Composite graphs

You can create a composite graph to view and compare data among two or three graphs at the same time.

Create a composite graph

On the ALM sidebar, under Dashboard, select Analysis View.
Right-click a folder, and select New Composite Graph. Enter a name for the composite graph.
Click OK.

The graph is added in the Analysis tree and you can see the graph automatically generated in the View tab.

Configure a composite graph

You configure a composite graph to control which graphs are compared in the composite graph and how they are displayed in the composite graph.

To configure a composite graph:

From the Analysis tree, select the composite graph.
Click the Configuration tab.

Add the graphs to be included in the composite graph.

To add a graph:

From the right panel, select the graph.

Drag and drop the graph to the middle gray area. Alternatively, click the Add button.

Note the following when adding graphs to a composite graph:

A composite graph can include up to 3 graphs.

A composite graph can include up to 3 graphs, regardless of whether they are generated for the same project.

Builds, Code Change, and BV graphs are not supported by composite graphs.

You cannot add Builds, Code Changes, or BV graphs to a composite graph.

Restrictions for entity graphs

Which types of entity graphs can coexist in a composite graph?

Time series graphs (graphs whose x-axis values are dates), such as trend, progress, and plan vs. actual graphs.
Non-time-series graphs (graphs whose x-axis values are text), such as age and summary graphs.

After you select a graph, the graphs of the incompatible graph types are grayed out in the graph tree.

The following entity graphs are not supported by composite graphs:

Planned vs. Actual (Last Test Run)
Planned vs. Actual (Test Run History)
Test Execution Status Trend Graph

Search graphs. Use the search box to filter only the entity graphs that contains the search keyword in the graph title.

Created by me. Check this option to filter only the entity graphs you created.

. Views the graph from the Analysis tree (go to the View tab of the graph).

Edit how the selected graphs will be displayed in the composite graph.

For each graph, you can do the following in the graph card.

Change graph title	Click the edit icon next to the graph title to rename the graph. It does not really change the graph title. The new name applies only when the graph is presented in the composite graph.
Set time resolution	Applicable to progress and trend graphs only. In the Time Resolution field, specify the time interval at which data is grouped on the x-axis. If the graphs included in a composite graph have different time resolution settings, the composite graph listens to the time resolution of the primary graph.
View graph filters	Hover over the filters icon () to see the filters of the graph.
Set primary graph	Click to set the graph as the primary graph. The primary graph by default has a darker shade than non-primary graphs in the composite graph. By default, the first graph you add to the composite graph is the primary graph.
View graph in Analysis	Click to view the graph from the Analysis tree (go to the View tab of the graph). It enables you to re-configure the graph if you want to have the graph present a different set of data in the composite graph.
Change graph order	Drag and drop the graph up or down.

Set composite graph appearance

To customize the graph title, graph color, and graph display, in the View tab, click Set Graph Appearance to open the Graph Appearance dialog box.

UI Element	Description
General tab
Title section	Enables you to change the titles of the graph, the y-axis, or the x-axis. Graph Title, Y-axis Title, X-axis Title. Enter a name for the graph, y-axis, and x-axis. . Change the title's font or color. Reset Titles. Restores the original titles.
Layout section	Use source graph style. Available for composite graphs only. It controls whether or not to apply the source graph layout related settings to the composite graph, including layout (line, area, or column), mark, and smooth line. If this option is enabled, the three layout settings below are disabled, and every change to the source graph layout will be applied accordingly to the composite graph. Default Layout. Select a layout that the graph is by default displayed in. Stacked/Tiled. Select how groups of values are displayed, stacked or tiled. Available for line, column, and area layouts. Smooth Line. Whether or not to enable the smoothed line layout. Available only for line and area charts.
Color	Color Theme. Select a color theme for the graph. Groups in the graph will be automatically displayed in different colors under the color theme. If the graph has more than 6 groups, some groups will share the same colors. Group Color. Select any colors for the groups in the graph. If it is a composite graph, select any colors for the source graphs and the percentage line in the composite graph. The group or source graph color settings override the color theme setting. Outer Color. Select a color for the area outside the graph. Inner Color. Select a color for the inner part of the graph. Auxiliary. Select colors for positive and negative values in the auxiliary line. Available only when auxiliary line is enabled.
Opacity	Set the opacity for the primary graph and non-primary graphs in a composite graph.
Column Parameters	Show Data Label. Whether or not to display labels for each column. A label can be number or text. Label Type. This option works only when Show Data Label is enabled. Select one of the following: Each column (value). Displays the number of all eligible items in each source graph. For details about eligible items, see Set composite graph data range. Each column (text). Displays the name of each source graph. Label Position. This option works only when Show Data Label is enabled. Select where the labels are displayed: on the top, at the bottom, or in the middle of the column. Visible marks. Whether or not to display marks for each column. A mark can be number or text. Marks style. This option works only when is Visible marks enabled. Select one of the following styles: Total value. Displays the total number of items in all groups of a column. Not available for composite graphs. Each column (value). Displays the number of items in each group of a column. If it is a composite graph, it displays the number of all eligible items in each source graph. For details about eligible items, see Set composite graph data range. Each column (text). Displays the group-by field value of each group. For example, if the graph is grouped by status, the marks for a column could be "new", "in progress", and "fixed". If it is a composite graph, it displays the name of each source graph. Marks position: This option works only when Visible marks is enabled. Select where the marks are displayed: on the top, at the bottom, or in the middle of the column.
Others	Legend Position. Select where the graph legend is displayed. X-axis Label Direction. Select a text direction for the x-axis label.
Data Alignment tab Available only for composite graphs that contain source graphs whose x-axis values are dates.
Align by time unit	Compare graph data within the same time unit, regardless of their actual dates. This options allows you to compare a graph of one period (e.g. Week 1) with the same period (e.g. Week 1) from other graphs, even when the period may refer to different days for the graphs. The period can be day, week, month, or year. X-axis Label. Define how the x-axis values are prefixed with. For example, if you enter “Phase”, the x-axis values are "Phase-1", "Phase-2", and so on. If you want to change the time unit, set the graph's time resolution in the Configuration tab. For details, see Configure a composite graph. X-axis Offset. Move a graph horizontally to adjust where its start point is aligned with other graphs. Click – to move the graph to the left. Click + to move the graph to the right.
Align by actual date	Compare graph data based on their actual dates. The x-axis values are the combination of the periods from all graphs. This options allows you to compare graph data of the same date.

