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This sparkline of the Dow Jones Index  (10765.45) for 7 February 2006 also appears in the box below. Sparklines used inline are typically made about the same height as the text around them. |
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A Sparkline is a type of information graphic characterized by its small size and data density. Sparklines present trends and variations associated with some measurement, such as average temperature or stock market activity, in a simple and condensed way. Several sparklines are often used together as elements of a small multiple.
The term 'Sparkline' was proposed by Edward Tufte for "small, high resolution graphics embedded in a context of words, numbers, images." Tufte describes sparklines as "data-intense, design-simple, word-sized graphics".[1] Whereas the typical chart is designed to show as much data as possible, and is set off from the flow of text (as in the box below), sparklines are intended to be succinct, memorable, and located where they are discussed.
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Microsoft patent application
On November 12, 2009, a patent application was published [2] which had been filed May 7, 2008 by Microsoft employees, claiming various aspects of Sparklines' implementation in Excel 2010, prompting Edward Tufte, the acknowledged inventor[3] of the graphic, to express concern.[4]
See also
References
- ^ Edward Tufte (2006). Beautiful Evidence. Graphics Press. ISBN 0961392177.
- ^ "Sparklines in the grid". 2009-11-12. http://www.freepatentsonline.com/y2009/0282325.html. Retrieved 2009-11-19.
- ^ "Sparklines in Excel". 2009-07-17. http://blogs.msdn.com/excel/archive/2009/07/17/sparklines-in-excel.aspx. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
- ^ "Microsoft makes patent claim for Sparklines". 2009-11-19. http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0003Y1&topic_id=1. Retrieved 2009-11-19.
External links
- Edward Tufte's explanation of sparklines
- Timetric, service that converts data feeds into sparklines
- Sparkline PHP Library
- Online Sparkline Generator
- jQuery Sparklines,
- Sparkline Add-In for Excel
- Sparklines for Excel
- Sparklines for Java
- Sparklines for python
- Sparklines for LaTeX
- Google Charts has an option to generate sparklines
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
