Charts on E-forms (Overview)

DocMgt E-forms can draw live charts directly on a form. Charts are built from a small family of related fields, all variations of the Chart field. This overview explains how the pieces fit together; each field has its own detailed topic linked at the bottom.


Charts are for INTERNAL users only. The charting fields render for authenticated internal users, not for Public/anonymous users. If a form is shared with Public users, set each chart field (and any Data Source field that feeds it) to display for internal users only.


The three fields

  • Chart — The original chart field. It draws either from a saved Search (the Search Results Chart) or from a value you supply yourself (the Custom Data Chart). Use it when the data is already in chart shape, comes straight from a search, or can be produced by a single expression.


  • Data Source Chart  — A chart that binds to a Data Source field and shapes the data for you: pick which columns are the label, value and grouping, choose how to combine rows (aggregation), and optionally bucket dates into day/week/month/quarter/year. Use it when your data is a table of rows (JSON or query results) that needs mapping, summarizing or date grouping before it can be charted.


  • Data Source — An invisible "feeder" field. It runs a server expression when the form loads and holds the resulting data so that charts (and calendars, maps and tables) can consume it. It draws nothing itself. A Data Source Chart points at a Data Source; a Custom Data Chart can also read one by name.


How they relate

The simplest chart is a stand-alone Chart (214) in Custom Data mode with its data typed or expressed inline, or in Search Results mode pointed at a saved search.

The richer pattern separates getting the data from drawing it: a Data Source (605) fetches a table of rows once, and one or more Data Source Charts (222) bind to it and shape it different ways. Because the Data Source is fetched once and shared, you can drive several charts (and other consumers) from a single query without repeating it.


Chart types

All chart fields offer the same five chart types: Bar, Stacked Bar, Line, Pie and Doughnut. Stacked Bar uses the grouping to stack series within each bar; Pie and Doughnut show one slice per label.


Shared display options

Chart (214) and Data Source Chart (222) share the same display settings (222 reuses 214's display panel): Alignment, Show Chart Legend, Chart Colors and Color Transparency. Leave Chart Colors empty to use your site's branding colors; add colors to override them (they are applied in order and reused if there are more groupings than colors). Color presets are available from the color list menu.


The data shape

Charts ultimately work from three roles per data point: a label (the x-axis category or pie slice), a value (the number), and an optional grouping (which series/legend entry it belongs to). The fields differ only in how they get to that shape:

  • Custom Data Chart expects the data already in chart shape — either delimited label^value^grouping;... or a JSON array of {label, value, grouping} objects.
  • Data Source Chart  takes arbitrary JSON rows (or chart-shaped delimited data) from a Data Source and maps/aggregates them into that shape for you.


Clicking a chart

Both chart fields can react to clicks. A Search Results Chart can let users click a data point to search that subset of records (optionally in a new tab). A Custom Data Chart or Data Source Chart can push the clicked point's label, value and grouping into another field via Click to Field, so the rest of the form can respond.