Select data cannot be charted...

bcaulder

I have seen multiple threads on this, and I have tried everything listed that I could find. This makes no sense to me. This is what I am trying to connect to. I started with the Simple Project Plan template and changed the data and now it will not load. Any help is appreciated:

for referfence, here is the template:

Brian_Richardson

Need a little more info on the problem. What are you trying to chart? What are you using as the source?

My suggestion would be to make sure you're charting a report, not a sheet directly. Setup a report to pull in the data you want using filters. The chart will chart all the data on the report. You can also potentially group your data and add Summarize fields to perform some basic math on the numbers, like summing, counting, averaging etc… if you do that the chart will be the summarize numbers at the first grouping level.

AravindGP

Hi @bcaulder

Are you not able to create a chart from this data? I tried to simulate it and had no issue. Here's what I have.

bcaulder

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/comment/457047#Comment_457047

Thanks for the reply. The top screenshot is what I am trying to chart.

The tenplate (the second screeenshot) shows the selected data that deos chart correctly. When I chnaged the data and headers according to what I need, the chart gives me the error.

I also tried doing the report and I get the same error.

I tried deleting the chart and starting fresh, same error.

Can't figure this out so I am hoping someone knows a secret.

bcaulder

That second screenshot which you recreated is what was working correctly. The top screenshot is what I cannot get to work. I used the Simple Project Plan template and changed the data and the heading. Do you have a magic bullet or do you know why certain data won't chart?

bcaulder

Maybe this will help:

So I made a new project and changed the data as before and the chart broke again.

This is the chart with only the formulas changing for what is being calc'd

The formula for "Task Completion" is: =AVG(CHILDREN([Helper Column for Sub Tasks]@row)) + "%"

Thoughts?/Thanks

Vivien Chong

@bcaulder I think it could be that your Task Completion column is not a "numerical data" but since it is a formula with "%", it could have been read by the system as a text format.

What about maintaining your formula, but remove the "+ %", instead use the % format at the task bar to convert your column into %?

Brian_Richardson

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/comment/457148#Comment_457148

If you setup a chart and then change the names of the columns, the chart will break as it's looking for specific column names. You'll need to re-set the data points that it's attempting to chart.

@Vivien Chong might be onto something - verify that the columns you are trying to chart are numbers only and don't contain any text. A number formatted as % is ok, but a number with the % character added by a formula is not. You can make triply sure by setting up a column real quick with the formula =VALUE([Task Completion]@row) to ensure you have a number to chart.

You can also check by setting up a report, adding that Task Completion column, and then use the Summarize button to average it. You should get a number at the top. If you instead get an error or a blank or a 0, then you have text.

For your chart setup, make sure you are charting just the Task and Task Completion columns. You can have more columns than that in your report, but select just those two columns. Then switch on the "use first column" to name the series. The Task Completion number should chart. Or, like suggested before, create a new column with the VALUE of Task Completion and include that column in a report and then chart it instead of Task Completion.