PRO TREND LINE CHART
Support Documentation
Version 1.0 · March 2026
Abdalla Dabes, P.E, PSP, PMP
Abdalla AI Solutions
AbdallaDabes@AbdallaAIsolutions.onmicrosoft.com
1. Executive Summary
The Pro Trend Line Chart is a professional-grade custom visual for Microsoft Power BI that enables project managers, planners, and controllers to visualize time-phased planned-versus-actual performance data directly within Power BI reports and dashboards.
It renders configurable actual and planned S-curves, variance bands, forecast lines, anomaly detection, reference lines, trend overlays, a slide-out analysis panel, and a mini sparkline — all responding to cross-visual filtering from slicers, tables, matrices, and any other visual on the report page.
Visual at a Glance
Actual & Planned Lines — Configurable color, width, style, curve, area fill
Variance Band — Green/red fill split geometrically at each crossover
Forecast / Remaining Line — From Remaining Units data field or linear regression
Reference Lines — Average, Max, Min, Median, custom target
Trend Lines — Linear regression or moving average overlay
Anomaly Detection — Std Dev, IQR, or Z-Score with sensitivity control
Analysis Panel — Live stats: averages, totals, variance %, achievement rate
Cross-Visual Filtering — Responds to tables, matrices, slicers, bar charts, maps
Sparkline Panel — Miniature context chart below the main plot
2. Contact Information
Field
Details
Developer
Abdalla Dabes, P.E, PSP, PMP
Organization
Abdalla AI Solutions
AbdallaDabes@AbdallaAIsolutions.onmicrosoft.com
Support Hours
Monday – Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM (UAE Time)
Urgent Issues
Best-effort response within 24 hours
After Hours
Emails addressed on next business day
2.1 Response Times
Priority
Response Target
Critical Issues
1 business day acknowledgment
Technical Problems
2–3 business days resolution
General Questions
1–2 business days response
Feature Requests
3–5 business days evaluation
3. Support Services
3.1 Technical Support
The following issues are covered under technical support:
• Visual not rendering or showing the landing placeholder screen
• Data fields not mapping correctly to visual roles (Time Axis, Actual Units, Planned Units, Remaining Units, Tooltips)
• Y-axis, color, line style, or formatting settings not applying
• Analysis Panel button not appearing or statistics not updating
• Forecast / remaining line not rendering or showing incorrect values
• Cross-visual filtering not responding to table or matrix selections
• Date labels rendering incorrectly (backslash characters, integer serials)
• Variance band not splitting correctly at crossover points
• Anomaly markers not appearing despite visible outliers
• Sparkline panel not rendering
• Performance issues with large datasets
3.2 General Inquiries
• Feature questions and clarifications
• Best practices for preparing planned vs. actual time-series data
• DAX measure guidance for cumulative or periodic measures
• Formatting and layout recommendations for reports
• Compatibility verification with Power BI Desktop / Service versions
3.3 Feature Requests
• Additional statistical metrics or calculations
• New chart modes or display options
• Integration improvements with other Power BI visuals
• Custom annotation or reporting features
3.4 Information to Include When Contacting Support
To help resolve issues quickly, please include the following when emailing support:
• Power BI Desktop version (Help → About)
• Pro Trend Line Chart visual version (shown in the visual context menu)
• Description of the issue and steps to reproduce
• Error messages or screenshots
• Data structure details:
◦ Number of time periods in your dataset
◦ Whether Planned Units and/or Remaining Units are mapped
◦ Forecast Basis setting (Remaining Units or Average Performance)
◦ Date column type (Date, text, integer serial)
• Environment:
◦ Power BI Desktop or Power BI Service
◦ Browser name and version (if Service)
◦ Operating system (Windows / macOS)
4. Data Field Mapping
4.1 Required Fields
Role
Description
Time Axis
Date or ordered category column driving the X-axis. Supports Date columns, date hierarchies, and text periods (e.g. 'Jan-25', '2025-Q1').
Actual Units
Measured or achieved value per period. This is the primary data series.
4.2 Optional Fields
Role
Description
Planned / Estimated Units
Target or baseline value per period. Required for the variance band, planned line, and achievement rate statistics.
