Bar Chart
The Bar Chart component displays data as vertical bars, making it easy to compare values across categories. Use it when you want to show how a numeric value differs across a set of groups, for example the number of active cases per region or total revenue per product category. You can connect it to any Shesha entity or a custom API endpoint, and switch between a simple single-series view and a pivot view that breaks data down by a second grouping dimension.
Properties
The following properties are available to configure the Bar Chart component from the form designer. These are in addition to the common properties shared by all Shesha components.
Common
Stacked boolean
When enabled, each bar group is rendered as a single stacked bar with coloured segments for each group value, rather than side-by-side bars. Only appears when Simple / Pivot is set to Pivot, and only for entity-backed charts (it is hidden when Data Source Type is URL).
The Common tab also has two collapsible shortcut panels: Quick Settings (Data Source Type, Simple / Pivot, and the core data-binding fields) and Labels (title and axis label fields). They edit the exact same properties documented below under Data Settings and Chart Settings - they just let you configure the basics without switching tabs.
Chart Settings
Simple / Pivot object
Controls whether the chart displays one data series or multiple.
| Option | When to use |
|---|---|
Simple | Show one bar per category. Use this for straightforward comparisons. |
Pivot | Split each category into multiple bars, one per group. Use this to compare across two dimensions at once. |
Show Title boolean
When enabled, a title appears above the chart.
Title string
The text displayed as the chart heading. Only appears when Show Title is enabled.
Show Legend boolean
When enabled, a legend appears on the chart that maps each bar colour to a data series. For a Bar Chart, this setting only appears when Simple / Pivot is set to Pivot - a simple bar chart has only one series, so there is nothing for a legend to distinguish.
Legend Position object
Controls where the legend appears relative to the chart. Only appears when Show Legend is enabled.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
Top | Legend appears above the chart. |
Bottom | Legend appears below the chart. |
Left | Legend appears to the left of the chart. |
Right | Legend appears to the right of the chart. |
Show X Axis boolean
Controls whether tick marks and labels are shown on the X-axis. Enabled by default.
Show X Axis Title boolean
When enabled, a title label appears along the X-axis. Enabled by default.
Show Y Axis boolean
Controls whether tick marks and labels are shown on the Y-axis. Enabled by default.
Show Y Axis Title boolean
When enabled, a title label appears along the Y-axis. Enabled by default.
Axis Property Label string
A custom label for the X-axis. If not provided, the label is generated from the Axis Property's entity field. Shown whenever Show X Axis Title is enabled (it does not depend on Data Source Type).
Value Property Label string
A custom label for the Y-axis. If not provided, the label is generated from the Value Property's entity field. Shown whenever Show Y Axis Title is enabled (it does not depend on Data Source Type).
Stroke Thickness number
The thickness of the border drawn around each bar, in pixels. Step 0.1. Defaults to 0.
Stroke Color string
The colour of the border drawn around each bar. Use a hex colour code or the colour picker. Defaults to #000000.
Title Font
Typography for the chart title - Family, Size, Weight, Colour.
Axis Labels Font
Typography for the X/Y axis titles - Family, Size, Weight, Colour.
Legend Font
Typography for the legend text - Family, Size, Weight, Colour. Only appears under the same condition as Show Legend (Simple / Pivot is Pivot).
Grid Ticks Font
Typography for the axis tick labels - Family, Size, Weight, Colour.
The standalone Height and Width settings (with minimum values of 200px and 300px) and the Show Border toggle from older versions are no longer exposed on the properties panel. Use the generic Dimensions panel under the Appearance tab (Width / Min Width / Max Width, Height / Min Height / Max Height) to size the chart, and the Border panel to add a border.
Data Settings
The settings available in this section depend on the Data Source Type selected.
Data Source Type object
Controls where the chart fetches its data.
| Option | When to use |
|---|---|
URL | Pull data from a custom API endpoint. Use this when your data comes from a non-standard source or a custom backend action. |
Entity Type | Pull data directly from a Shesha entity using the built-in API. This is the right choice for most charts. |
Request Timeout number
The timeout, in milliseconds, for the request to the data source. Defaults to 10000. Available regardless of Data Source Type.
URL string
The API endpoint Shesha calls to fetch chart data. Appears when Data Source Type is URL.
Additional Properties object[]
A list of extra key/value pairs sent as parameters when fetching chart data. Values support Mustache expressions such as {{id}}. Appears when Data Source Type is URL.
Entity Type object
The Shesha entity to pull data from. Appears when Data Source Type is Entity Type. Use the autocomplete to select a known entity, for example Shesha.Domain.Person.
Data Size Limit number
The maximum number of records to fetch from the data source. -1 means no limit. Defaults to 250. Higher values may cause performance issues - for large datasets, aggregate the data in the backend instead. Appears when Data Source Type is Entity Type.
Axis Property object
The entity field whose values appear as categories on the X-axis. Each distinct value in this field becomes one bar group on the chart. Appears when Data Source Type is Entity Type.
Is Axis Property Time Series? boolean
When enabled, Shesha treats the Axis Property as a date or time value and groups bars by the selected Axis Property Time Series Format.
Axis Property Time Series Format object
Controls how dates on the axis are grouped. Only appears when Is Axis Property Time Series? is enabled.
| Option | Example |
|---|---|
Day | 01 |
Month | Jan |
Year | 2024 |
Day-Month | 01 Jan |
Day-Month-Year | 01 Jan 2024 |
Month-Year | Jan 2024 |
Value Property object
The entity field whose values are aggregated and plotted on the Y-axis. Appears when Data Source Type is Entity Type.
Grouping Property object
The entity field used to split data into separate series in Pivot mode. Each distinct value in this field becomes a separate coloured bar group. Only appears when Simple / Pivot is set to Pivot.
Is Grouping Property Time Series? boolean
When enabled, Shesha treats the Grouping Property as a date or time value and groups series by the selected Grouping Time Series Format. Only appears when Simple / Pivot is Pivot and a Grouping Property is set.
Grouping Time Series Format object
Controls how dates in the Grouping Property are grouped. Only appears when Is Grouping Property Time Series? is enabled.
| Option | Example |
|---|---|
Day | 01 |
Month | Jan |
Year | 2024 |
Day-Month | 01 Jan |
Day-Month-Year | 01 Jan 2024 |
Month-Year | Jan 2024 |
Order By object
The entity field used to sort chart data before it is rendered. Select from the property autocomplete.
Order Direction object
The direction to sort the data. Only appears when Order By is set.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
Ascending | Sort from smallest to largest (A to Z, oldest to newest). |
Descending | Sort from largest to smallest (Z to A, newest to oldest). |
Aggregation Method object
Defines how the Value Property is calculated for each category.
| Option | What it calculates |
|---|---|
Sum | The total of the Value Property across all records in each category. |
Count | The number of records in each category. |
Average | The mean of the Value Property across all records in each category. |
Min | The smallest Value Property value in each category. |
Max | The largest Value Property value in each category. |
Entity Filter object
A query builder where you define filter conditions to restrict which records are included in the chart. Use this to scope the chart to a specific subset of data, for example only records where status is Active. Appears when Data Source Type is Entity Type.
The Allow Chart Filter toggle and Filter Property List from older versions, which let users filter chart data from the chart itself, are no longer exposed on the properties panel. To restrict chart data, use the Entity Filter query builder above, or bind the chart's Data Table Context (if any) to a filter the user controls elsewhere on the form.