Stacked Area Series
Stacked Area Series shows the values of multiple categories as stacked filled bands. Used to read both the contribution of individual categories and the magnitude of the total at the same time.
Prerequisite
This chart type can only be selected in step 2 of the Cartography Widget Wizard. If you have not started widget creation, start the wizard first; an appropriate Compass record is also required.
When to Use
| Scenario | Why Stacked Area? |
|---|---|
| Total production volume by line | Total magnitude + contribution share |
| Energy consumption: per machine | Which machine consumes how much |
| Downtime: by category | Each downtime type's share + total |
Stacked Area vs Area (overlapping)
Multiple overlapping Area series look messy. In Stacked Area each band starts on top of the previous one — series do not blend.
Data Structure
For Stacked Area, the query must return a Stack By column:
| Column | Type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| X column | TIMESTAMP / DATE |
day |
| Y column | NUMERIC |
production_kg |
| Stack By column | TEXT |
line_name, shift |
-- Example: daily production by line
SELECT DATE(ts) AS day, line_name, SUM(production_kg) AS total
FROM production_log
GROUP BY day, line_name
ORDER BY day, line_name;
Step 4 — Axis Config
Fill the Stack By Column field as line_name. The system automatically creates a separate band for each unique line.
Wizard Configuration
Step 5 — Series Design
Colors are auto-assigned for each unique value in the Stack By column. For customization a separate color can be chosen per category.
Step 6 — Add Series
In Stacked Area, no extra series is added; the Stack By column generates all series automatically.
Stacked Area vs Stacked Column 100
| Situation | Stacked Area | Stacked Column 100 |
|---|---|---|
| Total magnitude important | ✓ | ✗ (normalized, magnitude is lost) |
| Only ratio important | — | ✓ |
| Continuous time series | ✓ | Hard to read |
9-Step Summary — For Stacked Area Series
Stacked Area Series uses the Stacked Cartesian flow. Layers are auto-generated from the Stack By column; the multi-series add step is skipped.
| # | Step | Key point for Stacked Area | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Group Selection | Cartesian | → |
| 2 | Chart Type | Stacked Area Series card | → |
| 3 | Compass Record | X + Y + Stack By columns | → |
| 4 | Axis Config + Stack By | X: DateTime, Y: Numeric, Stack By Column | → |
| 5 | Series Design | Color palette, Fill Opacity, Marker | → |
| 6 | (skipped — Stack By auto-generates layers) | — | — |
| 7 | General Design | Legend (category-named), Y Axis Suffix | → |
| 8 | Card Design | Refresh: 300-900s | → |
| 9 | Display | Name, Tags, Folder | → |
→ Stacked Cartesian Flow overview
Next Step
→ Stacked Column → Stacked Column 100 → Other Cartesian Charts