---
title: Usage Insights data options for bar visualizations
description: When you select a Usage Insights data source for a horizontal or vertical bar visualization, the following Data configuration options are available.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/now-intelligence/config-dv-bar-uxa-data.html
release: australia
topic_type: reference
last_updated: "2026-03-12"
reading_time_minutes: 7
breadcrumb: [Horizontal and vertical bar visualizations, Create, Data visualizations, Platform Analytics experience, Platform Analytics]
---

# Usage Insights data options for bar visualizations

When you select a Usage Insights data source for a horizontal or vertical bar visualization, the following Data configuration options are available.

**Note:** If you add a Platform Analytics data visualization with Usage Insights data to an inline dashboard, the default drilldown for that data visualization is to open the corresponding UXA analytics page. This feature provides a quick and efficient way to drill down and explore specific user behavior from your Platform Analytics dashboard.

<table id="table_wqy_sjr_qtb"><thead><tr><th>

Field

</th><th>

Description

</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td class="sub-head" id="heading-data" colspan="2">

Data

</td></tr><tr><td>

Data source

</td><td>

You have selected a Usage Insights data source in [Create a horizontal or vertical bar data visualization](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/now-intelligence/create-dv-bar-ac.md).

</td></tr><tr><td class="sub-head" colspan="2">

MetricYou can set multiple metrics. You can set whether dashboard filters apply to individual metrics. For more information, see [Options for time series data visualizations with multiple metrics](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/now-intelligence/chart-options-multi-metrics.md).

</td></tr><tr><td>

Metric

</td><td>

Label of the metric. By default it is the same as the name of the data source: Events or Sessions.For sessions, you can configure the metric to reflect the number of sessions, average session duration, average pages per session, or average sessions per user.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Format values

</td><td id="entry_format-values">

Select to open the **Formatting values** dialog. For more information, see [Value formatting in reports](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/now-intelligence/reporting/value-formatting-reports.md).

</td></tr><tr><td class="sub-head" colspan="2">

Formatting values

</td></tr><tr><td>

Use custom formatting

</td><td>

Option to use custom formatting on the component.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Decimal precision

</td><td id="entry_decimal-precision">

Number of decimals to show in the metric. This field is available only when the **Use custom formatting** option is activated.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Rounding

</td><td>

Type of rounding to use to reach the number of decimals in the **Decimal precision** field. Options include:-   Up `UP`
-   Down `DOWN`
-   Ceiling `CEILING`
-   Floor `FLOOR`
-   Half up `HALF_UP`
-   Half down `HALF_DOWN`
-   Half even `HALF_EVEN`

 **Note:** Only available when **Use custom formatting** is true.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Use the thousands group separator

</td><td>

Option to use a comma to separate groups of thousands.**Note:** Only available when **Use custom formatting** is true.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Enable abbreviation

</td><td>

Option to use an alphabetical abbreviation. For example, M to represent million. **Note:** Only available when **Use custom formatting** is true.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Example

</td><td>

Example of the final value to show in the component. **Note:** Only available when **Use custom formatting** is true

</td></tr><tr><td class="sub-head" colspan="2">

Group by

</td></tr><tr><td>

Event property

</td><td>

Properties of the Usage Insights data source.

**Note:** Available only for Events and Sessions metrics, in which case it is mandatory.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Add alternative group by

</td><td>

This selection opens a dialog in which you select additional items that the data in the visualization may be grouped by. The viewer of the visualization can then select which of these items to group the data by. The viewer toggles the visibility of the selector in the visualization's More actions menu. In the additional items dialog, you can set whether this selector is visible by default by toggling **Selector visible by default**.If you select a value in **Group by**, that is the default group-by value. You do not have to select a **Group by** value to specify alternative group-by values. In this case, no default group-by value is used.

Data snapshots indicators support only reference, boolean, and choice fields for alternative group bys.

For more information about setting alternative group-bys for multiple metrics, see [Options for time series data visualizations with multiple metrics](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/now-intelligence/chart-options-multi-metrics.md). For more information about the viewer experience selecting from alternative group-by values, see [Select a group-by value in a data visualization as a viewer](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/now-intelligence/select-group-runtime.md).

