Tutorial: Configuring Gap Mode
This is a step-by-step walkthrough of setting up Gap Mode end to end, on a concrete example: a mean table of satisfaction score by Brand, where we want each brand's own column group collapsed into "how does our brand compare" instead of showing every competitor's raw score.
Gap Mode has more moving parts than a typical card — it touches significance test slots as well as its own card — so this tutorial exists alongside the Gap Mode reference rather than instead of it: come back here for the "what do I click, in what order" version, and to the reference page for the exhaustive field list.
This tutorial assumes you already have a working CrossTable InCell Charts table with Data Bar rendering normally (or you're happy to let step 1 turn it on for you), and a column hierarchy where one level's partitions include your "main" brand alongside its competitors.
What we're building
Before: one column per brand, each showing a plain percentage.
┌────────────┬─────────┬─────────┬─────────┬─────────┐
│ │ Brand A │ Brand B │ Brand C │ Brand D │
├────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┤
│ Would buy │ 62% │ 58% │ 71% │ 49% │
└────────────┴─────────┴─────────┴─────────┴─────────┘
After (Brand A is "ours"): the group collapses to gap columns.
┌────────────┬──────────────────┬──────────────────┐
│ │ Gap vs average │ Gap vs 2nd │
│ │ (vs. group) │ (vs. Brand C) │
├────────────┼──────────────────┼──────────────────┤
│ Would buy │ ▬▬▮ -3 │ ▬▬▬▮ -9 │
└────────────┴──────────────────┴──────────────────┘
📸 Screenshot tutorial-gapmode-before-after.png — side-by-side (or before/after toggle) of the same table with Gap Mode off, then on. Insert here.
Step 1 — Turn on Gap Mode
Format pane → Gap Mode card → Gap mode toggle → On.
This automatically turns Data Bar on if it wasn't already (and turns off Data Line, since the two are mutually exclusive — see the Gap Mode reference).
📸 Screenshot tutorial-gapmode-step1-toggle.png — the Gap Mode card with the master toggle switched on, showing the rest of the card appear.
Step 2 — Point Gap Mode at your columns
Still in the Gap Mode card:
| Field | What to type for this example |
|---|---|
| Main partition | Brand A — the exact label of your own brand's column. A regex also works if the label varies (e.g. Brand A.*). |
| Second partition | Brand C — your main competitor. Leave empty if you only want Gap vs average. |
| Third partition | (empty for this example) |
| Gap vs average column | On (default) |
📸 Screenshot tutorial-gapmode-step2-partitions.png — the three partition fields filled in.
At this point the table already re-renders with gap columns — but every bar is gray, because no significance test has been told which comparison to drive which column yet. That's step 3.
📸 Screenshot tutorial-gapmode-step2-graybars.png — the table showing gray "not significant" gap bars, to make the next step's before state obvious.
Step 3 — Wire up significance (the part that trips people up)
Gap Mode doesn't invent its own comparison logic — it borrows verdicts from the table's existing Significance 1/2/3 slots (Format pane → Significance Testing card), the same three slots used everywhere else in the table. The rule:
- Gap vs average is driven by any slot whose test type is not Partition Gap.
- Gap vs 2nd / Gap vs 3rd are driven by the one slot set to Partition Gap.
For this example:
| Slot | Test type | Drives |
|---|---|---|
| Significance 1 | Item vs question item | Gap vs average |
| Significance 2 | (unused — set to None) | — |
| Significance 3 | Partition Gap | Gap vs 2nd (Brand A vs Brand C) |
📸 Screenshot tutorial-gapmode-step3-signif1.png — Significance Testing card, slot 1 set to Item vs question item, view = Background color (or your preferred view).
📸 Screenshot tutorial-gapmode-step3-signif3.png — slot 3 set to Partition Gap, with its own view option.
📸 Screenshot tutorial-gapmode-step3-result.png — the table now showing colored (green/red) gap bars instead of gray.
Skip the Partition Gap slot entirely — any ordinary test type in Significance 1 or 2 is enough to color Gap vs average. You only need a Partition Gap slot when Second partition and/or Third partition are configured.
Re-check the exact label typed in Main partition / Second partition against what the column header actually displays — see Troubleshooting → "Main partition … not found". The orange warning banner under the table (if present) tells you exactly what's missing.
Step 4 — Style the gap columns (the ⚙ editor)
With Gap mode on and the report in Edit view, a ⚙ icon appears at the top-right of the visual. Click it to open the per-column editor — one block per active gap column.
📸 Screenshot tutorial-gapmode-step4-icon.png — the ⚙ icon location on the visual.
📸 Screenshot tutorial-gapmode-step4-editor.png — the editor open, showing the Gap vs average block: Title, Render (Bar), Precision, colors.
For this example, set:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | vs. category average |
| Render | Bar |
| Precision | 0 |
| Positive color | #6AA84F (default green) |
| Negative color | #CC0000 (default red) |
Repeat for the Gap vs 2nd block — try Render: Number instead of Bar to see the difference (a plain colored figure, no bar), and toggle Show separator to visually detach it from Gap vs average.
📸 Screenshot tutorial-gapmode-step4-numberrender.png — a Gap vs 2nd column rendered as Number next to a Gap vs average column rendered as Bar, showing the visual contrast.
Step 5 — Read the result
Hover any gap cell: the Cell Tooltip shows the Gap, the Raw (Brand A's own value) and the Reference value it was compared against — useful for sanity-checking the arithmetic without leaving the report.
📸 Screenshot tutorial-gapmode-step5-tooltip.png — the native tooltip open on a gap cell, showing Gap / Raw / Reference.
Optional — keep the raw value alongside the gaps
Turn on Keep main partition column (Gap Mode card) to prepend Brand A's own raw score as a first column, before the gap columns — useful when the audience still wants to see "62%", not just "-3 points".
📸 Screenshot tutorial-gapmode-optional-keepmain.png — the table with the raw Brand A column kept, followed by the gap columns.
Full settings recap
| Card | Setting | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Gap Mode | Gap mode | On |
| Gap Mode | Main partition | Brand A |
| Gap Mode | Second partition | Brand C |
| Gap Mode | Gap vs average column | On |
| Significance Testing | Significance 1 | Item vs question item |
| Significance Testing | Significance 3 | Partition Gap |
| ⚙ editor | Gap vs average → Render | Bar |
| ⚙ editor | Gap vs 2nd → Render | Number |
For every field's full range of options and defaults, see the Gap Mode reference.