5.) The Designer Interface

Once you have completed all the steps in the wizard, the main Chart Designer interface will appear.  Here you can customize and modify the appearance of the chart by changing properties, and adding new elements.


Chart Designer Interface

5.1.) The Designer Menus

Most of Chart Designer's functions can be controlled from the menu bar at the top of the designer window.  This section provides a brief overview of what the various options are.  All of the features here are discussed later in this chapter.

5.1.1.) File Menu

This menu performs the basic file operations including opening, closing, and saving files.  Note that saving and opening options are not available when you use the report data as the data source.  For more information about file options, please see Chapter 7.

5.1.2.) Insert Menu

This menu allows you to add various elements to a chart.

5.1.3.) Format Menu

This menu allows edit and modify the properties of many different chart components.

5.1.4.) Type Menu

This menu allows you to change the current chart and dimension.  You can switch between 2D and 3D for chart types that support representations in each dimension.  You can also change chart types.  Note that as you switch between chart types, some formatting information will be lost.  Also, you cannot switch between Gantt charts and other chart types.

5.1.5.) Drill-Down Menu

This menu contains options allowing you to add and navigate drill down layers in a chart.  The drill down features are explained in Chapter 6.  Note that drill down is only available (functional) when charts are deployed independently from reports.

5.1.6.) Data Menu

This menu contains options that allow you to refresh the chart data, re-order the data, or change the data entirely.

5.1.7.) Layout Menu

The options in this menu allow you to toggle various elements in the Chart Designer interface.  From this menu you can turn on and off the font and color panel, the Chart Designer toolbar, and the navigation panel for 3D charts.

5.2.) The Designer Toolbar

The toolbar at the top of the Chart Designer window offers easy access to the Chart Designer's most commonly used features and functions.  The buttons perform the following functions:

 Start a new chart  Open an existing chart
 Save the current chart  Export the current chart
 Change data mapping for the current chart  Modify data display properties
 Modify chart-specific options  Modify line and point attributes
 Change axis scale  Modify axis elements/display properties
 Modify legend display  Change data ordering
 Insert annotation text  Insert floating line
 Add/change background image  Modify/change chart data source
 Refresh chart data  Schedule periodic data refresh

5.3.) Color, Color Set, Pattern, and Font Panels

The color, color set and font panels on the right-hand side of the Chart Designer window allow you to modify the color of any chart object, as well as modify the font size and style for any text/labels in the chart.  You can choose not to display these panels by toggling the 'Show font/color panel' option in the Layout menu.

5.3.1.) Color Panel

You can use the color panel to change the color of any element in the chart.  To modify an element's color, first click on it. The status bar at the bottom of the Chart Designer window will indicate which element has been currently selected.  After you have selected the object, click on one of the panels in the color panel, and the color of the object will change to reflect the color you selected.


Color Panel

To create a custom color for the object, first select it, and click the 'More' button.  This will bring up a new dialog allowing you to pick a color from a larger palette or to create a new color.


Additional Colors Dialog

From this dialog you can pick a new color from swatches, or configure a custom color using HSB values or RGB values.

5.3.2.) Color Set Panel

The color set panel allows you to choose a color scheme for your chart.  It contains predefined color sets that can be applied to chart data points on the value or the second value axis.


Color Set Panel

In order to change a color set for the value or the second value axis, first select the "Color Set" tab.  Then select the axis ("Value" or "2nd Value") from the "Select Axis" select box and click the appropriate color set radio button.  After that chart data points will get colors from the selected color set.   Note that the "Select Axis" select box is only visible when the chart has the second value axis.  By default, the value axis uses the first color set while the second value axis uses the seventh.

Please note that if you change a color of a data point manually, it will automatically unselect the selected color set.  This is because of the color set that no longer corresponds to colors of data points in the chart.  It is also important to note that if chart data points have more different colors than there are colors in the color set, it will automatically use colors from the beginning of the next color set and so on.  If there is no next color set available, it will use the first one instead.

