Friday, December 7, 2018

Adding 3D Charts to Oracle Analytics

There was a time, not too long ago, when pretty much all business graphics consisted of poorly labelled, hideously colored line charts and bar graphs.There was a dearth of different types of visualization which can help to read and analyze the data in a better way. Then people discovered the ability to create "3D" charts and now the once unattractive but essentially harmless business charts turned into a visually pleasing graphic which wows your audience in a good way. Though there are critics on the usage of the 3D charts, it is still one of the most popular visualizations in modern reporting.


Oracle Analytics helps you consume 3D charts, for example a 3D bar chart in the form of a custom visualization plugin with the ability to zoom in/ out and to rotate. Unlike a static 3D chart, this plugin helps you understand the context of 3 dimensions at much greater detail with ease.

It requires 3 inputs:
- 2 of which are attributes that define the position in the 3D charts
- 1 of which is a measure that determines the height of the corresponding bar charts




3D charts seems to make data more exciting thus making people pay more attention to it and there is popular maxim that goes like this - "by adding 'depth' to a graphic adds depth to the data analysis". However 3D charts can be misleading and can work against you if not looked at correctly.

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