CHART TOOL



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DESCRIPTION:

The chart tool displays data on five types of charts, including a bar chart, line chart, area chart, line chart with moving average and bar chart with moving average.  Up to four graphs can be displayed at the same time for comparison.  Use the "Action" menu to add and remove charts.  Select individual charts using the "Chart Selected" menu, or by clicking on them directly with the mouse.  Weightmania keeps track of the individual menu settings for each chart displayed.  Anytime an option is changed, the chart selected will instantly update.  Use the small plus and minus buttons (bottom center) to enlarge (zoom in) or shrink (zoom out) the selected chart.  This makes it easy to analyze data that may change slowly over time such as body weight.

Use a moving average chart to see quickly see long term trends, especially when the data appears very random.  It works by averaging consecutive data points together over a period of time.  The moving average is always drawn in yellow.  By default, every point represents the average of the previous three.  The number of data points averaged together is determined by the "M. Avg. Span" field.  Increase this value to make the data appear more smoothed and decrease it to make it more sensitive.

Almost every data field in the journal can be plotted, including workout ratings, weather, injuries and difficulty. These entries are converted to numeric values to make this possible.  For example, weather is converted to a number between 1 and 5.  5 is the best (sunny) and 1 and 2 are the worst (snow and rain).  In this case, the chart will be labeled using words instead of numbers.  

Graphs can include all the data in the journal, but to make them easier to read, they only display a maximum of 365 data points.  If there are more than 365, adjacent values are averaged together until the number of data points is less than or equal to 365.  For example, the first and second values are averaged together, the third and fourth values are averaged, and so forth.  Only days that were saved in the journal during the specified date range are included.  If no data was entered for a particular day, or the data value is zero, it will be ignored.

MENUS & FIELDS:

Date Range Specifies the date range to include on the specified chart.  There are eight options which include, "Last 7 Days", "Last 14 Days", "Last 30 Days", "Last 3 months", "Last 6 months", "Last Year", "All Data", and "Range Below".  "All Data" includes all of the data available in the database.  The "Range Below" option uses the date range specified below.
Category Specifies the journal category.  This determines the journal fields that will be shown in the "Field" menu.  For example, if "Cardiovascular" is selected, only fields related to cardiovascular workouts will be listed.
Field Specifies the journal data field to include on the chart.  Only a single data field can be plotted at one time and only non-zero values will be displayed.  For example, if there are five workouts stored in a date range, and only two contain non-zero data for the field selected, then only two will points appear on the chart below.
Chart Type Specifies the type of chart to display.  There are five options which include, "Line", "Bar", "Area", "Moving Avg. I", and "Moving Avg. II".  The first two options create a line and bar chart.  "Area" generates a line chart with the area underneath it filled in. This is good for visualizing data that changes very slowly over time.  "Moving Average I" combines a standard line chart and a moving average line chart.  The two graphs are shown together.  "Moving Average II" combines a bar chart and moving average line chart.  Standard charts are drawn in blue, and moving averages appear in yellow.
Chart Selected Specifies the chart to select.  When a chart is selected, its title will appear in black and the titles above other charts will change to gray.  Charts can also be selected by clicking on them directly with the mouse.  All of the menu options apply to the currently selected chart.  Weightmania keeps track of the menu settings for each chart displayed.
Action Specifies an action to perform.  There are five options which include, "Add Chart", "Hide Grid", "Show Grid", "Remove Chart", and "Remove All".  The first option adds a new chart.  Up to four charts can be displayed at the same time.  Options two and three hide and remove the chart grid.  This may make it easier to view some charts.  The last two options remove the currently selected chart or all the charts.
Start Date Specifies a start date for the range of days to be included on the chart.  To use this, you must select, "Range Below" on the "Date Range" menu.
End Date Specifies an end date for the range of days to be included on the chart.  To use this, you must select, "Range Below" on the "Date Range" menu.
Zoom (- / +) Specifies the zoom level for the selected chart.  The plus button enlarges (zooms in) and the minus button shrinks (zooms out) the selected chart.  This makes it easy to analyze data that may change slowly over time such as body weight.
M.-Avg. Span Specifies the number of consecutive data points to average together, for each point on a moving average.  The range for this field is 0 to 200.  By default, this value is set to three.  This means every point on the moving average represents the average of the previous three.  Increase this value to make the data appear more smoothed, and decrease it to make the moving average more sensitive. 
Cardio. Filter Settings Specifies a database filter.  This option lets you create charts for specific types of cardiovascular workouts.  For example, you can create a chart based on running workouts next to a chart that only includes cycling workouts.  Each chart has its own filter.  Click "On" to use the filter and "Off" to disable it.