ScalingGroup

ScalingGroup manifests define named scaling values that multiple chart components can reference. When several components share the same scaling group name, their bar lengths (absolute variances) or pin lengths (relative variances) are guaranteed to use the same em-based scale, making visual comparisons across components meaningful.

Minimal definition

The smallest well-formed ScalingGroup is the name that consumers reference plus the scaling value. spec.value is the only spec attribute.

apiVersion: bino.bi/v1alpha1
kind: ScalingGroup
metadata:
  name: revenue_scale
spec:
  value: 250000

All attributes are listed in the Attribute Reference below.

Fields

• value – required. A positive number. The unit depends on the consumer attribute — all of them are map-scale semantics: a larger value means more data per em, i.e. smaller bars.
  • When referenced by unitScaling – data units per 1 em of bar length (250000 → 1 em of bar represents 250 000 units).
  • When referenced by percentageScaling – percentage points per 1 em of pin length (10 → a +10 % variance pin is 1 em long).
  • When referenced by a bubble chart's size.group – data units per 1 em² of bubble area.

How it works

1. Define one or more ScalingGroup manifests with a unique metadata.name and a numeric value.
2. On consumer components (ChartTime, ChartStructure, and ChartBubble via size.group), set unitScaling and/or percentageScaling to the scaling group name instead of a hard-coded number.
3. Every consumer that references the same name resolves to the same value. Changing the ScalingGroup value updates all consumers at once.

Note

Table is not a consumer: its unitScaling and percentageScaling attributes accept numbers only, so a group name there is a validation error.

Because the value is em-based, one group works uniformly across charts: a revenue delta of 500 000 at value: 250000 renders as a 2 em bar in every consumer, proportioned relative to each component's own font size.

Example: Synchronized charts

A time chart and a structure chart that share the same absolute and relative scaling:

---
apiVersion: bino.bi/v1alpha1
kind: ScalingGroup
metadata:
  name: revenue_abs
spec:
  value: 250000
---
apiVersion: bino.bi/v1alpha1
kind: ScalingGroup
metadata:
  name: revenue_pct
spec:
  value: 10
---
apiVersion: bino.bi/v1alpha1
kind: ChartTime
metadata:
  name: revenue_trend
spec:
  dataset: revenue_monthly
  chartTitle: "Revenue trend"
  dateInterval: month
  measureScale: M
  measureUnit: "EUR"
  scenarios: ["ac1", "pp1"]
  variances: ["dac1_pp1_pos", "drac1_pp1_pos"]
  unitScaling: revenue_abs
  percentageScaling: revenue_pct
---
apiVersion: bino.bi/v1alpha1
kind: ChartStructure
metadata:
  name: revenue_chart
spec:
  dataset: revenue_by_segment
  chartTitle: "Revenue by segment"
  level: category
  order: ac1
  orderDirection: desc
  measureScale: M
  measureUnit: "EUR"
  scenarios: ["ac1", "pp1"]
  variances: ["dac1_pp1_pos"]
  unitScaling: revenue_abs
  percentageScaling: revenue_pct

Both components render bars at exactly 250 000 units per em and pins at 10 percentage points per em. A revenue delta of 500 000 always produces a 2 em bar regardless of which component it appears in.

Example: Multiple pages with shared scaling

Use a single scaling group across components on different layout pages:

---
apiVersion: bino.bi/v1alpha1
kind: ScalingGroup
metadata:
  name: cost_scale
spec:
  value: 50000
---
apiVersion: bino.bi/v1alpha1
kind: LayoutPage
metadata:
  name: overview_page
spec:
  pageLayout: split-vertical
  children:
    - kind: ChartTime
      spec:
        dataset: cost_monthly
        chartTitle: "Monthly cost"
        dateInterval: month
        scenarios: ["ac1", "fc1"]
        variances: ["dac1_fc1_pos"]
        unitScaling: cost_scale
    - kind: ChartStructure
      spec:
        dataset: cost_by_department
        chartTitle: "Cost by department"
        level: category
        scenarios: ["ac1", "fc1"]
        variances: ["dac1_fc1_pos"]
        unitScaling: cost_scale

Scaling group vs. numeric value

Approach	Pros	Cons
Numeric (unitScaling: 250000)	Simple, self-contained	Must update every component individually when tuning the scale
Scaling group (unitScaling: cost_scale)	Single source of truth; all consumers stay in sync	Requires an extra manifest

Use scaling groups when two or more components should be visually comparable. Use a plain number when a component stands alone.

Group members agree in em-space: bars match relative to each component's effective font size. If consumers use different scale factors (or auto-scale to different sizes), their bars match proportionally to their own typography, not in absolute pixels — give them the same fixed scale when pixel-identical bars are required.

Naming rules and diagnostics

• Avoid the name auto. It passes validation, but consumer attributes read auto as the auto-fit keyword, so the group can never be referenced.
• Avoid names that would parse as a number — including SI-suffixed forms like 1M or 250k. They pass validation too, but they are ambiguous with a literal scaling value on the consumer attribute.
• Two groups with the same name are a hard error: validation reports duplicate ScalingGroup name per artefact, after constraints are applied.

Attribute Reference

Common Metadata

Attribute	Type	Required	Default	Description
apiVersion	string	yes	—	Must be bino.bi/v1alpha1.
kind	string	yes	—	Must be ScalingGroup.
metadata.name	string	yes	—	Unique identifier. Referenced by consumer components in unitScaling, percentageScaling or size.group. Duplicate names are a validation error. Avoid auto and names that parse as a number (e.g. 1M) — consumers read those as literal values.
metadata.labels	object	no	—	Key-value pairs for categorization and constraint matching.
metadata.annotations	object	no	—	Arbitrary key-value metadata, not used by the system.
metadata.description	string	no	—	Free-form description.
metadata.constraints	array	no	—	Conditional inclusion rules. See Constraints.

Spec Attributes

Attribute	Type	Required	Default	Description	Sample
spec.value	number	yes	—	Scaling value, greater than 0. Meaning depends on context: data units per em of bar (for unitScaling), percentage points per em of pin (for percentageScaling), or data units per em² of bubble area (for size.group). Larger value = smaller bars.	value: 250000