"Save Colors for Categories" feature

Data points colors are closely related to the "Save Colors for Categories" feature that is available through the "Save As" dialog (for more information about the dialog, see section 7.1).  If the feature is enabled (default), colors of chart data points are assigned to names of categories (or series for charts with series).  If such categories (or series) then appear in the chart, it will automatically use their assigned colors.   If the feature is disabled, colors are assigned by data points order (i.e. the first data point will get the first available color from the color set, the second will get the second color, etc.).  The following example shows scenarios with the feature on and off.

Assume that a chart has 3 categories ("A", "B", and "C") with colors taken from the following color set (blue, green, yellow, red).


Image 1 - Example Chart
Image 2 - "Save Colors for Categories" Feature On
Image 3 - "Save Colors for Categories" Feature Off

5.3.3.) Pattern Panel

Unlike color and font panels, the pattern panel can only be applied to data points. There is a predefined pattern palette available for you to use. Similar to how the color panel is used, you will need to first pick the data point you would like to change, and then pick any pattern from the pattern palette. The pattern will be applied to the data point directly.

If a pattern has already been defined for a data point, the user can still change the color by selecting the color panel tab and picking a different color from the color palette. The color on the pattern will be changed to the new color immediately.  The patterns shown on the pattern palette will change to the new color as well.


Pattern Example

5.3.4.) Font Panel

You can use the font panel to modify the font, the font style, font size, and the font angle for labels, titles, or other text in a chart.  To modify font, you must first select the text object whose font you would like to change by clicking it.  The status bar at the bottom of the Chart Designer window will indicate which is the currently selected object.


Font Panel

The first drop-down box allows you to select the font that you would like to use.  The second drop down box allows you to select the font style either plain, bold, italic, or bold and italic.  The third box allows you to select the font size.  The last box allows you to specify the angle of the text.

Certain groups of text (i.e. axis labels or data top labels) will all have the same properties.  Hence if you select one of them and modify the font properties, it will apply to all of them.

EspressReport allows you to use the Java graphics libraries to give your text a cleaner appearance.  For regular text you can use the chart anti-alias feature, by selecting 'Rendering Options' from the Format menu.  For rotated text (i.e. text not a 0 degrees), you can use the Java 2D rotate text feature, by selecting 'Text Properties' from the Format menu.  Note that because these methods require Java 1.2 or higher the anti-aliased text will not display if you are deploying charts in applets and the client is not using the Java plug-in.

5.4.) The Navigation Panel

The navigation panel provides options for controlling a number of the properties specific to three-dimensional charts.  It does not appear for two-dimensional charts, and can be hidden for three-dimensional charts by toggling the 'Show Navigation Panel' option in the Layout menu.


Navigation Panel

There are six controls and five buttons in the Navigation panel. Starting from the left, the six controls are step size, light position for X, Y and Z axes, navigation, zoom, scale and navigation speed.  The buttons on the right control wire frame/solid mode, on/off border drawing, on/off inline series (for columnar and bar charts with series), on/off Gouraud shading, and on/off animation.

In addition, the five buttons do the following:

5.5.) The Viewport

The viewport compromises the central portion of the Chart Designer window.  Within the viewport you can select, move, and size all of the various chart elements on the canvas.

5.5.1.) The Chart Canvas

The chart canvas is the background on which all of the chart elements are drawn.  It's dimensions are the size of the finished chart.  You can modify the size of the chart canvas by selection 'Canvas' from the Format menu.  This will bring up a dialog prompting you to specify the new canvas dimensions.


Canvas Formatting Dialog

You can specify the canvas size in pixels, inches, or centimeters.  From this dialog you can also specify when to use scroll bars in the viewport.  By default the viewport will display scroll bars when the canvas is larger than the window.  When the canvas is smaller than the viewport window, a dark gray area will appear around it.

By default, the canvas will re-size to match the space that you have defined for the chart in the Report Designer.  For example, if you set the space in the report to be 3 inches by 4 inches, the next time you edit the chart, the canvas will automatically size to 3 inches by 4 inches.

5.5.1.1.) Background Images

Instead of a plain or colored canvas, you can add an image as the background of the chart.


Radar Chart with Background Image

You can add a background image by selecting 'Background' from the Insert menu, or by clicking the Background button on the toolbar.  This will bring up a dialog allowing you to specify the background image for the chart.


