Birds On a Wire Configuration

Birds On Wire

Here, we will show how to configure the “Birds On Wire” report included in the Sample Reports 

In the Power BI sample report, click on the Birds On Wire tab.

Here are the fields in the order they appear

Parent Category (required)

Parent Category defines the rows in the Timeline visual.  Multiple fields can be used to display a hierarchy. Our example shows: Project Name & Parent Task
From the Excel data file on the Birds-on-a-wire table, we will use Project Name.

Here is the field in the Parent Category field well:

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 Timeline Category field.

Here is the field in the Milestone/Task field well:

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 Timeline Bar 2.  Note that the visual will only use the data from the Project Name 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.  In the example we will not use a Timeline Bar Text, so we leave that field well blank:

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 Parent Task Start Date and Earliest Parent Task Finish Date:

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

Baseline Bar Start and Finish Dates (optional)

If you have baseline date, these can be used to show baseline bars. In the example we will not use a Baseline Bar Start and Finish Dates, so we leave that field well blank:

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 Milestone. 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 Milestone field wells:

Milestone Date

Milestones only need one date, and this is where it’s needed. In this example, we will use a Earliest Milestone date 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 Milestone which has data for milestones but not for timeline bars (this could also be accomplished through simple DAX):

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 Task Percent Completed field:

Here is the field in the % Completion 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: