Filemaker Charts

Its the first time I tried to make charts in Filemaker. It is quite confusing at first but slowly I figured out how to make the best of the Charts (at least just the Column charts).

Firstly, you need a table to store the data. The fields should have one "heading" and one or more "content". Headings are used to display the X axis. Example of it is "Months". Contents are groups of columns in the Legends and the content are numbers that will be displayed as column heights.

Don't worry, it is pretty confusing at the onset. Lets start with the table. Assuming you want to show the sales figure of three outlets named Asite, Bsite and Csite. You want to show the sales figures by month from January to December. Your table fields should be.

Months, Asite, Bsite, Csite.

The data will then be

January, 200,300.400
February, 250, 350, 450 etc.

Create a blank Layout in Filemaker and click on Charts tool. Click on the layout and drag across the screen to get the right size of the chart.

A Popup will appear. Enter the Title like "Monthly Sales figure". Leave the "Type" as "Column".

Enter the X-axis Title as "Months"

Enter the Data as Table::Months. If you want to select the table then make sure you associate the table with the layout (default table) first before clicking Charts tool. You can still do it without the preset table preference. Just click on the "three dots" button to the left of the Data input field and choose the table and the field.

On the Y-axis, Enter "Month" on the title and click on "Add a Y-axis" button. It will expand to a selectable list on the left and a "Series Name and Data on the right. Choose the first item in the left selectable list. The right hand side Series name will change to "Series 1". Change it to "Asite" and data field select Asite field in your table.

Choose the second item in the selectable list and repeat the above step but choose Bsite instead.

Click on the small "+" button below the selectable list and a "series 3" will appear. Change it to Csite.

It will be good to show Legend. Check it. The legend will show as Asite, Bsite, Csite on top of the chart.

If you want the sales figure to be shown on top of the column then choose "Show data points on chart".

If you want to change the style of the chart, click on "Style" at the bottom corner. You can set various styles of the chart. Unfortunately, the color scheme is preset. You can't choose the color of the column individually yourself.

There is a "Data Source" below "Style". There is a option to show summarized group of records or individual record. The former is used when your table records the sales figure by the day. It has a date field that shows the daily figure. The table must still contain "Month" field which is the month of the date field. Sort the table by "Month" and you can get a summery of the sales figure by month.

If you are satisfied then just click "Done" and then "Exit layout". Anytime you want to change the setting, just click "edit Layout' then double click on the chart itself to edit the chart.

There is no picture available as this editing is done on another computer without Filemaker.