Add Background Image Dialog

From this dialog you can specify the image that you would like to use.  You can retrieve the file along a file path or a URL.  You can also specify how to display the image either centered, stretched to fit, or tiled.  There are sample background images included with the installation in the /backgroundimages/ directory.

*Note - When you add a background image, the image itself is not stored with the chart.  Only the path or URL is saved.  If you move a chart, you need to be sure that it can still access the image along the path specified.

There is also an option to save the image using relative path.  If this option is checked, the chart will store the path relative to the EspressManager working directory. This means that moving a chart from machineA to machineB will still show the background image as long as the image is copied to the same location relative machineB's EspressManager.

5.5.2.) Moving and Sizing Chart Elements

You can select any element in the chart by clicking it.  The status bar at the bottom of the Chart Designer window will indicate which object has been currently selected.  Clicking and dragging on an object will move it around the chart canvas.  Note that some objects like axis or data top labels move in tandem, while other objects like legends move independently.

You can move the entire chart plot by clicking in the plot area and dragging the mouse.  This will move the entire chart around the canvas.  To re-size a chart right-click and drag within the plot area.  This will cause the plot to enlarge or shrink.  You can also size three-dimensional charts by using the zoom control in the navigation panel.

5.6.) Adding Chart Elements

In addition to the default chart elements, EspressReport provides a number of additional elements that you can add to a chart.

5.6.1.) Adding Text

There are two ways to add text to a chart.  Text can be added as titles, or as plain text elements.


Add Titles Dialog


Add Text Dialog


Add Text (Annotation) Dialog

5.6.1.1.) Text Variables

EspressReport allows you to specify certain variables within text that allow for run time substitution based on certain values/objects in the chart.  For example, if your chart uses a parameterized query as the data source, you could use the "&paramInfo" variable to display which parameter value(s) were selected at runtime.

Both the insert titles dialog and the add text dialog have a button marked 'Variables' at the bottom.  This will bring up a dialog with a list of variables you can use, and allow you to select one to add to the title or text.


Variables Dialog<

The following text variables are supported:

5.6.1.2.) Text Replacement

EspressReport allows you to overwrite a particular piece of text in a chart.  This can be useful if the data source doesn't use particularly intuitive column names.  Note that this feature will replace all instances of the text.  For example, if you have a column chart without a series that displays a column name for both the X-axis label and the legend item, you cannot use text replacement to change only the label and not the legend item.

To use text replacement, select 'Text Properties' from the Format menu.  This will bring up a dialog allowing you to specify replaced text.


Text Properties Dialog

Please note that when making successive changes to the same text, it is the original text, which must be used.  For example, assume you've replaced the word "coffee" with "water".  Now if you want to change "water" to "soft drink" the text replacement should have the original text, which is "coffee" and then "soft drink" as the replacement.  To remove any text replacement, simply replace the original string with itself.  Hence, using the same example, you would replace "coffee" with "coffee".

You can see a list of all the original text and the replacements by clicking on the 'List' button.  This will bring up a dialog listing all of the text replacement in the chart.


Replaced Text List

From this dialog you can select any of the replaced text and modify or undo the replacement by clicking the buttons at the bottom of the dialog.

5.6.1.3.) Automatic Text Re-sizing

EspressReport has the ability to automatically adjust the font size of the text in a chart as it's re-sized.  This is useful if you're using the same chart template to produce a number of charts in different sizes.  You can specify a ratio for the font size to adjust based on changes in the chart canvas.  To specify a re-size ratio, select 'Text Properties' from the Format menu.


Text Properties Dialog

The ratio dictates the relative percent that the font should re-size in regards to the canvas.  For example, say you re-size a chart from 500 x 500 pixels to 250 x 250.  With a re-size ratio of 1 then text with 12 point font would decrease to 6 point, decreasing by the same percent as the canvas.  However with a re-size ratio of 0.5 the font would decrease half as much as the canvas, so our 12 point font would only decrease to 9 point.

