In this module you will learn how to use the Histogram, a Power BI Custom Visual.  A Histogram is a column chart which shows the distribution of occurrences divided into categories, called bins.  This type of chart is useful for estimating density and discovering outliers.

Module 06 – Histogram

Downloads

• Power BI Custom Visual – Histogram
• Dataset – Employee List.xlsx
• Completed Example – Module 06 – Histogram.pbix

Key Takeaways

• The Histogram automatically performs a discretization process to create bins for continuous values.
• You do have the option to manually overwrite the number of bins that are automatically generated for you.
• This chart type does support cross filtering with other visuals you may use on the report.

The number of bins can be adjusted. In this case, increasing the bin size exposed a set of outliers in the data found in the last bin.

• Under the Format paintbrush the options that are particularly interesting for the Histogram can be found under the Data labels, Data colors and General setting menus.
• There’s not much in the Data labels properties but you can adjust the number of decimal places used on the labs.
  • Typing a value of 2 here will display 2 decimal points on your data labels. 0 or blank would show no decimal places.

• Under the Data colors properties you have a pretty self-explanatory  option to change the color of the Histogram bars to your preferred color.

• In the General properties section you have typical option to control the size and location of the visual but there are also settings here to control Histogram specific features.
  • By turning off Frequency (On is the default) it will change the chart to show a scale based on density instead of frequency.
  • The Bins option allows you to overwrite the default discretized bins that are created tell the Histogram a specific number of bins you would like.  Changing this value can sometimes increase the chance of noticing an outlier in the data.

• In addition to these properties you have a set of settings that appears on every visual to adjust the background color, add a border around the visual and lock the aspect ratio.

Find Out More

You will always be able to find this video module and advanced viewing of future modules on the Pragmatic Works On Demand Training platform.  Click here to learn more about this training platform that includes 20+ courses.