A Fresh Start for 2026: Expanded Object Options in SAS Visual Analytics

[#1]

With the 2025.12 release, SAS Visual Analytics takes a significant step forward in unifying the report-building experience. Many options that were previously available only in SAS Graph Builder have now been added directly to the Options pane in SAS Visual Analytics.

In this article, we’ll walk through the objects that have gained new options in the Options pane and highlight how these enhancements can improve your day‑to‑day reporting workflows.

Chart type	Newly available options in the Options pane	What this enables
Bar chart	Data label display and formatting, axis range and scaling, category ordering, reference lines	Clearer value communication and more precise control of bar alignment and emphasis
Line chart	Line and marker styling, data labels, axis control (range, tick marks), reference lines	Better control over trend presentation and comparison points
Pie / Donut chart	Slice labels (value, percent, category), label positioning, legend behavior	More readable proportions and cleaner layouts for business audiences
Scatter plot	Marker size and shape options, axis scaling, reference lines and bands	Stronger analytical visuals for correlation, clustering, and benchmarks
Box plot	Display of outliers, whisker behavior, axis formatting	Faster exploratory distribution analysis directly in Visual Analytics
Time series plot	Axis formatting, label behavior, reference lines	Improved clarity when analyzing and presenting time‑based patterns

Cluster spacing can be adjusted to make different groups more visually distinct. You can customize the text style of segment labels and change the Y‑axis location from the left to the right side of the chart. In addition, you can modify the transparency of the bars to improve readability and visual emphasis.

By adjusting marker size, shape, and color, you can create more engaging and expressive visualizations. Additional customization—such as changing line styles and label formatting—helps highlight patterns and improve overall readability.

For grouped pie charts, you can now change the background color of group labels and customize the style of data labels, such as category labels, to improve clarity and visual appeal.

Why this change matters

These options were already familiar to users of SAS Graph Builder, but until the 2025.12 release, they required switching tools. Having them directly in the Visual Analytics Options pane means:

• Less context switching
• Faster report refinement
• A more consistent authoring experience
• Greater self‑service capability for report designers

Improvement area	What’s new	Why it matters
Options pane consistency	More options are now available directly in the Options pane across chart types	A more predictable and unified authoring experience, regardless of the visualization used
Data labels	Expanded control over label visibility, formatting, and placement	Easier to highlight key values and reduce reliance on tooltips
Axes and scaling	Greater control over axis ranges, tick marks, and formatting across visuals	Improves readability and allows better comparison across charts
Reference lines and bands	Reference elements are now available in more visualizations	Makes it easier to show targets, thresholds, and benchmarks consistently
Formatting and styling	More visual properties (colors, markers, lines) are exposed directly in Visual Analytics	Faster design adjustments without switching to SAS Graph Builder
Reduced tool switching	Functionality previously available only in SAS Graph Builder is now surfaced in Visual Analytics	Streamlines the report‑creation workflow and improves productivity

Key takeaway

These improvements are not about introducing entirely new visualizations—they’re about removing friction. By making commonly used options available directly in SAS Visual Analytics, report authors gain more control, faster iteration, and a smoother path from exploration to presentation.

Other visualizations also benefited from these enhancements

Beyond the most commonly used charts, many other visualizations in SAS Visual Analytics also gained from the expanded Options pane. Visuals such as heat maps, treemaps, maps, and crosstabs now expose more formatting, labeling, and scaling options directly in Visual Analytics.

Full list of changes since SAS Viya 2025.12

Here you can find a full list of the latest changes to the visualisations. For more detailed information, please refer to the documentation.: https://go.documentation.sas.com/doc/en/vacdc/v_038/vaobj/p09am183ki9sg2n1fz2ge49a1rjx.htm

