9 Marimekko chart
A marimekko chart (sometimes also called mekko chart) is a two-dimensional stacked chart. In addition to the varying segment heights of a regular stacked chart, a marimekko chart also has varying column widths.
Column widths are scaled such that the total width matches the desired chart width. To preserve the visual relationship between widths of different columns, there are no gaps between columns in a marimekko chart.
In fact, the baseline of a marimekko chart is a fully fledged value axis. You can select it with the mouse, and you can use its context menu to add tickmarks, tickmark labels and an axis title (see ‘Value axis’). If you have enabled tickmarks for the baseline, you can use the floating toolbar of the axis to switch between absolute and percentage values.
A marimekko chart can also be decorated with some of the features described in ‘Scales and axes’ and ‘Arrows and values’. The labels of the marimekko chart support the label content property, which lets you choose whether you want to display absolute values, percentages, or both (‘Label content’).
9.1 Marimekko chart with %-axis
| Toolbar icon: |  |
A marimekko chart with %-axis (sometimes also called mekko chart or 100% cost
curve) is a two-dimensional 100% chart. As in the 100% chart, the value axis is based
on percentages and column heights are shown relative to 100%. In the regular 100%
chart, since the columns are scaled to relative heights, there is no visual
representation of absolute column totals.
The marimekko chart with %-axis extends the 100% chart and uses variable column widths to represent column totals. Thus, the segment area is proportional to the absolute value of the segments. As in the 100% chart, by default the data sheet takes percentages and the 100%-equivalent values are entered explicitly in the row labeled “Width”. As an example, the above marimekko chart is rendered from the following data sheet:
Alternatively, you can also enter absolute values into the data sheet. In this case, for all columns that add up to 100%, you can leave the width row empty. For details about entering relative or absolute values refer to ‘Absolute and relative values’.
9.2 Marimekko chart with units
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A marimekko chart with units (sometimes also called submarine chart or olympic chart) is a two-dimensional stacked chart. As in the regular stacked chart, the value axis and the data sheet of this chart are based on absolute values.
Width and height are controlled completely independently. Column widths are entered in the width row on top and individual segment heights are entered as in a regular stacked chart.
9.3 Ridge
| In menu: | Chart |
| Menu item: |  |
Ridge button to
add or remove a bold ridge.
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