**Important:**

-   Only up to three metrics on one visualization support alternative group-by.
-   Alternative group-by does not support data binding on the data source

</td></tr><tr><td class="sub-head" colspan="2">

Sorting

</td></tr><tr><td>

Sort by

</td><td>

Sorting options of the main and alternative groups set in **Group by**. Options include:-   Name: Sorts the values alphabetically by field or element name.
-   Value: Sorts the values numerically or by count.
-   Element order: When grouping by Choice \[sys\_choice\] table records, sorts groups by the Sequence field value.
-   Group bucket: Sorts the elements by bucket group, when applicable. Only available for indicator data sources and when the breakdown used for the **Group by** is based on a bucket group.
-   Report range: Sorts the table field values by range. Only available for table data sources and when the table field used for the **Group by** has a report range associated with it.

**Note:**

-   The choices of what to sort by are based on the main, default **Group by**, if one is defined. This sorting applies to any alternative group-bys if possible. If the sorting criterion cannot apply to an alternative group-by, sorting defaults to Value. For example, sorting by Element order when the alternative group-by is not on the Choice table defaults to Value.
-   If no main **Group by** has been set, but alternative group-bys are defined, you can sort only by Name or Value.
-   Sorting is not available for Pareto bar visualizations. Pareto charts are always sorted by value in descending order.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Sort by order

</td><td>

Ascending or descending.Limitations:

-   You can only order by the **Group By** or the **Stack by** field.
-   You can only order by one field. It is not possible to sort by Additional group by fields.

</td></tr><tr><td class="sub-head" colspan="2">

Date range

</td></tr><tr><td>

Show data for selected period as

</td><td>

Available when **Apply date range** is selected.The indicator aggregation logic for how scores from the selected period are shown, such as Latest score, Sum, or Average.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Set absolute period

</td><td>

Option to set absolute start and end date.Available when **Apply date range** is selected.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Period start

</td><td>

Start date for the absolute period.This property applies only when **Set absolute period** is true.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Period end

</td><td>

End date for the absolute period.This property applies only when **Set absolute period** is true.

Select **Use current date for period end** to automatically update the end date to the current date. \(Not available if the start date is in the future.\)

</td></tr><tr><td>

Period

</td><td>

Time interval for each date period. -   Days `D`
-   Months `M`
-   Years `Y`

 This property applies only when **Set absolute period** is false.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Number of periods

</td><td>

Number of date periods to display. This property applies only when **Set absolute period** is true.

</td></tr><tr><td class="sub-head" colspan="2">

Data update

</td></tr><tr><td>

Follow filters

</td><td>

Follow filters set for a page. When enabled, the visualization displays on a workspace with the filters set by the page. Toggle off to disable a visualization from accepting any filter input.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Follow filter per metric

</td><td>

If the visualization shows multiple metrics, toggle filter following on and off for each metric. Default: All metrics follow filters if Follow filters is on. For more information, see [Following filters per metric](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/now-intelligence/chart-options-bars-multi-metrics.md).

</td></tr><tr><td>

Show filter icon

</td><td>

Option to show the filter icon and the number of filters impacting the visualization. If a filter is not selected to apply to a visualization, the icon does not show. Toggle off to hide the filter icon and number of filters applied.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Refresh after being away for X min.

</td><td>

Triggered when you navigate away from the dashboard that contains the data visualization to another page in the same workspace, includingPlatform Analytics experience. Sets how many minutes you will be on another page before the visualization automatically refreshes when you navigate back.Do not confuse this property with the **Scheduled repetition** setting on inline dashboards. This latter property refreshes the entire dashboard, and applies only while that dashboard is open.

</td></tr><tr><td class="sub-head" colspan="2">

Info messages

</td></tr><tr><td>

Set custom message when no data

</td><td>

Option to configure a custom message that displays when no data is returned.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Illustration

</td><td>

An illustration to include in the message.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Heading

</td><td>

Header text of the message that describes why no data was returned.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Heading level

</td><td>

Header text size for the message that describes why no data was returned.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Content

</td><td>

Secondary text of the message that provides additional detail.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Alignment

</td><td>

The alignment of the illustration and text in the message.

</td></tr></tbody>
</table>**Parent Topic:**[Create a horizontal or vertical bar data visualization](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/now-intelligence/create-dv-bar-ac.md)