JavaScript/jQuery Sparkline - Visual Elements

This guide provides a detailed overview of Sparkline elements. Each topic in this guide contains a brief description of an element and its main configurable features.

Below is the element map of the Sparkline UI component. It may be helpful as you begin learning about the capabilities of this UI component. Hover over an element on the map to discover the name of this element. A click on an element navigates you to a topic devoted to this element.

A series is a group of related data points. The most important characteristic of a series is its type, which determines a specific visual presentation of data. In this topic, you will learn how to set a series type and configure series settings.

To set the series type that best suits your needs, specify the type property of the main configuration object. By default, the line series type is set.

var sparklineOptions = {
    type: 'line',
    // ...
};

Since sparklines are simple in nature, sparkline series offer few configuration properties. The majority of series types, except bar and win-loss, have the lineColor and lineWidth properties to customize series' appearance. In turn, bar series have the barPositiveColor and barNegativeColor properties, and win-loss series have winColor and lossColor properties for the same purpose.

To learn more about series types featured in the Sparkline UI component, refer to the Sparkline Series Types guide.

A series point is a visual representation of a data point. In the majority of series types, series points are invisible and used only internally to build a sparkline on them. However, in the bar and win-loss series types, series points represented by bars are, in fact, visible. This is so, because these bars are not only series points, but also a series itself. For more information about bar and win-loss series, refer to the Bar and Win-Loss topics.

Although regular series points cannot be indicated on a sparkline, certain series points can. These are points that represent extreme values, such as maximum and minimum, first and last.

To make the maximum and minimum series points indicated on a sparkline, set the showMinMax property to true.

var sparklineOptions = {
    showMinMax: true,
    // ...
};

Additionally, you can change the color of these points using the minColor and maxColor properties. These properties specify the color of a bar in bar and win-loss series, or the color of a series point border in other series.

The first and last points are indicated on a sparkline by default. However, if you need to change their visibility, use the showFirstLast property.

var sparklineOptions = {
    showFirstLast: true,
    // ...
};

Additionally, you can change the color of these points using the firstLastColor property. Similarly to the minColor and maxColor properties, this property specifies the color of a bar in bar and win-loss series, or the color of a series point border in other series.

In line- and area-like series, extreme points have several additional settings. You can choose a symbol that will represent extreme points on a sparkline. For this purpose, use the pointSymbol property. Moreover, you can specify the size and color of extreme points using the pointSize and pointColor properties.

A tooltip is a small popup rectangle that contains information about values represented by a sparkline. The tooltip appears when a user hovers the mouse pointer over a sparkline.

Tooltips are configured using fields of the tooltip object. By default, they are enabled. However, if your scenario requires you to change the visibility of the tooltip, use the enabled field of the tooltip object.

var sparklineOptions = {
    tooltip: {
        enabled: true // false
    },
    // ...
};

Although by default the tooltip displays information about extreme sparkline values, you can configure it to present any information you may find useful. To customize the contents of a tooltip, implement the customizeTooltip function. This function must return an object with the text field specified.

var sparklineOptions = {
    tooltip: {
        customizeTooltip: function (info) {
            return {
                text: '...' // the required text is specified here
            }
        },
        // ...
    },
    // ...
};

Furthermore, there is a number of additional properties specifying the appearance of the tooltip. All of them are set in the tooltip configuration object. A structured overview of these properties is given in the following list.

• Color
  You can specify the color of the tooltip using the color property.

• Font Settings
  To change the font of the text displayed by the tooltip, use fields of the font object.

• Border Appearance
  You can change the visibility, color, width and other settings of the tooltip border using fields of the border configuration object.

• Shadow
  The tooltip is displayed casting a small shadow. To specify its blurriness, opacity, color and other settings, use shadow object fields.

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