Add Charts to a Sheet
- 06 Sep 2024
- 9 Minutes to read
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Add Charts to a Sheet
- Updated on 06 Sep 2024
- 9 Minutes to read
- Contributors
- Print
- PDF
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If a sheet’s output type supports the use of charts, you can add them to the form design.
EMF-based output
The Charts tool allows you to define the data for a chart in the input and insert a chart image in the output.
To define chart data in the input, proceed through the steps listed below:
On the toolbar, click the little arrow next to the Charts tool and then click Create chart data.
When the pointer becomes a cross, mark the area to define the data to be shown in the chart. Or, for some input data types (such as XML), you can click the input data value.
If you want to edit the chart data, double-click the defined area. From the Edit Chart Data dialog, switch to the Chart Data tab.
See the table below to learn more about the tab controls:
Control
Description
Chart data name
A descriptive name for the chart data as defined in the input.
Replace existing chart data
If selected, any other chart data with the same name is replaced.
The next step is to define all of the data sets for the chart type. For example, label data is required for all chart types; XTitle and YTitle data is required for xy-charts only.
Note
A chart is an absolute rearrange and cannot be added to a pattern. It can only be added to the output. However, a chart can be located relative to different entities (for more details, see Position Properties).
To create the output object (a chart image), proceed through the steps listed below:
On the toolbar, click the little arrow next to the Charts tool and then click Insert chart image.
When the pointer becomes a cross, mark the area to define the chart position in the output.
When releasing the mouse, the Edit Chart dialog opens with the Chart tab.
For detailed information about common controls see Edit Rearrange Properties.
The table below has more information about output specific controls.
Control | Description |
|---|---|
Chart type | Using the drop-down list, it is possible to select a chart type. |
3D | Select the check box to change the chart from a 2D to a 3D representation. |
X Title | Use the drop-down list to select the chart data value or add a fixed text title for the X-axis. |
Y Title | Use the drop-down list to select the chart data value or add a fixed text title for the Y-axis. The Y Title can contain an index with two values for “Pareto” and “Bar + Line” charts. The first value for the Y-axis title is positioned to the left and second value to the right. |
Series | Allows you to define a series for the chart. Use the Add, Edit, and Remove buttons to manipulate the chart data values available in the tab. |
Labels | Allows you to specify the chart data value or add fixed text labels for the chart. Use the Add, Edit, and Remove buttons to manipulate the chart data values available in the tab. |
Basic tab controls:
Control | Description |
|---|---|
Font | Use the drop-down list to select the font to be applied to the X,Y Titles, Labels, Series and Legends. |
Titles | Use the drop-down list to select the font size to be applied to the X and Y Titles. |
Labels/Series/Legends | Use the drop-down list to select the font size to be applied to the Labels, Series and Legends. |
Show values | Select the checkbox to show the data labels for the data points for xy charts. |
Bold | Select the check boxes to set the font style to bold for Titles and/or Labels/Series. |
Italic | Select the checkbox to set the font style to italic for Titles and/or Labels/Series. |
Y Intervals | Use to add the number of intervals available on the Y axis. |
Inner Radius | Defines inner radius of the donut chart type. |
Left/Right/Top/Bottom Margin | Use to define the margin for each chart side. |
Advanced tab controls:
Control | Description |
|---|---|
Labels | Use the drop-down list to define how labels should be shown. The following options are available. XY charts:
Pie charts:
Default value is Horizontal. |
Hide border | Selecting the checkbox allows you to hide the borders of the plot area. |
Show Legend | Use the drop-down list to determine the legend location and visibility. The following options are available:
Default value is Hide |
Hide legend border | Select the checkbox to hide the legend borders. |
Transparent | Use the drop-down list to set the transparency of the chart (Yes/No). |
Y Axis | Sets the position of the y-axis on the plot area (left/right). The default is to the left. |
Gap | The amount of space between the bars (or between bar groups for multi-bar layers). Example: a bar gap of 0.2 equates to 20% of the distance between two adjacent bars. A bar gap of 0 means there is no gap in between the bars. The bar gap can be negative. In this case, the bars will overlap. For multi-bar layers the Gap refers to the amount of space between bar groups, while Spacing refers to the amount of space between bars within the bar group. |
Spacing | This parameter only applies to multi-bar charts. It is the amount of space between the bars in a bar group. |
Grid lines | Allows showing or hiding grid lines for a chart. To this end, select the required value from the drop-down combo box. You can select to show horizontal grid lines, or vertical ones, or both, as well as you can select to hide grid lines. |
Format tab controls:
Control | Descrption |
|---|---|
Left Y-Axis | The format string, using {value} to denote the axis labels for the left Y axis. For example, ${value|2.,} can be used to format the value to 2 decimal points, using “.” as the thousand and "," as the decimal separators respectively, and with a '$' sign in front. |
Right Y-Axis | The format string, using {value} to denote the axis labels for the right Y axis. The option is enabled for “Bar + Line” and “Pareto” chart types only. |
Values | The format string, using {value} to denote data labels for the data points. |
Legend | Defines format of legend text. Parameter substitution is used to allow you to configure exactly what information is contained in the text and its format. For example, when drawing a pie chart with side label layout, the default sector label format string is: "{label} ({percent}%)". When the sector label is actually drawn, Lasernet will replace "{label}" with the sector name and "{percent}" with the sector percentage. So the above label format will result in output that looks similar to "ABC (34.56%)". You can change the sector label format by changing the format string. For example: {label}: US${value|2} {percent}% The sector label will then become something like "ABC: US$123.00 (34.56%)". Note: This option only applies to Pie and Donut charts. |
Use regional profile | Select the checkbox to use the regional profile (for details, see the Regional Profiles section of the Lasernet Developer guide). It works as follows:
|
Once you have specified the required properties for the chart, click the OK button to insert a chart image.