5.6.1.4.) Text Cropping

Long labels or text in a chart can sometimes take up too much space in the chart plot, leaving little room for the actual chart.  For situations like this, EspressReport offers a text cropping feature for chart text.  Text that is longer than a user-supplied threshold will be truncated with "...".  The hint box for the chart will show the whole label.  To specify text cropping, select 'Text Properties' from the Format menu.


Text Properties Dialog

To enable text cropping, check the 'Set Max Display Characters' option and specify the maximum character length in the dialog.  Any text longer than the specified number of characters will be truncated.

5.6.2.) Adding Lines

EspressReport allows you to add and format a number of different types of lines for charts.

5.6.2.1.) Line and Point Formatting

For any two dimensional chart type, you can choose to display lines and points for all the data points in the chart.  Note that some chart types already use this representation (i.e. line or scatter charts).


Column Chart with Lines and Points Defined

Line and point display is controlled by selecting 'Line and Point' from the Format menu, or click the 'Line and Point' button on the toolbar.  This will bring up a dialog presenting several options.


Line and Point Dialog

The first three options allow you to specify whether you would like to show lines, points, and a points border for the chart.  For radar, scatter, and polar charts you also have the option of showing areas.  For radar and polar charts the area option will fill in the areas enclosed by the data points.  For scatter charts it will draw columns from the X axis to the data points.  The remaining options allow you to customize the line and point displays for each element in the data series.

For each data series element, you can specify the point shape that you would like to use.  You can also control the size of the points.  The default point size is 0. You can specify point sizes of -1, -2, & -3 which represent sizes of 0.75, 0.5, and 0.25 respectively. At -3 (0.25), the point will be drawn as a dot regardless of the selected point shape.

For lines you can specify the line thickness, as well as customize a dash pattern.  The dash pattern is created by specifying the number of filled pixels and the number of empty pixels (between 0 and 255).  The line is then drawn by dividing into segments - the number of filled pixels followed by the number of empty pixels.  Setting 0 for both will result in a solid line.  Setting 255 for both will result in no line being drawn.

The last option allows you to change data point symbol border color to black or darker shade of symbol color.

5.6.2.2.) Floating Lines

Floating lines are free-form lines that can be arbitrarily added to any place on the chart canvas.  Often floating lines are used to point to a specific element in a chart.  To add a floating line select 'Line' from the insert menu, or click the 'Insert Line' button on the toolbar.

When you select this option your mouse pointer will change to a cross.  Click within the chart canvas where you would like the line to begin.  Each additional click will add a point to the line, allowing you to add another segment.  This way you can use floating lines to draw shapes as well.  Once you have finished, right-click to stop drawing.  The line will then be added.

Once a line has been placed on the canvas it cannot be moved individually.  It will move with the chart plot, like annotation text.  To specify options for a floating line, first select it, and then select 'Line and Point' from the format menu, or click the 'Line and Point' button on the toolbar.  This will bring up a dialog allowing you to format various properties for the floating line.


Line and Point Dialog for Floating Lines

The dialog allows you to specify a standard line style, or create a custom dash pattern in the same manner as line and point formatting.  You can also specify the line thickness in pixels.  The checkboxes at the bottom of the dialog allow you to place an arrowhead at the start and/or end of the line, as well as fill the area enclosed by the line to create a solid shape.

5.6.2.3.) Fixed Horizontal/Vertical Lines

Fixed horizontal or vertical lines are lines that are drawn on one of the chart axes.  These lines can also be drawn on three-dimensional charts where they appear as planes.  There are two types of fixed lines: constant lines, and control lines.  Constant lines are lines that are fixed to a certain value in an axis.  Control lines are drawn based on computed values that allow you to spot data points that are outside of certain value ranges.  To add either type of line to a chart, select 'Hort\Vert Line' from the Insert menu.  This will bring up a dialog allowing you to specify options for the line.


Constant Line Dialog

For constant lines you need to specify a label for the line, as well as the numeric value to use for the line.  Note that for the category axis, the data points start with 0.5.  You can also specify the line thickness, and whether the line is horizontal or vertical.  The last two options allow you to add an item to the chart legend for the line, and whether to display any annotation for the line.