Object name	Option	Change	Short explanation
Bar Chart	Y axis	✅ New	Allows you to choose whether the Y‑axis is displayed on the left or right side of the chart.
	Baseline style	✅ New	Enables configuration of the baseline line pattern, width, and color.
	Offset	✅ New	Defines the offset of bars relative to the category axis values.
	Cluster spacing	✅ New	Specifies the percentage spacing between bar clusters in grouped bar charts.
	Fill color override	✅ New	Allows overriding the automatic bar fill color, including transparency.
	Data labels	🔁 Expanded	Data labels now include controls for font, size, style, and text color.
	Segment labels	🔁 Expanded	Segment labels now support text formatting options.
Bubble Change Plot	Y axis	✅ New	Allows you to choose whether the Y‑axis is displayed on the left or right side of the chart.
	Line style override	✅ New	Enables customization of the line pattern, width, and color connecting bubbles.
	Arrowheads	✅ New	Adds arrowheads to line ends, with selectable shapes.
	Fixed title (size legend)	✅ New	Allows setting a custom title for the bubble size legend.
	Title text style (size legend)	✅ New	Enables formatting of the size legend title text.
	Format (size legend)	✅ New	Defines the value format used in the size legend.
	Extract scale (size legend)	✅ New	Shortens large values in the legend and appends units to the title.
Bubble Plot	Y axis	✅ New	Allows you to choose whether the Y‑axis is displayed on the left or right side of the chart.
	Fixed title (legend)	✅ New	Allows setting a custom title for the bubble legend.
	Title text style (legend)	✅ New	Enables formatting of the legend title text.
	Format (legend)	✅ New	Defines the value format used in the legend.
	Extract scale (legend)	✅ New	Shortens large values in the legend and appends units to the legend title.
	Label position (legend)	✅ New	Defines automatic label placement or placement at legend breakpoints.
	Label text color (legend)	✅ New	Allows setting the text color of labels in the continuous legend.
Butterfly Chart	Baseline style	✅ New	Enables configuration of line pattern, width, and color for the central baseline.
	Offset	✅ New	Allows shifting bars relative to the category axis.
	Fill color override	✅ New	Allows overriding the automatic bar fill color and transparency.
	Data labels	🔁 Expanded	Data labels now include controls for font, size, style, and color.
	Segment labels	🔁 Expanded	Segment labels now support text formatting options.
Comparative Time Series Plot	Y axis	✅ New	Allows you to choose whether the Y‑axis is displayed on the left or right side of the chart.
	X Axis Range	✅ New	Defines whether the X‑axis range is cell‑specific, shared per column, or across the entire template.
	Y Axis Range	✅ New	Defines whether the Y‑axis range is cell‑specific, shared per row, or across the entire template.
	Background	✅ New	Enables background display for comparative chart cells.
	Fill color override	✅ New	Allows overriding the automatic color and transparency of visual elements.
	Line	🔁 Expanded	Expanded control over line appearance (style, thickness, color).
	Markers	🔁 Expanded	Expanded marker options (shape, size, color).
	Data labels	🔁 Expanded	Data labels now support text formatting.
Dot Plot	Y axis	✅ New	Allows you to choose whether the Y‑axis is displayed on the left or right side of the chart.
	Marker color override	✅ New	Allows overriding the automatic marker color.
	Marker size	🔁 Expanded	Expanded ability to control marker size (in pixels).
Dual Axis Bar Chart	Baseline style	✅ New	Enables configuration of the baseline line pattern, width, and color.
	Spacing	✅ New	Defines the percentage spacing between bars, affecting their width.
	Offset	✅ New	Allows shifting bars relative to the category axis values.
	Fill color override	✅ New	Allows overriding the automatic bar fill color and transparency.
	Data labels	🔁 Expanded	Data labels now include controls for font, size, style, and color.
	Segment labels	🔁 Expanded	Segment labels now support text formatting options.
Dual Axis Bar Line Chart	Baseline style	✅ New	Enables configuration of the baseline line for the bar portion of the chart.
	Spacing	✅ New	Defines the percentage spacing between bars, affecting their width.
	Offset	✅ New	Allows shifting bars and lines relative to the category axis values.
	Fill color override	✅ New	Allows overriding the automatic bar fill color and transparency.
	Line	🔁 Expanded	Expanded control over line appearance (style, thickness, color).
	Markers	🔁 Expanded	Expanded marker options (shape, size, color).
	Data labels	🔁 Expanded	Data labels now support text formatting.
	Segment labels	🔁 Expanded	Segment labels now support text formatting options.
Dual Axis Line Chart	Line	✅ New	Allows configuration of line appearance (style, thickness, color) per axis.
	Markers	🔁 Expanded	Expanded marker options with additional shape, size, and color settings.