If you want to preview a chart in the output with properties you have specified without applying them, click the Preview button.
Once you have added the chart, you can resize and move it if necessary.
To resize the chart, hover over it and a sizing handle (a little square) appears. Click and drag the handle to make the table larger or smaller. The height and width ratio is maintained.
To move the chart, hover over it and a chart move handle appears. Using the chart move handle, drag the chart to the new location.
In addition, you can also change the corresponding values in the Edit Rearrange dialog to move and/or resize the chart.
To edit the chart you have created, right-click it and then click Properties or double-click the chart. The Edit Rearrange dialog opens. Use the controls described above to change the chart as required.
You can change a series you have specified using the Series tab of the Edit Rearrange dialog. To edit a series, select it in the list and click the Edit button, or double-click the series record. The Edit chart series item dialog appears.
Note
The list of controls and their availability varies depending on selected chart type.
The table below has more information about the various dialog controls:
Control | Description |
|---|---|
Series layout | Available only for Bar + Line chart type. Defines which layout series is used for Bar or Line. |
Series values | Use the control to specify the chart data to be applied as a data set for the current series. |
Series name | Use the control to specify the name for the current series in the legend. By default, the name of the chart data selected within the Series values control is set. In addition, you can select another chart data available in the drop-down list, or type a fixed text to define a series name. If several colors are defined for the series (see Colors description below in this table) the selected chart data will be used to define the item names if they are not already specified. |
Format labels | For pie chart types only. Defines the format of label text. Parameter substitution is used to allow you to configure the information displayed and its format. The behaviour is similar to that of Format Legend control described above. |
Maximum Axis | Use the control to specify the upper bounds of the Y-axis. Both negative and positive values are allowed. |
Minimum Axis | Use the control to specify the lower bounds of the Y-axis. Both negative and positive values are allowed. |
Pareto line color | Pareto chart type only. Use the control to specify color of the accumulated line. |
Line width | Use the control to set the width of the line. |
Pareto marker type | Pareto chart type only. Using the drop-down list, you can select a marker type for the accumulated line. |
Size | Pareto chart type only. Use the control to specify the size of a marker. |
Colors | Use the tab to define the color of a series (for all chart types) or for each segment\value of the series (only for bar, pareto, donut and pie chart types) or the exploded segment (only for pie and donut chart types) of the chart.
Use the Add, Edit, Move Up, Move Down and Remove buttons to manipulate the items available in the tab. If you define colors for each of series segments you can also define the item names which will be shown in legend box for the segment\value. |
Locate a Chart 'Relative To'
The following example will show you how to locate a chart relative to the bottom of a region. For more details about the ‘relative to’ options, see Edit Rearrange Properties.
In the output, define the region of data relative to where you want to locate a chart. The picture below shows a region of data to locate our chart against:
Add a chart and then edit it, if required.
Open the Edit Rearrange dialog by right-clicking the chart and then clicking Properties or double-clicking the chart you have added.
With the Edit Rearrange dialog open, switch to the Relative tab.
From the Relative to drop-down list, select Bottom of region.
Once you are done, click the OK button.
The following image shows the result of locating the chart relative to the bottom of the region.
Note
Once you have located the chart relative to the bottom of the region, the location of the chart is changed if a region is relocated.
The following image shows the difference (the Y-position for the region is modified).
Rich Text-based output
Click the Charts tool. The Form Editor will insert a chart at the cursor position, which you must design.
Drag data from a grab file to the relevant values or arguments area of the chart, or for more options right-click the chart then click Run Designer.