For radar charts, the horizontal/vertical option is disabled.  Radar charts draw constant/control lines at the same point around all the chart axes (in a similar manner to the radar grid).  In addition, for radar charts, an additional option named "Circular Style" is present.  By default lines in radar charts are drawn in a segmented fashion - straight lines connect the points on each axis.  Selecting this option will draw the constant/control as a circle.

*Note - If you haven't specified any annotation for the line then none will appear if you select the last option.  For more on adding annotation to a chart, please see section 5.6.1.

To add a control line, click on the "Control Line" tab in the dialog.


Control Line Dialog

For control lines you need to specify which series element you want to compute the value for (this option does not appear if no series is present), and how to compute the value.  Options for control lines are average, minimum, maximum and multiples of standard deviation.

After you have specified all of the options, the line will be added to the chart.  To edit any of the properties specified in the previous dialogs, you can select 'Hort\Vert Line' from the Insert menu again, and use the 'Prev' and 'Next' buttons to find the line that you're looking for.  You can also double-click on the line that you want to modify.

You can control the appearance of fixed lines by first selecting the line, and then selecting 'Line and Point' from the Format menu, or clicking the 'Line and Point' icon on the toolbar.  This will bring up a dialog allowing you to customize the line.


Line and Point Dialog for Fixed Lines

This dialog allows you to specify a standard line style, or create a custom dash pattern in the same manner as line and point formatting.

5.6.2.4.) Trend Lines

A powerful feature of EspressReport is the ability to add trend lines to charts.  Trend lines can help to show more details of a chart's data by exposing and highlighting certain trends.


Chart with Trend Lines

To add a trend line to a chart, select 'Trendline' from the Insert menu.  This will bring up a dialog allowing you to specify several options for the trend line.


Trend Line Dialog

In this dialog you can specify a label for the line, as what element of the data series to base the calculation on.  The following types of trend lines are supported: linear, a polynomial of any degree, a power, exponential, logarithmic, a moving average, an exponential moving average, an triangular moving average, cubic B-spline and a normal distribution curve.  For moving averages you will need to specify the average period, and for a polynomial you will need to specify the curve order.

When you finish specifying all the options for the trend line, click 'OK' and it will be added to the chart.  You can change the appearance of the trend line by first selecting it, and then selecting 'Line and Point' from the Format menu, or clicking the 'Line and Point' button on the toolbar.  This will bring up a dialog allowing you to customize the lines.


Line and Point Dialog for Trend Lines

This dialog allows you to create a custom dash pattern in the same manner as line and point formatting.

5.6.2.4.1.) Normal Distribution Curve

A special type of trend line allows you to draw a normal distribution curve for the data in the chart.  In order to plot a normal distribution curve, the chart must either be a two-dimensional column or bar chart, it cannot have a data series, and the category should be numeric.  Assuming these conditions are met, you can specify a normal distribution curve as one of the trend line options.


Chart with Normal Distribution Curve

Since the scale for the curve is usually different than the scale for the value axis, the curve is shown on a secondary axis. You can modify the scale by change the scale for the secondary axis.

5.6.3.) Adding Control Areas

Control areas are useful for comparing the chart data against a certain range of data.  For most two-dimensional charts, control areas are drawn as filled areas on the chart plot between a range of values on the chart's value axis and/or category axis.  The data points are then drawn over top of the control areas giving you a quick visual reference to see which data points fall within the designated range.  Instead of drawing a background area on the plot, the control areas can also be shown, only where the data points intersect the control area.  This feature gives users a clear visual reference when specific threshold values are reached.


Two-Dimensional Area Chart with Control Areas


Column Chart with Control Area Drawn for Data Points

A special instance of control areas can be used for dial charts.  For dial charts control areas are drawn as arcs on the face of the dial, allowing you to see if the dial hands (data points) fall within the range.  Note that control areas are not available for radar and pie charts.


Dial Chart with Control Areas

To add a control area to a chart, select 'Control Area' from the Insert menu.  If your chart is not a dial chart, the following dialog will appear allowing you to specify options for the control area.


Control Area Dialog

The following options are provided for control areas:

If your chart is a dial chart then a different dialog will appear when you select 'Control Area' from the Insert menu.


