Add small inline charts (aka Tufte's 'sparklines')

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#1

Just like inline code, I would like to create very small charts that show data within a line of text. This is inspired by sparklines, a data visualization approach by Edward Tufte.

I was creating a table recently and thought that these sorts of small bar charts, line charts, and pie charts would be great to quickly overview a large table.

Also see this site because it shows how they work within table cells. That’d be a great idea too.

3 Likes
#2

Ooh, I like that idea. Good one.

#3

I guess this wouldnt be an easy addition, but I really like this idea :slight_smile:

#4

Indeed, this is an ideal way to quickly assess trending. I have two clients who use these in tables but achieving this in Coda is presently a tedious process.

  1. Create an API process in Google Apps Script that reads the [Coda-based data] data from time-to-time.
  2. Fabricate a sparkline chart in Google Charts.
  3. Take a snapshot of the chart as a PNG image and save it to Drive.
  4. Upload the URL of the sparkline image to the Coda table using the Coda API.

It’s madness just to see a little line but, it’s a very important little line. :wink:

3 Likes
#5

You can use Rectangle()s creatively to render some bar charts within a cell:

Or to go in full custom mode (sparklines and stuff) you can use SVG capabilities, e.g.

(you can have these in cells, not just one per doc)