If you ever find yourself in a situation where you have built multiple charts showing the a metric through different dimensions (for instance you may have a sum of sales over time represented in a line chart, a sum of sales by region and category in a bar chart and a sum of sales by state displayed on a map) but you have difficulty choosing the right chart for your dashboard then this post is for you!

Indeed, there is a simple way using parameters to integrate all your related charts in a single container and display the chart of your liking. To do so, the first step is to create all your charts. In this example we will create a line chart, a bar chart and a map. Then create a parameter listing all the chart types (it can also be a list of metrics, time periods or anything you see fit) that you want to put in your container. It should look pretty much like this:

Next, you need to create a calculated field that will serve as a filter for you chart types. This one is pretty straightforward and only contains your parameter (In our case ‘Choose a chart type):

On each worksheet with your charts show your parameter and place your calculated field on the filter shelve. Now you want to harmonize your parameter value with your filter value on each worksheet. To do so, when you are on your line chart select line in your parameter and tick line for your filter. Repeat the process for your bar chart and map.

Be careful not to tick any other chart type in your filter. If done properly your bar chart and map should disappear from your worksheets when selecting line in your parameter and vice versa for your bar chart and map.

Now we can build our dashboard with all our charts. On you dashboard, drag a container (Vertical or horizontal) then drag all your charts in this container (next to one another for a horizontal or above one another for a vertical one). Hide the title of all your charts and make sure to select entire view for all your charts and to untick the ‘fix height’ option of your container:

Et voila, now you can display the chart of your liking by simply selecting your preferred chart type with the parameter.

As mentioned previously, the same can be applied if you have different metrics, dimensions, time frame and so forth that you want to display at your convenience. I hope you’ll find this trick as useful as I did 😊