Value formatting in data visualizations

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated May 6, 2025
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of Value formatting in data visualizations

    ServiceNow allows you to customize how numerical values are displayed in data visualizations when publishing reports. This capability ensures that your data is presented clearly and appropriately for your audience, enhancing readability and comprehension.

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    Key Features

    • Unit format: Configure time fields to display in formats such as days, hours, minutes, and seconds (d/h/m/s or day/hour/minute/second).
    • Maximum/Minimum duration unit: Choose the largest or smallest time unit to display (Day, Hour, Minute, or Second), tailoring the granularity of duration data.
    • Hide seconds: Optionally remove seconds from duration values when the unit exceeds one minute, simplifying longer durations.
    • Decimal precision: Set the number of decimal places shown, ranging from zero up to four decimal places (not supported for currency fields).
    • Rounding: Simplify numerical values greater than one minute by rounding them while keeping them close to their original value, with multiple rounding modes available.
    • Thousands group separator: Enhance readability of large numbers by inserting commas or periods as thousand separators.
    • Abbreviation: Display large numbers with a single-character abbreviation for thousands or higher (not supported for Currency, Price, or FX Currency fields).
    • Hide value in tooltip: Choose to hide the full, unrounded, unabbreviated value in tooltips to reduce clutter or maintain data privacy.

    Rounding Options

    For values greater than one minute, various rounding methods help present data in a simplified manner while preserving meaning:

    • Up: Rounds positive numbers up to the next whole number, negatives down to the next smaller whole number.
    • Down: Rounds positive numbers down to the next smaller whole number, negatives up to the next larger whole number.
    • Ceiling: Always rounds toward positive infinity (up for positives, up for negatives closer to zero).
    • Floor: Always rounds toward negative infinity (down for positives and negatives).
    • Half up: Rounds to the nearest whole number; if equidistant, rounds up.
    • Half down: Rounds to the nearest whole number; if equidistant, rounds down.
    • Half even: Rounds to the nearest whole number; if equidistant, rounds to the nearest even number.

    These rounding options provide flexibility in how numerical data is approximated, allowing you to choose the method that best fits your reporting or visualization needs.

    In most data visualizations, you can configure how numerical values look when you publish the report.

    Types of value formatting

    Unit format
    Show the format of time fields as d/h/m/s or day/hour/minute/second.
    Maximum/Minimum duration unit
    Select the largest or smallest unit to be shown: Day, Hour, Minute, or Second.
    Hide seconds when unit is greater than one minute
    Removes seconds display when a duration value is greater than one minute. Only available if you choose Second as the minimum duration unit.
    Decimal precision
    Number of decimal places to show, from zero to four decimal places.
    Note:
    Decimal precision is not supported on currency fields.
    Rounding
    For values greater than one minute, simplifies a number by rounding, while keeping it close to its value. See the next section, Rounding options.
    Use the thousands group separator
    Separate a value of thousands or higher with a comma or period.
    Enable abbreviation
    Show a value of thousands or higher with a single character.
    Note:
    Abbreviation for Currency, Price, or FX Currency values is not supported.
    Hide value in tooltip
    Do not show the unrounded, unabbreviated value in the tooltip.

    Rounding options

    For values greater than one minute, rounding options simplify a number, but keep it close to its value. Select from these rounding options:
    • Up - to the next larger whole number if positive and to the next smaller whole number if negative. Example: For original values of:
      • 1.1 returns a value of 2
      • 1.6 returns a value of 2
      • -1.6 returns a value of -2
    • Down - to the next smaller whole number if positive and to the next larger whole number if negative. Example: For original values of:
      • 1.1 returns a value of 1
      • 1.6 returns a value of 1
      • -1.6 returns a value of -1
    • Ceiling - to the next larger whole number, toward the positive. Example: For original values of:
      • 1.1 returns a value of 2
      • 1.6 returns a value of 2
      • -1.6 returns a value of -1
    • Floor - to the next smaller whole number, toward the negative. Example: For original values of:
      • 1.1 returns a value of 1
      • 1.6 returns a value of 1
      • -1.6 returns a value of -2
    • Half up - to the nearest neighboring whole number. If both neighbors are equidistant, rounds to the next larger whole number. Example: For original values of:
      • 1.1 returns a value of 1
      • 1.6 returns a value of 2
      • 2.5 returns a value of 3
    • Half down - to the nearest neighboring whole number. If both neighbors are equidistant, rounds to the next smaller whole number. Example: For original values of:
      • 1.1 returns a value of 1
      • 1.6 returns a value of 2
      • 2.5 returns a value of 2
    • Half even - to the nearest whole number. If both neighbors are equidistant, rounds to the closest even number. Example: For original values of:
      • 1.1 returns a value of 1
      • 1.6 returns a value of 2
      • -2.5 returns a value of -2

    Summary of rounding options:

    Table 1. Result of rounding input to one digit with the given rounding mode
    Input number Up Down Ceiling Floor Half up Half down Half even
    5.5 6 5 6 5 6 5 6
    2.5 3 2 3 2 3 2 2
    1.6 2 1 2 1 2 2 2
    1.1 2 1 2 1 1 1 1
    1.0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
    -1.0 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1
    -1.1 -2 -1 -1 -2 -1 -1 -1
    -1.6 -2 -1 -1 -2 -2 -2 -2
    -2.5 -3 -2 -2 -3 -3 -2 -2
    -5.5 -6 -5 -5 -6 -6 -5 -6