I was playing around in with Oracle’s Data Visualizer desktop tool recently and realized how simple it was to add trend lines and even a forecast onto a visualization. One of the questions I often get is , can reports add a trend line or a reference line. Depending on the tools that are being used, the process isn’t always any easy one. For Oracle Data Visualizer, the process can be simple

First of all, I started out by building a simple line graph.

Oracle Data Visualizer - line graph

By right clicking on the line graph, I can select “Add Trend Line”

Adding a trend line in Oracle Data Visualizer

Immediately, a trend line is rendered across the screen.

Rendering a trend line in Oracle Data Visualizer

As a stats nerd, I really like how you can control the confidence interval and the method of the trend line.

Trend line confidence interval and method

By right clicking again, I can add a reference line. Just like before, I can adjust my reference line to use different methods.

Adjusting a reference line in Oracle Data Visualizer

Right clicking for the final time, I selected the “Add Forecast Line”. This will have you do a simple installation for advanced analytics. The installation only takes about 60 seconds.

Adding a forecast line for predictive analytics in Oracle Data Visualizer

That shaded gray area on the right side of the image below is our three month forecast for the data on the screen. The number of months to forecast can be adjusted.

Oracle Data Visualizer is a quick way to visually diplay data, but it is also great at quickly seeing how data is trending, and forecasting where this data could go next.

If you have any questions about forecasting or Oracle Data Visualizer, please contact me at the following:

Kiel Briggs

kbriggs@ecapitaladvisors.com