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Using Custom Chart Features

How to:

Your presentation of data on a chart is successful when it communicates to your audience the message that is intended. InfoAssist helps you meet the needs of your audience and convey your message by providing numerous chart features. For example, you can adjust the appearance of a chart, add layers of information, or customize the labels that identify the data that is displayed.

You can use the following custom features when creating chart queries.

After you have designed a chart with the desired custom features, you can make it more meaningful by adding a page heading and page footing. For details, see Adding a Page Heading and Page Footing to a Chart.

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Procedure: How to Rotate a Chart

You can rotate bar, line, and area chart types to change the orientation of the data.

  1. Create a chart query.
  2. Click the Format tab in the Control Panel.
  3. Click Rotate in the Features group.
  4. Run the query.

    The chart is rotated 90 degrees clockwise. The following is an example of a bar chart that is rotated.

    Bar chart with 90 degree rotation

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Procedure: How to Display Reference Lines

Reference lines draw attention to specific data locations on a chart. You can add up to three horizontal (X-axis) and three vertical (Y-axis) reference lines to a chart.

  1. Create a chart query.
  2. Click the Format tab in the Control Panel.
  3. Click Reference in the Features group.
  4. In the drop-down menu that opens, click one of the following:
    • Add Reference Line to Y-Axis
    • Add Reference Line to X-Axis

    The Reference Line dialog box opens, as shown in the following image.

    Reference Line dialog box

  5. In the Value field, type the specific X-axis value or Y-axis value that indicates where to display the reference line.
  6. In the Text field, type the desired text for the reference line.
  7. In the Position drop-down menu, click the desired position of the reference line on the chart.

    The choices are Above Center (the default), Above Left, Above Right, Below Center, Below Left, and Below Right, as shown in the following image.

    Reference Line Position menu options

  8. Set the desired Color, Weight, and Style values for the reference line.

    The choices for Weight are 1px - Light (the default), 2px - Medium, and 3px - Heavy.

    The choices for Style are Solid (the default), Dots, Many Dots, Dashed, Dashed Dots, Long Dash, and Mixed Dashes, as shown in the following image.

    Reference Line Style menu options

    Clicking Color opens the Color dialog box, where you can select a standard or custom color. The selected color is applied to both the reference line and the text.

  9. Click OK to save the values that you supplied and close the Reference Line dialog box.
  10. Run the query.

    The reference line is added to the chart. The following is an example of a bar chart with a Y-axis reference line. The reference line was added by typing 10000000 in the Value field, and Top Selling Product in the Text field. The reference line uses the default Above Center setting for Position.

    Bar chart with a reference line

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Procedure: How to Display Annotations

Annotations are explanatory notes or comments. You can add up to eight annotations on a chart.

  1. Create a chart query.
  2. Click the Format tab in the Control Panel.
  3. Click Annotate in the Features group.
  4. In the drop-down menu that opens, click Add an annotation.

    The Annotation dialog box opens, as shown in the following image.

    Annotation dialog box

  5. In the text input field, type the desired text for the annotation.
  6. In the Position drop-down menu, click the desired position for the annotation on the chart.

    The choices are Top Left, Top Middle, Top Right, Middle Left (the default), Middle Right, Bottom Left, Bottom Middle, and Bottom Right, as shown in the following image.

    Annotation Position menu options

  7. Click OK to save the values that you supplied and close the Annotation dialog box.
  8. Run the query.

    The annotation is added to the chart. The following is an example of a bar chart with an annotation.

    Bar chart with annotation

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Procedure: How to Display Grid Lines

You can add O1 Minor Gridlines and Y1 Minor Gridlines to the O1 Major Gridlines and Y1 Major Gridlines that are displayed by default on a chart.

  1. Create a chart query.
  2. Click the Format tab in the Control Panel.
  3. Click Grid lines in the Features group.
  4. In the drop-down menu that opens, select or deselect any of the grid line options.

    The O1 Minor Gridlines and Y1 Minor Gridlines options are deselected by default, and the O1 Major Gridlines and Y1 Major Gridlines options are selected by default.

    You can deselect any of the grid lines, including the default grid lines. Deselected grid lines do not display on the chart.

  5. To select or deselect other grid line options, repeat steps 3 and 4.
  6. Run the query.

    The selected grid lines are added to the chart, and any deselected grid lines are removed. The following is an example of a bar chart that displays O1 Minor Gridlines and Y1 Minor Gridlines and the default grid lines, O1 Major Gridlines and Y1 Major Gridlines.

    Bar chart with selected grid lines removed

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Procedure: How to Display Trendlines

A trendline is a line that is drawn over the plot area of a chart to show the pattern of the data points. The pattern reveals a statistical trend.

