative to the chart. The options are Right and Left. Also see Change the position of the axis.

    Min

    Change the minimum value on the axis. For example, most charts default to 0-based axis representation for numerical values; this setting overrides it.

    Max

    Change the maximum value on the axis. Similar to Min limit.

    Format
    Category

    This specifies the number formatting for the axis. Options include Number, Percentage, and Currency.

    Unit

    Unit choice specifies the representation of numbers on the axis. Options include Auto (ThoughtSpot uses abbreviations for really large numbers only), None, Thousand (K), Million (M), Billion (B), and Trillion (T). Note that answer columns inherit the units from the underlying column in the Worksheet, and answer formulas inherit the units of the first column used in the formula.

    Negative values

    Specify the representation of negative numbers in one of these formats: -1234, 1234-, or (1234).

Remove the axis

Removing the axis removes the data from the display, but not from the answer entirely. Instead, the column that the axis represents appears in the Not visualized section of the Edit chart: Customize menu.

Remove the axis

To remove an axis (in this example, Item Price), follow these steps:

  1. Select the Item Price axis.

  2. In the dropdown menu, select x Remove.

  3. The Edit chart: Customize menu appears.

    Notice that the Item Price axis and the corresponding data no longer appear on the visual. However, the Item Price column appears in the Not visualized section of the Edit chart: Customize menu.