---
title: "Step line"
description: "Discrete jumps over time. What the step line is for, the data it needs and every option it has."
section: "Widgets"
canonical: "https://banksync.io/docs/widgets/chart-step-line"
specs: ["dashboards"]
operationBindings: [{"capability":"dashboards","operation":"dashboards.author"}]
---

Discrete jumps over time. It sits in the **Time series** group of the widget library.

![Example step line on a BankSync dashboard](https://cdn.banksync.io/screenshots/docs/charts/step-line.e9f7072d11932431.png)

## When to use it

Use a step line for values that hold steady and then jump: an account balance between transactions, a credit limit, or an interest rate. Each value stays flat until the next, so the chart never suggests a gradual change that didn't happen.

## When to pick something else

- Values that genuinely change continuously, such as a share price? Use a **Line chart**.
- Comparing totals per period? Use a **Column chart**.
- Showing how several balances add up to a total? Use a **Stacked area**.

## The data it needs

Pick these in the **Data** tab of the inspector. BankSync suggests a column for each when your source has an obvious match.

| Field      | Needed   | Pick                 | Notes |
| ---------- | -------- | -------------------- | ----- |
| **X axis** | Yes      | a category or a date |       |
| **Y axis** | Yes      | a number             |       |
| **Series** | Optional | a category           |       |
| **Color**  | Optional | a category           |       |

Rows that share a category are combined before drawing: choose **Sum**, **Average**, **Count**, **Min** or **Max** on the value field. See [Binding data](/docs/widgets/binding-data).

## Step line options

This chart has no options of its own; everything on its **Style** tab is the shared chart styling below.

## Shared chart styling

Every chart also has the shared styling options. These apply to this one:

- [Legend](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#legend): position, layout and which series show.
- [Axes](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#axes): titles, tick labels and number format.
- [Grid](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#grid), [title](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#title), [padding](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#padding) and [background](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#background).
- [Value labels](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#value-labels) on the marks.
- [Categories and labels](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#categories-and-labels): top N with "Other", sort order, readable labels, the handwritten callout.
- [Style](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#style): corner radius, line width, opacity and animation.
- [Tooltip](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#tooltip) on hover.
- Click to filter: clicking a mark can filter the rest of the dashboard. See [Filters and cross-filtering](/docs/dashboards/filters-and-cross-filtering).
- [Colours](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#palette): follow the dashboard palette or pick one for this chart.

## Messy data

- Values on the same date are summed by default. For balances, set the value's aggregate to **Last**.
- A missing value breaks the line; it does not step down to zero.
- Dates are evenly spaced in order, so a period with no rows is skipped rather than shown as a long flat step.
- The last value is extended half a step so a single change at the end is still visible.
- More than 8 series: the 7 largest keep their colour and the rest merge into **Other**.
- No numeric values shows "No numbers to show".

## On a phone

At full phone width it reads like a line chart: fewer axis labels with many dates, legend below the chart. Keep phone versions to two or three series; overlapping steps are hard to tell apart.

## Related charts

- [Line chart](/docs/widgets/chart-line): Time series over any field
- [Area chart](/docs/widgets/chart-area): Stacked or overlaid area
- [Sparkline](/docs/widgets/chart-sparkline): Tiny inline trend
- [Stacked area](/docs/widgets/chart-stacked-area): Series stacked over time
- [Stream graph](/docs/widgets/chart-stream): Centered stacked area