	Data labels	🔁 Expanded	Data labels now support text formatting.
Dual Axes Time Series Plot	Fill color override	✅ New	Allows overriding the automatic color and transparency of the area fill.
	Line	🔁 Expanded	Expanded control over line appearance (style, thickness, color).
	Markers	🔁 Expanded	Expanded marker options (shape, size, color).
	Data labels	🔁 Expanded	Data labels now support text formatting.
Line Chart	Y axis	✅ New	Allows you to choose whether the Y‑axis is displayed on the left or right side of the chart.
Needle Plot	Y axis	✅ New	Allows you to choose whether the Y‑axis is displayed on the left or right side of the chart.
	Baseline style	✅ New	Enables configuration of the baseline line pattern, width, and color.
	Line style override	✅ New	Defines the style, thickness, and color of needle lines.
	Markers	🔁 Expanded	Expanded marker options (shape, size, color).
Numeric Series Plot	Y axis	✅ New	Allows you to choose whether the Y‑axis is displayed on the left or right side of the chart.
	Line style override	✅ New	Allows configuration of the line style, thickness, and color.
	Break on missing values	✅ New	Defines whether missing values cause line breaks.
	Markers	🔁 Expanded	Expanded marker options (shape, size, color).
	Data labels	🔁 Expanded	Data labels now include controls for font, size, style, and color.
Pie Chart	Group label background color	✅ New	Allows setting the background color of group labels in the pie chart.
	Data label text style	🔁 Expanded	Expanded formatting options for data label text (font, size, style, color).
Scatter Plot	Y axis	✅ New	Allows you to choose whether the Y‑axis is displayed on the left or right side of the chart.
	Marker color override	✅ New	Allows overriding the automatic marker color.
Schedule Chart	Y axis	✅ New	Allows you to choose whether the Y‑axis is displayed on the left or right side of the chart.
	Spacing	✅ New	Defines spacing between schedule elements.
	Fill color override	✅ New	Allows overriding the automatic bar fill color and transparency.
Step Plot	Y axis	✅ New	Allows you to choose whether the Y‑axis is displayed on the left or right side of the chart.
	Data point alignment	✅ New	Defines the position of data points relative to the step.
	Connect order	✅ New	Defines whether points are connected by data order or by X‑axis order.
	Offset	✅ New	Allows shifting step lines and markers relative to X‑axis values.
	Line style	✅ New	Allows configuration of the step line pattern, thickness, and color.
	Break on missing values	✅ New	Defines whether missing values cause line breaks.
	Markers	🔁 Expanded	Expanded marker options (shape, size, color).
Targeted Bar Chart	Y axis	✅ New	Allows you to choose whether the Y‑axis is displayed on the left or right side of the chart.
	Baseline style	✅ New	Enables configuration of the baseline line pattern, width, and color.
	Offset	✅ New	Defines the offset of bars relative to category axis values.
	Fill color override	✅ New	Allows overriding the automatic bar fill color and transparency.
	Data labels	🔁 Expanded	Data labels now include controls for font, size, style, and color.
	Segment labels	🔁 Expanded	Segment labels now support text formatting options.
Treemap	Fill color override	✅ New	Allows overriding the automatic tile fill color and transparency.
	Outline style	✅ New	Allows configuration of tile border thickness and color.
	Data labels	🔁 Expanded	Data labels now support text formatting.
	Fixed title (Size legend)	✅ New	Allows setting a fixed title for the size legend.
	Extract scale (Size legend)	✅ New	Displays shortened values in the size legend.
	Fixed title (Continuous legend)	✅ New	Allows setting a fixed title for the continuous legend.
	Extract scale (Continuous legend)	✅ New	Displays shortened values in the continuous legend.
	Label position	✅ New	Defines legend label placement (automatic or at breakpoints).
	Label text color	✅ New	Allows setting the text color of continuous legend labels.
Time Series Plot	Y axis	✅ New	Allows you to choose whether the Y‑axis is displayed on the left or right side of the chart.
	Fill color override	✅ New	Allows overriding the automatic fill color for grouped line styles.
	Line	✅ New	Allows control of line visibility, style, thickness, and color.
	Markers	🔁 Expanded	Expanded marker options (shape, size, color).
	Data labels	🔁 Expanded	Data labels now support text formatting.
Vector Plot	Y axis	✅ New	Allows you to choose whether the Y‑axis is displayed on the left or right side of the chart.
	Line style	✅ New	Allows configuration of vector line pattern, thickness, and color.
	Arrowheads	🔁 Expanded	Expanded arrowhead options with selectable shapes.
Waterfall Chart	Y axis	✅ New	Allows you to choose whether the Y‑axis is displayed on the left or right side of the chart.
	Baseline style	✅ New	Enables configuration of the baseline line pattern, width, and color.
	Connect lines	✅ New	Defines whether bars are connected with lines, including line style options.