Set composite graph data range

You set the data range of a composite graph to control which groups of data in each source graph will be reflected in the composite graph. Only the numbers of items in selected groups are combined and shown as their total in the composite graph. Items of other groups are ignored.

To set the data range of a composite graph:

Open the composite graph from the Analysis View.
In the View tab, click the Show More Actions icon, and then click Open Graph Data Range .

Select a source graph, and in the Available column, select the groups or categories to show in the composite graph.

UI Element	Description
Graph 1 Graph 2 Graph 3	Graph 1, 2, and 3 refer respectively to the first, second, and third source graph that are listed in the Configuration tab of the composite graph. The primary graph is indicated by a star icon.
Groups	Select the groups of data to show in the composite graph. For each source graph, by default, all groups are listed in the Available column. If the source graph has set a filter, only filtered groups are listed. If you select groups, then the groups listed under Categories will not be shown in the composite graph.
Categories	Select the categories of data to show in the composite graph. If you select categories, then the groups listed under Groups will not be shown in the composite graph.
Show grand total	When it is selected, all selected groups or categories in each source graph will be combined and shown as the grand total. When it is not selected, each group or category in a source graph is displayed separately.
Use primary graph settings	Available in non-primary graph tabs. Applies the primary graph settings to the other source graphs.

Click Save.

Enable new graph look in email

If you want to send a composite graph by email, first enable the new graph look in email.

To enable the new graph look in email, do the following in the ALM server:

Install Chrome.
Install ChromeDriver from https://chromedriver.chromium.org/downloads. Make sure your ChromeDriver version is compatible with the Chrome version.
Run ChromeDriver.

Create an xml file, name it alm_webdriver_config.xml, and specify the Chrome and ChromeDriver path in the file.

<WebdriverConfiguration>
    <DriverPath>your ChromeDriver path</DriverPath>
    <ChromeExecutionPath>your Chrome path</ChromeExecutionPath>
    <DriverPort>the ChromeDriver port</DriverPort>
</WebdriverConfiguration>

In Windows, use "\\" as the path separator. In Linux, use "/"as the path separator.

Store the file in the {ALM repository}\sa\DomsInfo\Configuration\ path.

Note: If ALM is deployed in a cluster environment, perform step 1 to step 3 in each node of the cluster, and make sure you deploy Chrome and ChromeDriver respectively in the same path in all nodes.

Show auxiliary line for composite graphs

The auxiliary line helps you better visualize the difference between two lines in a composite graph.

Availability

Auxiliary line is available for composite graphs that:

Include only two source graphs.
The source graphs are of the same entity type. For example, they are both for defects.
Both source graphs enable the display of grand total and the composite graph does not use the source graph style. For details, see Show grand total and Use source graph style.

How to

To show the auxiliary line for a composite graph, in the View tab of the graph, click Show More Actions > Show Auxiliary Line .

If the graphs are age or summary graphs, the auxiliary line shows percentages (primary graph value / non-primary graph). If the graphs are progress or trend graphs, it shows differences (primary graph value - non-primary graph value).