Window calculations

Running totals, shares, differences, moving averages and rank, computed along the axis.

A window calculation is computed across the points a chart is already showing, in order. It needs an axis — a date or a category — because "the previous point" only means something once the points are in an order.

What is available

CalculationWhat it gives you
Running totalEach point plus everything before it
% of visible totalEach point as a share of what the chart shows
DifferenceThe change from the previous point
% changeThat change as a percentage
Moving averageA smoothed line over a rolling window
RankPosition within the visible points

"% of visible total" means what it says

The denominator is what the chart is currently showing, so a slicer changes it. If you want a share of the true grand total regardless of filters, that is filter context, not a window calculation.

The name is deliberately explicit because the two get confused constantly, and the difference is the difference between a correct percentage and a confident wrong one.

Order is everything

A running total on an unsorted category axis is meaningless — it accumulates in whatever order the chart happens to draw. On a date axis it is exactly what you want. If a running total looks wrong, check what the axis is sorted by before checking the measure.

Where they cannot be used

A window calculation needs an axis, so it cannot go on a card, which has none. It also cannot be combined with subtotals. Both are refused explicitly rather than approximated.

Window calculations · ChartBase Docs