Heatmap reports

Heatmap reports display aggregate data visually using colors to represent different values on a matrix. Heatmap reports can have no more than 1000 cells.

Note:

When accessibility is enabled, this visualization includes a report that screen readers can interpret. For more information, see Enabling accessibility features.

This topic refers to Reporting in the Core UI. For instances migrated to Platform Analytics experience and new Australia instances, see Create a heatmap data visualization.

In the figure, the cell for confirmed low priority problems is filled to highlight the large value.

Create a heatmap report

Create a heatmap report to show aggregate data visually using colors to represent different values on a matrix.

Before you begin

Role required: report_admin

About this task

Note:

A smaller-sized heatmap chart doesn't display non-zero values which would otherwise overlap an adjacent value. Row labels for these values also do not show. You can hover over a blank value cell to see its value, or enlarge the chart size to accommodate values. Understanding how this particular chart type behaves can help you interpret results and determine the appropriate sizing for your data.

Procedure

1. Navigate to sys_reports.list and select New.
2. On the Data tab, give the report a name that reflects the information being grouped.
3. Select the applicable source for the report.

   Option	Description
   Data source	Also called a report source, a data source is a table with filters applied to provide a single source of information for all users. For more information, see Report sources. Note: If you select a data source used by existing reports, a notification prompts you to view them.
   Table	The raw data from a table with no filters applied. When you select a table, its short description appears below the table name. For trend reporting, you can also select a remote table, which aggregates, in memory, data retrieved from an external source. Then select a Trend by field option to aggregate its data. To learn more about remote tables, see Retrieving external data using remote tables and scripts
   External import	Choose an existing imported report source, or select the Upload icon () to import a new file. See Create a Core UI report from an imported Microsoft Excel document.
   MetricBase	MetricBase enables you to collect, retain, analyze, and visualize custom time series data on the ServiceNow AI Platform. For more information, see MetricBase.

4. On the Type tab, enter Heatmap in the filter, select the report type, and click Next.

   The application shows a preliminary version of the report. To view the updated report at any time, select Run.

5. Fill in the fields, as appropriate (see table).

   Table 1. Fields

   Field	Description
   Row	Field used as the source of the data for the rows in the heatmap. To select a source field on an extended table, see How to report on extended tables. Select the info icon for a description of the selected field. Note: Label names longer than 20 characters may show or print a truncated view.
   Column	Field used as the source of the data for the columns in the heatmap. To select a source field on an extended table, see How to report on extended tables. Select the info icon for a description of the selected field. Note: Label names longer than 20 characters may show or print a truncated view.
   Configure function field	Configure fields based on calculation of multiple inputs including arithmetic functions. For more information, see Report on function fields. Function field results are calculated when the report is run. You can use the results for aggregations and grouping. You have to save the report before you can configure function fields. Configured function fields appear in the Group by and Additional group by lists after you save the report.
   Aggregation	Mathematical calculation to perform on the data. The default is Count, which shows the number of records selected. To show only unique records, select Count Distinct. Select Average, Sum, or Count Distinct, to show a list of fields from the selected Table. Select a field to Aggregate by from this list. If you group the report by a field and select an Average aggregate, you get the average of each group. If a Total value is shown, it is the average of these group averages, not of the individual field values. Select Minimum or Maximum to show the maximum or minimum value for each segment of the report. For more information on aggregation options, see Aggregation in reporting. If you choose Average,Sum, Count Distinct, Minimum, or Maximum, you may be able to aggregate on fields from extended tables. See How to report on extended tables. For information about aggregating on FX currency values, see FX Currency values in reporting.
   Max number of groups	Maximum number of groups that the Group by condition returns. The groups with highest values are shown first. Any groups beyond the limit are combined into the single group Other. If you select Show all, all groups up to a limit of 50 are displayed. The rest of the results are grouped as Other.
   Show Other	Check box to include the Other group in the report. The Other group contains data for all groups that exceed the number specified in Max number of groups.

6. Optional: Configure the sort order of the applicable fields in the report (column, row, Group by, Stack by or Trend by depending on the report type).
   Select the filter icon () and choose Add Sort.

   1. In the Sorting Order list, choose the field you want to sort on and then choose a-z or z-a for alphabetical order or reverse alphabetical order.

      The list contains all possible fields from the report's source and fields on extended, or related, tables. The only effective values, however, are the fields chosen for the current report (column, row, Group by, Stack by, or Trend by depending on the report type).

      Note:

      On fields from dot-walked (extended) tables, you can only sort on date fields.
   2. Select the sort plus icon () to configure additional sorting order conditions. (Select the sort minus icon ( ) to delete configured sorting order conditions.)
   3. Select Save.

