Sunburst
Hierarchical radial wedges. What the sunburst is for, the data it needs and every option it has.
4 min read
On this page
Hierarchical radial wedges. It sits in the Part-of-whole group of the widget library.
When to use it#
Use a sunburst to show a total split across two or more levels, drawn as rings from the centre outwards. For example, show spending by category in the inner ring and by merchant in the outer ring, with the total in the middle.
When to pick something else#
- Only one level? A Donut chart is simpler.
- Many small items at the outer level? A Treemap gives them more room and more labels.
- Need precise comparisons? Use a Bar chart.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Yes | a category | |
| Value | Yes | a number |
Each row is drawn as it is, so shape the rows first if you need totals. See Shaping data.
Sunburst options#
Set these on the Style tab of the inspector. "Automatic" means BankSync picks a value from the chart's size and data.
| Option | What it does | Values | New charts start with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hole size | Size of the empty centre as a fraction of the radius, from 0 (full disc) to 0.8. | Number, 0 to 1 | Automatic |
| Show labels | Write each segment’s name on it when it fits. | On or off | Automatic |
| Smallest labelled segment | Skip labels on segments smaller than this share of the total, from 0 to 1 (0.05 is 5%). | Number, 0 to 1 | Automatic |
| Label size | Text size of the labels, in pixels. | Number | Automatic |
| Label colour | Colour of the label text. Leave empty for an automatic, readable colour. | Colour | Automatic |
Needs history#
Show a note instead of the chart until the rows cover enough periods, so a first week never reads as a trend.
| Option | What it does | Values | New charts start with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Date field | The date column whose distinct periods are counted. | Text | Automatic |
| Period | What counts as one period: a day, week, month, quarter or year. | Day, Week, Month, Quarter, Year | Automatic |
| Periods needed | How many distinct periods the rows must cover before the chart draws (2 to 60). | Whole number, 2 to 60 | Automatic |
| Waiting message | Shown until there is enough history. Leave empty for a message naming the periods. | Text, up to 120 characters | Automatic |
Shared chart styling#
Every chart also has the shared styling options. These apply to this one:
- Legend: position, layout and which series show.
- Axes: titles, tick labels and number format.
- Grid, title, padding and background.
- Value labels on the marks.
- Categories and labels: top N with "Other", sort order, readable labels, the handwritten callout.
- Style: corner radius, line width, opacity and animation.
- Tooltip on hover.
- Click to filter: clicking a mark can filter the rest of the dashboard. See Filters and cross-filtering.
- Colours: follow the dashboard palette or pick one for this chart.
Messy data#
- Rows with the same path are added together; blank levels show as "(blank)".
- Negative values and non-numbers count as zero and are not drawn; the tooltip notes how many were left out. If every value is negative you see "Only negative values; nothing to show".
- Past eight top-level groups, the smaller ones are gathered into a grey "Other" group, with their segments still drawn.
- If everything sits under one top-level group, that group becomes the centre and its name labels it.
- Labels only appear on segments thick and wide enough to hold them.
On a phone#
The rings shrink with the width and the legend (the top-level groups with their shares) moves below. Outer-ring labels are usually the first to go, so on a phone tap segments to read them, or use a Treemap.
Related charts#
- Pie chart: Categorical share
- Donut chart: Pie with center label
- Treemap: Nested rectangles by value
- Nightingale: Radial polar pie
- Radial bar: Polar bar chart
- Mosaic: Marimekko tiled cells
- Waffle: 100-unit grid share
- Funnel: Conversion stage flow
- Pyramid: Inverted funnel
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