Unable to display data in a Chart

Kerri S

Hello SS,

Is there a way to avoid displaying below when there's no data in the Source Data for a Chart?

I see another Chart that displays as below which is an improvement, but I'm not sure how to make that happen for the widget above. Thank you!

Genevieve P.

Aha! We've found it! Thanks for running through all this with me.

You would need to have some sort of example/test data in your source sheet that has 0's when you have no values... something that matches the filter criteria so the row stays in your Report.

Genevieve P.

Hi @Kerri S

Is the widget above a Pie or Donut chart? There currently is no way to display a different image or custom message when the chart widget is looking at null values for all values selected. Please provide your feedback to the Product team, here.

Cheers,

Genevieve

Kerri S

Hi @Genevieve P.

That's what's so odd. The chart below is identical to the 'Risks' chart to the left of it. There's no data in the report it's associated with. But the chart below these is also a Bar chart w/no data, and this time I get a nice message that there's 'No data to display. I prefer to see the 'No data to display' instead of the Red Triangle Exclamation point box that looks like an error but I'm not seeing any settings that generate the 'no data' message.

Genevieve P.

Hi @Kerri S

You note that the one with the error is from a Report. Is the one below from a Sheet?

Kerri S

Hi @Genevieve P.

Here's another oddity. When I look up the Data Source in the error widget it's blank. When I try to link it to the correct report I get the message below, but when I mock data in the Report, it appears in the Widget.

Genevieve P.

Hi @Kerri S

Yes, I believe it has to do with the Report as the Source.

In a Sheet, you select set cells as the source for the chart. This means that when the cells are blank, it simply has "no data" in those cells.

However when a Report is used as a Source, the Chart automatically looks at the entirety of the Report (versus specific cells). This allows your data to automatically update as the Report updates. However, if the Report doesn't have any data (no rows match the filter) nothing exists... not even "empty cells" because there are no rows in the Report associated with any sheet at all.

Kerri S

Hi @Genevieve P.

The 'No Data to Display' widget is source from a report as well, as below.

Genevieve P.

Hi @Kerri S

There's a difference between 0 as a data point (so there's no data to display) and blank cells/rows that don't exist.

Is it possible that your Report for the chart where it says "No data to display" has two values of 0? This would still have a value, but a value that cannot be graphed, which is why you see the bar chart with a message.

Kerri S

That's it! The Red Triangle Report is blank, but the No Data Report has zero's. Any thoughts how to force a zero in a filtered report to avoid Red Triangle?

Genevieve P.

Aha! We've found it! Thanks for running through all this with me.

You would need to have some sort of example/test data in your source sheet that has 0's when you have no values... something that matches the filter criteria so the row stays in your Report.

Kerri S

Got it, much thanks!

Jeff.K

Smarthsheet needs to display a better message stating that the there is no data for the report. So it raises less questions by users looking at a dashboard. The current display makes it look like there is a problem. That is NOT the case.

Kyle Chipman

Hi all - I submitted this as a wishlist item. It's a real buzzkill in dashboards and it would be great to see it reworked. Feel free to upvote if you have a moment.

Reworked Empty Chart State to replace "Unable to display chart" in Dashboards — Smartsheet Community

Adrian Mandile CHESS

Hi @Genevieve P., @Aman Shah,

This is similar (earlier) issue to one I just posted to you about.

I agree with you that '0' as a data point in a chart is different to no data to chart, but I still think that we need a better message to display, rather than one that gives the impression of a configuration or permissions error.

We can't (or shouldn't have to) keep adding 0.01 to COUNT() and SUM() formulas, and that is not an option when the chart is based off a grouped report with column summaries.

Regards,

Adrian