Remaining Units
Future remaining work per period. Used as the forecast line when Forecast Basis is set to 'Remaining Units (data field)'.
Tooltips (up to 5)
Additional measures shown in the hover tooltip only. Not rendered on the chart.
4.3 Forecast Basis Options
Set in the Format pane under Forecast → Forecast Basis:
Option
Behaviour
Remaining Units (data field)
Draws the forecast line directly from values mapped to the Remaining Units role. Future periods (where Actual is null) must have Remaining Units populated.
Average Current Performance
Projects forward using linear regression on the Actual series. Configure Forecast Periods (default 5) and Confidence Interval (90/95/99%).
5. Buttons & Controls
Control
Description
Analysis Button
Floating button (bottom-right) that toggles the slide-out Analysis Panel. Label and colors configurable via Format pane → Analysis Panel.
Right-Click Menu
Displays Power BI's native context menu (Export data, Spotlight, Focus mode, Drill Through).
Click Data Point
Selects the period and cross-filters all other visuals on the page. Ctrl+Click for multi-select.
Crosshair & Tooltip
Vertical tracking line with rich HTML tooltip showing Actual, Planned, Remaining, Variance, Rolling Average, and any Tooltip role measures.
6. Common Issues & Quick Solutions
Issue
Solution
Visual shows landing placeholder (no chart).
Ensure Time Axis and Actual Units are both mapped with non-empty numeric data. At least two non-null time periods are required.
Planned line or variance band not appearing.
Map a measure to the Planned / Estimated Units role. The variance band requires both Actual and Planned to be present in the same periods.
Variance band shows as one solid color instead of green/red split.
The dual-color split only renders where both Actual and Planned values coexist. Verify both series have data in the same periods.
Forecast line not appearing.
Enable Forecast in Format pane → Forecast → Enable Forecast. For 'Remaining Units' basis, populate future periods in the Remaining Units role.
Cross-filtering from a table does not update the chart.
Update to visual v2.4 or later. Versions before v2.4 only responded to slicers, not table/matrix clicks.
Date labels show as integers (e.g. 45627).
Set the column data type to Date in Power Query and assign a date format string in the data model.
Date labels show backslash characters (e.g. 20\-Dec\-25).
Update to v2.3 or later. The backslash-escape fix for PBI format strings such as 'dd\-MMM\-yy' is included from v2.3.
Analysis Panel shows 0 or N/A for all statistics.
Verify Actual Units contains valid numeric values. Blank or text values produce no statistics.
Anomaly markers not appearing.
Enable Anomaly Detection in Format pane → Anomaly Detection. A minimum of 4 actual data points is required.
Analysis button not visible.
Enable via Format pane → Analysis Panel → Show Analysis Button (toggle ON).
Sparkline not rendering.
Enable via Format pane → Mini Sparkline Panel → Show Sparkline Panel (toggle ON).
Visual is slow with large datasets.
Aggregate to monthly or quarterly periods in Power Query. The visual is optimized for up to ~10,000 points.
7. Data Preparation Best Practices
7.1 Expected Data Structure
The visual expects one row per reporting period. Example structure:
Period
Actual
Planned
Remaining
Notes
Jan-25
1,200
1,500
—
Historical
Feb-25
2,800
3,000
—
Historical
Mar-25
4,100
4,600
—
Data date
Apr-25
(null)
6,200
2,100
Future
May-25
(null)
8,000
1,800
Future
Key rules:
• Actual values should be null (not zero) for future periods — zero is plotted as a data point.
• Remaining Units values should be populated for future periods when using the 'Remaining Units' forecast basis.
• Use a Sort By Column in Power BI if your period labels are text strings that do not sort naturally.
7.2 DAX Tips
If your source data is transactional rather than cumulative, create running total measures:
Example: Cumulative Actual DAX Measure
Cumulative Actual =
CALCULATE(
SUM( FactTable[ActualCost] ),
FILTER(
ALL( DimDate[Period] ),
DimDate[Period] <= MAX( DimDate[Period] )
)
)
Apply the same pattern for Planned / Remaining measures.
8. Known Limitations
Limitation
Workaround
Large datasets (200+ periods) may reduce rendering performance.
