Target not Displaying Correctly with Linear Gauge by MAQ Software

[ivan_larson_cki]

I'm using the Linear Gauge to show spend progress towards a set of targets (one for each business area), and I'm breaking the spending down between multiple categories (currently two, though items in a third category will exist in the future). When I added a Category value, my target value for each business area doubled, which caused confusion because I need it to be constant regardless of the number of categories I'm using to break down spending.

As a workaround, I added a DAX column that divides the target value by the number of categories where spending exists in that business area.

However, when I apply slicers to see different segments of spending within a business area, the number of categories of spending is sometimes reduced to 1. When that happens, my target is suddenly cut in half.

This element of the linear gauge - that it multiplies the target value by the number of different values for Category - is most unhelpful. Is there a way to consistently work around this limitation?

I did attempt to work around it by using a measure instead of a DAX column, but then the target just doesn't display at all.

Another solution I'm considering is adding $0.01 placeholders so that no matter how I slice the total, there is always something in each category. But that would be cumbersome to maintain and could cause visual confusion. So a better solution would be much appreciated.

[MAQSupport]

Hello @ivan_larson_cki ,

Linear Gauge by MAQ Software visual allows you to include multiple data points when column is present in category field. 

When you drag column in category data field, it contains multiple rows with same target column. 

Sum of Target including both categories will be 37K.  

It is the expected behavior of the visual. 

If you still face any issues, please contact us at support@maqsoftware.com 

Thanks

[ivan_larson_cki · Accepted solution]

Thanks. In this instance, that behavior is unhelpful, even if expected. But I've worked around it by adding an additional table listing the Pmt Category values, and with a measure that sums 0+ the amount while filtering using the SELECTEDVALUE() formula for the appropriate stage. I then used the Pmt Category value on that table as the Category, and the measure as the Actual Value. That way, the number of distinct Pmt Category values never changes based on slicing the data in various ways, so I can set the target as the actual target divided by the total number of distinct values for Pmt Category.

[MohammadSalman]

hi @ivan_larson_cki, 

I would really appriciate if you can share how you created the additional table and the measure to solve this issue. I am not very experienced in DAX so any guidance would be really helpful 🙂

Many thanks,

Mohammad

[v-yuta-msft]

@ivan_larson_cki ,

Could you please share more details about your requirement and share some sample data?

Regards,

Jimmy Tao

[ivan_larson_cki]

@v-yuta-msft  Sure! Using the data below, I made these visuals:

The target here should be 18.5k, which is displayed correctly in the top linear gauge. In the bottom linear gauge, I added Pmt Category to the Category section of the linear gauge, and the target amount doubled to 37k.

If I slice the data so that only one category applies, the Target is no longer doubled:

If I only needed to slice by values on the Areas table, I could work around this limitation, but I also need to slice by values on the Payments table (and in the live data, other intermediary tables):

Sample Summarization with Targets:

Business Area	Lead	Target
North	Joe	4500
South	Jane	5000
East	Jane	4000
West	Joe	5000

Sample Payment Data (related by Business Area):

Pmt ID	Amount	Pmt Category	Business Area	Project Set	Status
P-101	700	Pmt-Green	North	Alpha	In Progress
P-102	100	Pmt-Red	North	Alpha	In Progress
P-103	700	Pmt-Green	North	Alpha	In Progress
P-104	100	Pmt-Red	North	Alpha	In Progress
P-105	200	Pmt-Green	North	Alpha	In Progress
P-106	200	Pmt-Red	North	Beta	Confirmed
P-107	700	Pmt-Red	North	Beta	Confirmed
P-108	400	Pmt-Red	North	Beta	Confirmed
P-109	800	Pmt-Red	North	Beta	Confirmed
P-110	100	Pmt-Red	North	Beta	Confirmed
P-111	200	Pmt-Green	East	Gamma	In Progress
P-112	200	Pmt-Green	East	Gamma	In Progress
P-113	800	Pmt-Green	East	Gamma	In Progress
P-114	300	Pmt-Green	East	Gamma	In Progress
P-115	500	Pmt-Green	East	Delta	Confirmed
P-116	200	Pmt-Red	East	Delta	Confirmed
P-117	200	Pmt-Green	East	Delta	Confirmed
P-118	400	Pmt-Red	East	Delta	Confirmed
P-119	500	Pmt-Red	East	Epsilon	Confirmed
P-120	300	Pmt-Red	East	Epsilon	Confirmed
P-121	400	Pmt-Green	South	Zeta	In Progress
P-122	1000	Pmt-Green	South	Zeta	In Progress
P-123	300	Pmt-Green	South	Zeta	In Progress
P-124	100	Pmt-Green	South	Zeta	In Progress
P-125	100	Pmt-Green	South	Eta	Confirmed
P-126	900	Pmt-Green	South	Eta	Confirmed
P-127	1000	Pmt-Green	South	Eta	Confirmed
P-128	200	Pmt-Green	South	Eta	Confirmed
P-129	400	Pmt-Green	South	Theta	Confirmed
P-130	700	Pmt-Green	South	Theta	Confirmed
P-131	700	Pmt-Red	West	Iota	In Progress
P-132	500	Pmt-Red	West	Iota	In Progress
P-133	200	Pmt-Red	West	Iota	In Progress
P-134	300	Pmt-Red	West	Iota	In Progress
P-135	1000	Pmt-Red	West	Kappa	In Progress
P-136	1000	Pmt-Red	West	Kappa	In Progress
P-137	600	Pmt-Red	West	Kappa	In Progress
P-138	100	Pmt-Red	West	Lambda	Confirmed
P-139	300	Pmt-Red	West	Lambda	Confirmed
P-140	600	Pmt-Red	West	Mu	Confirmed