Cognos charts both clustered and Stacked

[Samrat]

Dear friends,

In report studio,in Bar chart I have to display both clustered and stacked values.
For example I have three measure values 'Target value', 'Achieved value' and 'Pending value' these values I have to display as stacked
and I have data for 'Previous year' and 'Current Year' which I need to diplay as Clustered values in same Bar chart.

Please share your thoughts..

Thanks,
Sam..

[navissar]

Good new are, it's possible. bad news, it isn't very feasible.
You can highlight your chart, on the properties pane select the "Combinations" options. On the primary axes add a stacked bar. Now all you need to do is to add your stacked items in the stacked series, and your clustered items in the clustered series.
So, why no feasible? Because you will soon find that Cognos is being a bit of a twonk about the whole thing, and puts the stacked and the clustered column one on top of the other. There are some ways to deal with this: use a 3-D chart (this is one of three cases in total you will ever hear me recommend a 3D chart) , give the series different coloring and bar width, and you might be fine.
I'd try to avoid the whole thing altogether: for instance, use lines for the clusters and bars for the stacked values. 

[Samrat]

Hi Nimrod,

Thanks for your kind reply.. I tried below approach suggested by you and I couldn't find 'Combinations' option under chart properties pane.. I am using Cognos 10.1.1 version.. Do I need to change any settings to view this option.. please let me know.

Cheers
Sam..

[navissar]

First, makes sure you're not using legacy charts. In RS open the tools menu, select Options, on the "advanced" tab make sure "Use legacy chart authoring" is unchecked.

Now, you add a clustered 3D column chart:


Next, Fill it up with your clustered data:

Now, highlight the chart, and find the Combinations setting:

Next, open up the settings and add a clustered bar node:

So, now you have something like this:

I recommend the stacked columns should be on the background, so change their position using the green arrow, so they're like this:

Now, if values a roughly close, they'll hide one another (As I said, Cognos is being rather stupid putting them all together). So, we highlight the clustered series and change bar width:

Also, it is recommended not to use the same palette for both, as colours will be repeated in the stacked and clustered series:

And the final result: hideous, but what the customer wanted:

Next, give the whole thing up and use clustered lines over stacked columns :)

[adik]

Hi Nimrod,
the imager as missing. is the related to this forum or where you uploaded the pics?

[MFGF]

Hi Nimrod,
the imager as missing. is the related to this forum or where you uploaded the pics?

They appear fine for me. Looks like Nimrod uploaded the images to photobucket - it's probably your firewall blocking access to this site.

MF.

[Samrat]

Hi Nimrod,

I really appreciate and thank you for your kind reply!!

Its clear when I changed my settings as you suggested...

As you mentioned, when we put all together its really messy.... trying different options.

One more approach I am thinking of is merging previous year and current year data and taking 'stacked bar'.

I am able to see data for previous year and current year on Y axis.. I needed these two bars(for Current year and previous year) grouped which is not happening... still putting some effort..

your reply is really helpful for me.

Cheers
Sam..

[Sunchaser]

Hi  Nimrod,

Very nice, congratulations.
Works fine for me too.

Well, is it me and my bad mood or this last Cognos version is less flexible than the previous ones ? ... Sometimes I'm getting a little bit disappointed.
IBM Cognos ...  the more it goes IBM, the less it is Cognos.
The more it goes, the less I appreciate the evolutions. But it is only personal thoughts, nothing valuable in our technical world.