Aggregate to monthly or quarterly granularity. Apply page-level or visual-level filters to reduce visible range.
Forecast regression requires at least 2 actual data points.
Ensure at least 2 periods have non-null Actual values before enabling Average Performance forecast.
No native time hierarchy drill-down within the visual.
Use Power BI page-level slicers or filters to change the period granularity displayed.
Touch zoom/pan may be limited on Power BI Mobile.
Best experience on desktop and web; use view-only mode on mobile devices.
The Analysis Panel statistics reflect only the visible/selected data.
This is by design — the panel updates dynamically when cross-visual filtering is active.
9. Format Pane Reference
All 21 format cards and their primary settings:
Format Card
Key Settings
Chart Title
Show, title text, font size/color, alignment
Actual Units Line
Show, color, width, style, curve, data points, area fill, opacity
Planned Units Line
Same options as Actual. Default: amber dashed
Remaining / Forecast Line
Show, color, width, style, data points, area fill
Variance Band
Show, positive color, negative color, opacity (%)
Reference Lines
Average (actual/planned), Max, Min, Median, Custom Target — each with color
Trend Lines
Show (actual/planned), Linear or Moving Average, period, colors
Anomaly Detection
Enable, method (Std Dev/IQR/Z-Score), sensitivity, marker color/size
Forecast
Enable, basis (Remaining Units/Avg Performance), periods, confidence interval
Performance Zones
Enable, overperform color, underperform color, opacity (%)
Chart Margins
Top, Bottom, Left, Right (px)
X-Axis
Show, color, font size/color, label angle, gridlines, title
Y-Axis
Show, display unit (Auto/K/M/B), decimals, min/max override, title
Legend
Show, position (6 options), font, background
Tooltip
Show, variance, variance %, rolling average period, cumulative total
Data Labels
Show, series (actual/planned/both), position, font, display unit
Conditional Formatting
Enable, upper/lower thresholds, above/within/below colors
Background & Border
Show background, color, transparency, border color/width/radius
Crosshair
Show, color, width (px)
Mini Sparkline Panel
Show, height (px)
Analysis Panel
Show button, label, colors; toggle per-section and per-metric visibility
10. Frequently Asked Questions
Question
Answer
What is the minimum data required?
Map Time Axis and Actual Units. All other roles are optional. The variance band requires Planned Units.
Why does the variance band show only one color?
Both Actual and Planned must be non-null in the same periods. The green/red split is computed at geometric crossover points.
How does cross-visual filtering work with tables?
Table/matrix clicks send a highlights[] array. The visual reads null entries as filtered-out and renders them at 12% opacity (ghost layer) while the selected points render at full opacity.
Can I use this visual for multiple projects?
Each visual instance shows one dataset. Use slicers or separate visual instances for multi-project comparison.
How do I change axis number format?
Format pane → Y-Axis → Display Unit (Auto/K/M/B). Decimal Places is in the same section.
My dates appear as integers on the X-axis.
Set the column type to Date in Power Query and assign a format string in the data model (e.g. dd-MMM-yy).
The Analysis Panel shows stale numbers after I click a table.
Update to v2.4. All statistics now recalculate from the highlighted selection.
How do I report a bug?
Email AbdallaDabes@AbdallaAIsolutions.onmicrosoft.com with a description, steps to reproduce, Power BI Desktop version, and a screenshot.
11. Version Information
Property
Value
Current Version
2.4
Release Date
March 2026
API Version
Power BI Visual API 5.11.0
Chart Library
D3.js v7.9.0
Formatting Utils
powerbi-visuals-utils-formattingmodel v1.4.0
11.1 Supported Environments
Environment
Status
Power BI Desktop (April 2024 or later)
✓ Fully supported
Power BI Service (all modern browsers)
✓ Fully supported
Power BI Embedded (API v2+)
✓ Fully supported
Power BI Report Server (Jan 2024+)
✓ Supported
Power BI Mobile (iOS / Android)
✓ View mode supported
Windows 10 / 11
✓ Supported
macOS (Power BI Service)
✓ Supported
Click here to download the manual
Thank you for using the Trendline Visual.
For support, contact AbdallaDabes@AbdallaAIsolutions.onmicrosoft.com