Views and Charts
Overview
The Dashboard presents scenario results through a set of viewers. Each viewer answers a particular question — for example "how much load is left after renewables?" (Net Load) or "which offers were in the stack?" (Bid Stack) — and decides which series, chart type, statistics and toolbar controls you see.
The object you select in the Objects tree decides which viewers are offered. Selecting a different object can change the viewer, replace the chart's series, rebuild the legend and change the units on the axes. Switching viewers can also replace the whole series set, because each viewer reads a different part of the scenario results.
Around the chart, the Dashboard is made of dock panels — Chart, Statistics, Tooltip, Readout and others — that you can open, close, move and save as layouts.
Viewers
Selecting a Viewer
Viewers are shown as chips in the Viewer Bar above the chart. The list depends on the selected object and scenario. Chips that do not fit are listed at the top of the Views ▾ menu. When you select an object, the Dashboard opens that object type's default viewer.
For the full list of viewers per object type, their default order and the default viewer for each object type, see Viewer Bar.
Selecting a viewer does not only change the chart's appearance. It can load a different series set, change the Y-axis units, change the statistics, and show different toolbar controls.
Table Viewers
Summary and Series Summary are tables, not charts. They have no axes, zoom, tooltips or chart export; the chart buttons and time navigation are hidden while they are open. See Summary View and Series Summary.
The Historical & Database error report is a sub-tab of the Summary viewer. See Historical and Database Error Report.
How the Chart Changes When You Work
Selecting a Different Object
When you select a different object in the Objects tree:
- The chart title changes to the selected object's name and type.
- The series are replaced with data for the new object.
- The offered viewers may change.
- The legend is rebuilt.
- The viewer may change to the new object type's default viewer.
Switching Viewers
When you switch viewers, a different series set may be loaded, the Y-axis unit can change, the legend and statistics are rebuilt, viewer-specific controls appear or disappear, and the chart can change from lines to a stacked chart, a box plot, a duration curve or another form.
Changing the Time Period
The Chart Toolbar offers four periods: Daily, Weekly, Monthly and All (shown as D / W / M / A on narrow toolbars). Changing the period changes the visible time window and can change the data granularity. Viewers may aggregate values, or leave out series that only make sense at a finer resolution.
Moving Through Time
Use Previous, Next or the date picker to move through the run. At the first or last day, week or month of the run the arrow is unavailable. An automatically scaled Y axis rescales to fit each new period — use Freeze Y Axes to keep one scale.
Comparing Objects
The Compare button overlays several objects on the same chart. It is offered for DGP, Group DGP, Profiles, Reserve Price, Economics, Link View and Flow Duration Curve. For Reserve Price and Profiles the regions are added automatically; for Link View and Flow Duration Curve all links are added. For the others, drag objects from the tree onto the chart. How many objects you can compare is set in Settings → Dashboard → Objects in Compare Mode (default 10; 32 for Link View and Flow Duration Curve).
Comparing Scenarios
The Comparison viewer is a different feature: it shows the same object across several scenarios. Add scenarios with the + buttons in the Scenarios tree. How many scenarios it shows next to the main one is set in Settings → Dashboard → Scenarios in Comparison (default 5). Next to its Chart tab, the Comparison viewer has Table, What changed and Distribution tabs, a Difference map tab while Show difference is on, and a Sweep tab when the compared scenarios differ in one setting.
Viewers with Their Own Tabs and Switches
Bid Stack
The Bid Stack chart shows the capacity offered in each bid-price tier over time, with Demand, Generation and Price.
For a Region, Site or Unit, the Bid Stack viewer also has a Bid Table:
- It opens as a Bid Table tab next to the Chart tab. The Chart | Bid Table switch in the Chart Toolbar brings the matching tab to the front, and clicking a tab updates the switch.
- The table covers one day: while it is in front, only Daily is available in the period selector. Use the date picker and Previous / Next to change day, and Jump to time to scroll to an interval.
