Parent Category (required)

Parent Category defines the rows in the Timeline visual.  Multiple fields can be used to display a hierarchy.  Our example shows a two-level hierarchy: Project and Task.

From the Excel data file on the Waterfall-View tab, we will use Project and Task Name:

In the Power BI sample report on the Waterfall-View tab, click the Waterfall View button. Note the fields in the Parent Category field well:

From the Excel data file on the Waterfall-View tab, we will use Project and Task Name:

In the visual, the result is:

Timeline Category (required)

Timeline Category is used to categorize both the Timeline Bars and Milestones and enables the ability to set Timeline Bar color by category, and Milestone color and shape by category. From our sample data we will use the Priority field:

Here is the field in the Timeline Category field well:

Milestone/Task (required)

This is a True/False field that delineates between Tasks and Milestones in the data. From our sample data:

Timeline Bar (required)

This field supplies the name for each Timeline bar. In many cases this will be the field used for the lowest level of the Parent Category – as in this case, we will use Task Name. Note that the visual will only use the data from the Task field when the Milestone/Task field is False:

Here is the field in the Timeline Bar field well:

Timeline Bar Text (optional)

The Timeline Bar Text field enables the display of text in the Timeline Bar. For this example we will use Assigned to:

Here is the field in the Timeline Bar field well:

The text can now be rendered in the Timeline bars:

Timeline Bar Start Date, Timeline Bar Finish Date (optional)

The Timeline Bar Start and Finish dates are used by the Timeline visual to define the Timeline bar display. From the sample data we will use Start Date and Earliest Due Date:

Here is the field in the Timeline Bar Start and Finish Date field wells:

The resulting display:

Baseline Bar Start and Finish Dates (optional)

If you have baseline date data these can be used to show baseline bars. In this example we don’t have that data so we will leave these fields wells empty:

Milestone

Much like the Timeline Bar field, Milestone is used to name the milestones. Again, in many cases the field in the lowest Parent Category position will be used – as in this case, we use Task Name. Note that the visual will only use the data from the Task field when the Milestone/Task field is True:

Here is the field in the Timeline Bar Start and Finish Date field wells:

Milestone Date

Milestones only need one date, and this is where it’s needed. We will use Start Date for this field well:

Data Label

Data labels can be displayed on milestones, timeline bars or both. For this example we only want to display labels on milestones. Our data has a field called Data Label which has data for milestones but not for timeline bars (this could also be accomplished through simple DAX):

Here is the field in the Data Label field well:

Sort By

Sort By allows for custom sorting of your data. In the example we will not use a custom sort, so we leave that field well blank:

% Completion

Percent completion will display a progress bar inside a timeline bar. From our sample data we will use the Percent_Complete field:

Here is the field in the Data Label field well:

Timeline Bar and Milestone Tooltips

The Tooltips field wells allow you to add one or more fields to be displayed for either Timeline Bars or Milestones. For this example we will leave them blank: