What is a sparkling line?

Spark line is a graphics used to transmit information in the text. By definition, Sparklines take up very little space, but to provide a lot of information. They are usually used to map changes over time. The common use for sparks is the graphs of stock activity or economic fluctuation.

The term Sparklin was first used by Edward Tufte, American statistics and professor at Yale University. TUFTE wrote a number of books to display information using graphics. His theory of Sparklines is outlined in the book Beautiful evidence , which was published in 2006 by Graphics Press.

Sparklines can take many forms. The most commonly seen spark has three basic elements. The line chart shows the change over time. The title between one and three words long says what the graph measures. Finally, the number shows the overall or end result of graphic changes. More elements can be added, but the object of the spark is to maintain graphics as simple as possible in transportation information.

Spark line is usually built intoa text of a book or document. The graph and its accompanying information appear in accordance with the text. They usually have approximately the same height as the text line on which they are located. The information given in sparkly illustrates the text that appears directly before or after. This allows the reader to display graphics without interrupting his reading.

For example, in the economic text, if the author wanted to show how the industrial average Dow Jones changed over time, could use a traditional graph with X -marked time and axis. The author could then put the note of the line of the message to the reader to see Figure 1-A. Then the reader could stop reading, find Figure 1-A and check the chart. Tufte thought that instead of distracting the reader's attention, it was best to put the sgrahographic directly into the text.

Tufte also presented a concept for something called a small multiple, a graphics that include several sparks. KaSparklin's chart has its own X-Y axis, so each information is separate. Yet sparks are close enough to see at the same time. This allows comparison without visual confusion. Small multiples are most useful for comparing things that change over time but are not measured by the same scale.