- Each unit has a grid of price bands (10 down to 1) by interval, with optional AvailCap, RURate and RDRate rows. For a Site or Region the units are stacked one under another.
- Show Prices / Show MW switches the band values between prices and quantities. Availability, RoC and Hide Zero Bands show or hide rows. A colour legend shows the price tiers.
- For units that have an offer in the bid file, the table shows that offer per band.
- For units with no bid-file offer, the table shows the offer as dispatched — the same stack as the chart — with a note explaining it: the rows are the price tiers the unit offered in, lowest at the bottom, and prices per band are not stored.
- The Energy | Reserve switch at the top of the table shows the reserve offers instead, with a choice of reserve product (Fr, Ru, Rd, Dr). Reserve offers are available in the desktop app only; if the scenario stores no reserve bids, the table says so.
- Right-click a unit's table and choose Open bids in Bid Manager to open that unit's bids in the Bid Manager tab.
The Bid Table is also listed in Panels ▾ while the Bid Stack viewer is open.
Economics
The Economics viewer (Site objects) charts Revenue, Cost and Profit over time. Next to the Chart tab it has two tabs, also reachable with the Chart | Breakdown | Fuel Type switch in the Chart Toolbar:
- Breakdown — a sortable table per station: ID, fuel type, generation (MWh), price, effective price, revenue, cost, profit and margin. Long lists show the top 50 stations with a button to show all.
- Fuel Type — revenue per fuel type, with share and margin.
Drag more sites from the tree onto the viewer to include them.
Reserve (experimental)
When turned on in Settings → Dashboard, the Reserve viewer shows reserve requirement, cleared amount, shortfall and price per product. The Chart Toolbar has a Chart | Awards by unit | Offers switch (Offers only when the scenario kept its bids) and a Product list. The viewer is offered only when the scenario's results include reserve results.
Map (experimental)
When turned on in Settings → Dashboard, the Map viewer shows the regions and the flows between them for one interval.
Group DGP
The Group DGP viewer (chip label "Group DGP"; internal key 'Price, Generation + Demand View') shows Demand, Generation and Price for Load, Group, Portfolio and Storage objects. It is the default viewer for those object types.
Compare mode is supported for Group DGP. See ChartToolbar — Compare for how to use Compare mode.
Group Total
The Group Total viewer (chip label "Group Total"; internal key 'My Group View') shows the total of one of your own groups of units or sites. It is the default viewer for My group objects.
Link View
The Link View viewer shows the flow through a link over time. Series include MW Flow, Unconstrained Flow, and the To/From limits, alongside the prices at each end of the link. Compare mode is supported for Link View.
Flow Duration Curve
The Flow Duration Curve viewer shows how often (as a percentage of time) a link carries at least a given flow — a duration curve for the link's MW Flow and limits. Compare mode is supported for Flow Duration Curve.
Storage
The Storage viewer shows a storage unit's discharge (Generation), charge (Demand), stored Level and Price over time.
Fuel Stack
The Fuel Stack viewer (chip label "Fuel Stack"; internal key 'Fuel Summary') shows generation by fuel type as a stacked chart, with Demand and Price. The right panel title is Fuel Mix.
AggregateStack
The AggregateStack viewer shows the stacked generation of a portfolio's members over time, with the total load. The Chart Toolbar has a Mode button that switches between Mirror and Overlay views.
Charts
Chart Types
Each viewer has its natural chart form, for example:
| Chart form | Typical viewers |
|---|---|
| Line | DGP, Group DGP, Link View, Contract Settlement and most time-series viewers |
| Stacked | Fuel Stack, Bid Stack, Net Load, AggregateStack |
| Box plot | Profiles (24 hours of the day) |
| Duration curve | Flow Duration Curve |
Chart Settings → Visual → Chart type can change the presentation to Line, Area, Column or Spline. Stacked viewers also offer Stacking: Normal or 100%. A single series can also be given its own type from its series options (see Chart Customization).
Zoom
Click and drag across the chart to zoom into a range. Reset Zoom returns to the full range. Reset Zoom does not change colours, styles or other settings.