   For fields of the type Choice list, sort order is not determined alphabetically based on Label, it is sorted based on the Value of the choice field. For multi-level pivot table and heatmap reports, sort order is determined by the sequence of the choices in the list.

   

7. Optional: To limit the information displayed in the report, select the filter icon () and specify conditions to filter the report data.
   To learn how to construct conditions, see Condition builder.

   Note:

   In aggregated and list reports, language-dependent filter conditions may return zero results on localized instances.
8. On the Style tab, fill in the fields as appropriate to configure the appearance of the report.
9. Select Save to continue editing the visualization, or Save and close to return to the Analytics Overview main screen.

What to do next

• Select the Report info icon () and add a description of the report.
• Select the sharing icon () to open the Sharing menu. On this menu, you can add the report to a dashboard, export the report to PDF, publish the report to the web, and set visibility and schedules.

Heatmap report style options

Change the look of your heatmap chart.

When you create or edit a report, click the Style tab for options to configure the look of your report. The options are organized under two or more of the following tabs: General, Title, Legend, and Axis. To see how the report looks with the changed settings, click Save.

Table 2. Heatmap chart style options

General
Use heatmap colors	Check box to use different colors to indicate different values.
Color for high scores	Color used to indicate a high value on the chart.
Color for low scores	Color used to indicate a low value on the chart.
Display data labels	Check box to show the value for each data point.
Display Zero	Select this check box to display the number 0 when the value of a cell is 0. Clear this check box to display an empty cell when the value of the cell is 0.
Custom chart size	Enable the option to specify the width and height of the report in pixels. Note: The chart size is ignored when you export the report to PDF. In PDFs, the full page width is used to show the chart.
Chart width	Width of the report in pixels. The default value is 600. This field is available when Custom chart size is selected.
Chart height	Height of the report in pixels. The default value is 450. This field appears when Custom chart size is selected.
Chart size	Chart size. This field is available when Custom chart size is cleared. Options are Small, Medium, and Large. Note: The chart size is ignored when you export the report to PDF. In PDFs, the full page width is used to show the chart.
Drilldown view	List view to show when a user selects a segment of a report for which no drilldown report type is specified. This view is also used when the user reaches the lowest drilldown level of a report. See Configure the list layout . If you specify a Report drilldown, Drilldown view is ignored. For more information, see Define a report drilldown.
Decimal precision	Number of decimal places to show. You can show from zero to four decimal places. Default value: 2. To change the default value, create the system property glide.chart.decimal.precision and specify the value. Note: Percentage labels do not change accordingly with the decimal precision specified.
Title
Show chart title	When the chart title is shown for the report. Never: Never show the chart title. Report only: Shows the chart title on reports. Always: Shows the chart title on reports, dashboards, and landing pages.
Chart title	The chart title has a maximum length of 40 characters. If no title is entered, the report name is used for the title. This field appears when Report only or Always is selected from the Show chart title list.
Size of the chart title	Size of the chart title in pixels. This field appears when Report only or Always is selected from the Show chart title list.
Chart title color	Color of the chart title. This field appears when Report only or Always is selected from the Show chart title list.
Custom chart title position	Check box to specify X and Y coordinates for the position of the chart title. This field appears when Report only or Always is selected from the Show chart title list.
Chart title X position	Number of pixels to adjust the chart title position right or left. By default the title appears at the center top of the chart. To move the chart title to the right, enter a positive value. To move the title to the left, enter a negative value. This field appears only when Custom chart title position is selected.
Chart title Y position	Number of pixels to adjust the chart title position up or down. By default the title appears at the center top of the chart. To move up the chart title, enter a positive value. To move the chart title down, enter a negative value. This field appears only when Custom chart title position is selected.
Title horizontal alignment	How the chart title is aligned horizontally. This field is available when the Custom chart title position option is cleared.
Title vertical alignment	How the chart title is aligned vertically. This field appears when Custom chart title position is cleared.
Legend
Show legend	Enable this option to show a chart legend. This check box appears when a Group by field is selected on the report form. Legends are truncated by default. To adjust truncation lengths, configure the properties glide.chart.label.legend.truncate_to and glide.chart.label.legend.truncate_to.large. For more information, see Reporting properties.
Legend horizontal alignment	How the legend is aligned horizontally. This field appears when Show legend is selected.
Legend vertical alignment	How the legend is aligned vertically. This field appears when Show legend is selected.
Show legend border	Enable this option to show a border around the legend. This check box appears when Show legend is selected.
Left align legend text	Enable this option to left-align the legend text when the report is viewed in a browser. By default, the legend text is centered. When the report is exported to PDF, PNG, or JPG, the legend remains centered. This check box appears when Show legend is selected.