  1. Create a chart query.
  2. Click the Series tab in the Control Panel.
  3. Click Trendline in the Properties group.
  4. In the Trendline drop-down menu that opens, click the type of trendline that you want to display. The choices are None (the default), Linear, Quadratic, Polynomial, Hyperbolic, Logarithmic, Modified Hyperbolic, Rational, Exponential, Modified Exponential, Log Quadratic, and Geometric, as shown in the following image.

    Trendline drop-down values

  5. Optionally, to display the mathematical equation for the selected trendline option, click Equation in the Properties group of the Series tab.
  6. Run the query.

    The chart displays the selected trendline option. The following image shows a trendline that is displayed with the Linear option. The mathematical equation for the option is displayed above the trendline.

    Bar chart with trendline option

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Procedure: How to Customize the Display of Axis Labels

You can display, hide, stagger, and rotate both the X-Axis (O1) labels and the Y-Axis (Y1) labels by making selections in the Axes drop-down menu.

  1. Create a chart query.
  2. Click the Format tab in the Control Panel.
  3. Click Axes in the Labels group.
  4. In the drop-down menu that opens, select or deselect any of the following axis display options:
    • Show O1-Axis Labels (selected by default)
    • Show Y1-Axis Labels (selected by default)
    • Stagger O1-Axis Labels
    • Stagger Y1-Axis Labels
    • Rotate O1-Axis Labels
    • Rotate Y1-Axis Labels

    The two Rotate options provide a choice of None (the default value), 45, 90, and 270 degrees.

  5. To select or deselect other axis display options, repeat steps 3 and 4.
  6. Run the query.

    The selected axis display options appear on the chart. The following is an example of a bar chart with both the Rotate O1-Axis Labels and Rotate Y1-Axis Labels options selected and set to 45 degrees.

    Bar chart with custom rotate axis options

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Procedure: How to Customize the Display of Legend Labels

By default, when there are two or more measure fields in a query, the titles of the fields automatically appear in a legend on the chart. You can specify the position of a legend on a chart, or its orientation. You can also suppress the display of the legend.

  1. Create a chart query with two or more measure fields.
  2. Click the Format tab in the Control Panel.
  3. Click Legend in the Labels group.
  4. In the drop-down menu that opens, do one of the following.
  5. To select or deselect other legend display options, repeat steps 3 and 4.
  6. Run the query.

    The selected legend display options appear on the chart. The following is an example of a bar chart with the Legend Position set to Right bottom and the Legend Orientation set to Vertical.

    Bar chart with a legend

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Procedure: How to Display Data Labels

You can display data labels (values) on a chart in a variety of ways.

  1. Create a chart query.
  2. Click the Series tab in the Control Panel.
  3. Click Data Labels in the Properties group to enable label display.
  4. Click Data Position in the Properties group.
  5. In the drop-down menu that opens, select one of the following data label display options:
    • Above (the default)
    • On top edge
    • Below top edge
    • Center
    • Base
  6. Run the query.

    The chart displays the selected data label option. The following image shows data labels that are displayed using the Center display option.

    Bar chart with labels

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Procedure: How to Customize the Display of Markers

By default, data markers are automatically displayed on line and scatter chart types. If a line or scatter chart type contains more than one measure field, markers are also displayed in the legend. You can change the default shape of the data and legend markers, to a shape of your choice.

  1. Create a chart query for a line or scatter chart type.
  2. Click the Series tab in the Control Panel.
  3. From the drop-down list in the Select group, click the series (field) to which the marker will apply.
  4. Click Marker in the Line group.
  5. In the marker drop-down menu that opens, click the desired marker shape. The options are None, Square (the default), Circle, Diamond, Plus, Triangle Down, Triangle Up, Triangle Right, Triangle Left, Pirate Plus, House, Hexagon, Fat X, Five Star, Six Star, Hourglass, Sideways Hourglass, and Line, as shown in the following image.

    Marker drop-down list values

  6. If applicable, repeat steps 3, 4, and 5 to select different markers for other series in the query.
  7. Run the query.

    The chart displays the selected marker shapes. The following image shows the Square marker for Dollar Sales, and the Circle marker for Quantity. The markers are used to display points of data on the line chart. They are also used in the legend to identify the data that is displayed.

    Line chart with square markers

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Procedure: How to Display Smooth Lines
  1. Create a chart query and do one of the following.
    • Click the Format tab, and click Line in the Chart Types group.
    • In any type of chart, click the numeric measure field in the Query Design pane, click the Series tab, click Type in the Properties group, and click Line. Use this technique to create a combination chart that displays different types of chart data (for example, bar or line) for different measure fields.
  2. Click the Series tab, and click Smooth Line in the Line group.
  3. Run the query.

    In the following combination chart, the Line type and smooth lines were applied to the Dollar Sales field. The Bar type was applied to the Quantity field.

    Combination chart with smooth lines

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