Legend and Series
- Click a legend item to hide or show that series. Reset Series Visibility shows all hidden series again.
- Right-click a legend item to open its series options: show only this series (Solo), rename it, move it to the left or right axis, change its type, line width and style, colour, opacity, markers, data labels and layer order, or reset it. See Chart Customization.
- Right-click a line on the chart for the same options plus actions at that time: Add note here…, Copy value, and where they apply Unit details…, What set this price? and Show in Chart 2 / Chart 1.
- Show/Hide Legend in the toolbar hides the legend altogether.
Tooltip
Move the pointer over the chart to see the values at that point. Tooltip Location offers three modes:
| Mode | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Tooltip panel (default) | Values appear in the Tooltip dock panel, up to 20 series. |
| Follow Cursor | A tooltip follows the pointer over the chart. |
| Floating | A tooltip box that you can drag to a place on the chart. |
Axis Controls
- Start Y at Zero — the Y axis starts at zero. Stored per viewer; on by default for Bid Stack, Fuel Stack, DGP, Net Load and Economics.
- Freeze Y Axes — keeps the current Y-axis range while you move through periods, so periods can be compared on one scale.
- Axis Labels — shows or hides the axis titles.
More axis options (manual Min / Max, secondary and level axes, grid lines) are in Chart Settings — see Chart Customization.
Notes and Events
- Add note (or press N over the chart, or middle-click) pins a note at a point in time. Notes can be hidden on one chart or on every chart.
- Events opens the Events panel: price at the cap, reserve short, link at its limit, and a day at a glance. Event markers draws thin vertical marks on the chart where each event starts.
Panels and Layouts
The Dashboard area is made of dock panels. Drag a panel's tab to move it, or drag the borders between panels to resize them. Use Panels ▾ at the right end of the Chart Toolbar to open and close panels and to choose a layout.
Panels
| Panel | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Chart | The main chart of the current viewer |
| Bid Table / Breakdown / Fuel Type | The current viewer's own tabs (Bid Stack and Economics); listed only while that viewer is open |
| Chart 2 | A second chart; right-click a viewer chip to choose what it shows |
| Statistics / Statistics 2 | Statistic cards for Chart / Chart 2 |
| Readout | Detail for the statistic you click in Statistics |
| Tooltip / Tooltip 2 | Values under the pointer for Chart / Chart 2 (Tooltip panel mode) |
| Object Summary | The selected object's details and its summary figures |
| Generation Mix | The generation mix for the current view |
| Events | Market events for the run |
| Daily totals | One row per day and series for the window the chart shows |
| Price explained | What set the price at an interval — opened by right-clicking a price and choosing What set this price? |
| Overlay days | The days of the chart's window drawn on top of each other |
| Heat map | One series of the chart as hour of the day × day |
Panels that are open have a tick. The last open panel cannot be closed.
Layouts
| Layout | Arrangement |
|---|---|
| Analysis (default) | Chart with Statistics below; on the right, Tooltip and Readout above, Object Summary and Generation Mix below |
| Presenting | Chart and Statistics only, full width |
| Two charts — side by side | Chart and Chart 2 side by side, each with its tooltip below |
| Two charts — stacked | Chart above Chart 2, with each chart's tooltip to its right |
- Reset layout returns to the default arrangement.
- Save current layout… saves your arrangement under a name (up to 5 layouts of your own). Your layouts can be renamed (✎) or deleted (✕) from the same menu.
Statistics
The Statistics panel shows cards with figures for the period on screen, calculated from the chart data. The cards depend on the viewer — for example Flow Duration Curve shows Peak Flow, Median Flow, Capacity Use and similar figures. Click a card to see its detail (such as Min, Max, Average and Count) in the Readout panel.
See Panels — Statistics for the three tabs (Statistics, Percentiles, Peak times) and the Copy button.
Exporting Charts and Data
The Export button opens a menu:
| Group | Option | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Image | Download PNG | Image of the chart |
| Copy chart | The PNG image copied to the clipboard | |
| Download JPEG | Image of the chart | |
| Download PDF | The chart as a PDF document. PDF export works offline. | |
| Download SVG | Vector image of the chart | |
| Data | Download CSV | The chart's data as CSV |
| Download XLSX | The chart's data as an Excel workbook | |
| Report | Add chart to report pack | Adds the chart as shown to a report pack that becomes one PDF |
| Export for every region… | The chart on screen once per region (Chart 1 only) | |
| Report pack… | Opens the report pack (charts, saved views and tables into one PDF) | |
| View | Print chart | Opens the print dialog |
| Toggle fullscreen | Enters or leaves fullscreen | |
| Export options… | Format (PNG, JPEG, SVG, PDF), size, resolution (DPI), title, subtitle, footnote, text size, legend, gridlines, line weight, tooltip and notes |
The quick downloads use the size, resolution and title choices saved in Export options…. The download items are unavailable when there is no chart or the chart has no data.
Fullscreen
Click Fullscreen (or Export → Toggle fullscreen) to make the chart fill the screen. Click it again or press Escape to leave.
Saved Views and Sharing
The Views ▾ menu at the right end of the Viewer Bar keeps views you want to come back to:
- Save current view and pick it later from My saved views (up to 20). Present saved views (Ctrl+Shift+P) shows the chart full screen with larger text; the arrow keys step through your saved views and Esc leaves.
- Pin current comparison saves a Comparison set so it can be reopened in one click.
- Copy current view copies a code for the view (no data); a colleague with the same run pastes it in Open view from code.
- Share as iSnap makes a code or file containing the view and its numbers, for colleagues who do not have the run. Open iSnap opens one you received; it appears as a tab in the Scenario Tab Bar.
- Reorder viewers changes the order of the Viewer Bar chips.
Understanding Why a Control Is Missing or Disabled
- Is an object selected? Time navigation and most chart controls appear only when an object is selected.
- Does the object type offer that viewer? See Viewer Bar.
- Does the scenario have the data? A dimmed viewer chip means the scenario lacks what that viewer needs.
- Is it an experimental viewer? Map and Reserve must be turned on in Settings.
- Is the viewer a table? Summary and Series Summary hide the chart controls.
- Does the viewer support the feature? For example, Compare is offered only for some viewers, and Profiles has no time navigation.
- Is the Bid Table in front? It is daily only, so Weekly, Monthly and All are disabled.
Common Questions
Why did my chart change completely after selecting another object?
Selecting an object rebuilds the series and can change the viewer to that object type's default.
Why did the Y axis change when I clicked Next?
The Y axis normally scales to fit each period. Use Freeze Y Axes to keep one scale.
Why are the period buttons missing?
Summary and Series Summary have no time-series chart. Profiles covers every day of the run, so it has no date navigation.
Why can't I find Regional Trace, Zonal Trace or Price Duration Curve?
These viewers are not in the current Dashboard. Use the Compare button on DGP or Reserve Price to show several regions on one chart, or the Comparison viewer's Distribution tab for a price-duration curve.
Why does a viewer have different series in a different scenario?
The series depend on the data each scenario produced. Scenarios can have different fuels, objects or outputs.
Quick Reference
| Task | Use |
|---|---|
| Change viewer | Viewer Bar chip, or Views ▾ |
| Select another object | Objects tree |
| Change period | Daily / Weekly / Monthly / All |
| Move through periods | Previous / Next, date picker |
| Zoom / restore | Drag across the chart / Reset Zoom |
| Hide a series / restore | Click legend item / Reset Series Visibility |
| Style a series | Right-click legend item |
| Fix the Y scale | Start Y at Zero, Freeze Y Axes, Chart Settings |
| Open or close panels, choose a layout | Panels ▾ |
| Show a second chart | Panels ▾ → Chart 2, then right-click a viewer chip |
| See bid offers as a table | Bid Stack → Bid Table tab |
| Export a chart or data | Export |
| Save or share a view | Views ▾ |