Control Area Dialog for Dial Charts

The following options are provided for dial chart control areas:

Once you have finished specifying all of the options for a control area, it will be added to the chart.  You can edit the control area by selecting 'Control Area' from the Insert menu, or by double clicking on the specific control area in the chart.

5.6.4.) Adding Tables

In addition to displaying charts, you can also display a table showing the data points displayed in the chart.  The table can be placed below or to the right of the chart plot.


Chart with Table

To add a table to a chart, or modify the various display options for a table, select 'Table' from the Format menu.  This will bring up a dialog allowing you to customize various options for the table display.


Format Table Dialog

From this dialog you can specify whether or not to display the table, as well as what relative position to give the table either to the bottom or right-hand side of the chart plot.  You can also specify a 3D effect for the table and the depth of the effect.

The 'Transpose' checkbox allows you to swap the columns and rows of the table.  By default the category elements are drawn as the columns, and the data series elements as the rows.

The 'Alignment' options allow you to specify the horizontal alignment of the text in the table cells, either left, center, or right.  The alignment can be set for the row and column headers, as well as the inner table cells.

*Note - if there isn't enough room in the chart canvas, all the data points will not display in the table.  The table size will adjust with the canvas size.  It will also adjust with the font size for the text in the table cells.

5.6.5.) Adding Hyperlinks

EspressReport has the capability to add hyperlinks to any data point in a chart.  Links can be specified for single data points, or for multiple elements. Any added hyperlinks will be applied to both the data points on the chart, and to their respective fields on the legend.   To add a hyperlink to a chart, select 'Link' from the Insert menu, or right-click on a data point and select 'Insert Link' from the pop-up menu.  This will bring up a dialog, allowing you to define the hyperlink.


Insert Link Dialog

The URL field allows you to specify the Web page that you would like to link to.

Using the 'Series' and 'Category' drop down menus you can select the element in the data series, and the category element for the hyperlink.  You can also link to all data series elements, or all category elements.

You can specify the 'Target' parameter recognized by HTML when specifying a hyperlink to be attached to a data point or data series.  This can be used to determine whether the new HTML page is opened in a new browser window or the same browser window, or whether the new page occupies the same portion of the page as the current page.

The 'Hint' field allows you to enter text that will pop-up when the mouse is passed over the data point.  If you want to create pop-up labels without hyperlinks, you can leave the URL field blank, and only specify the hint.

5.6.5.1.) Viewing Hyperlinks

If you specify hyperlinks for charts, the hyperlinks will only be active when the report is exported to HTML or DHTML formats.  An image map file containing information for the link will be automatically generated when you export the chart. This is true for using chart hyperlinks in charts embedded in reports as well.


Export Dialog

5.7.) Formatting Chart Axes

EspressReport provides a number of extensive formatting capabilities for the chart axes.  Users can customize everything from the axis scale to the way in which axis labels are displayed.

5.7.1.) Axis Scale

By default, the scale of any value axes in the chart is calculated to provide a 'best fit' for the data being plotted.  This is often a useful feature if the data being displayed can change radically.  There are, however, many times where you may want to manually set the scale of the axes.  To modify the axis scale, select 'Axis Scale' from the Format menu, or click the 'Axis Scale' button on the toolbar.  This will bring up a dialog allowing you to format the scale for any value axes in the chart.


Axis Scale Dialog

The following options are provided:


Logarithmic Options Dialog

The axis scale dialog will have a tab for each value axis in the chart.  To set the scale for other axes, click the tab for that axis.  A unique option available for secondary axes allows you to align the axis scale.  This will apply all of the options from the primary axis to the secondary axis, giving both axes the exact same scale.


Axis Scale Dialog for Secondary Axis

The axis scale dialog changes for a Gantt chart.  You can still select the "Automatic" option to have the scale configured automatically or the "Manual" option to custom set the scale.  However, the "Maximum", "Minimum", "Unit" and "Origin" are replaced with "Maximum Date", "Minimum Date", "Scale Step" and "Origin Date" respectively and these new settings take in a Date/Time (represented by yyyy, MM, dd, hh, mm).


Axis Scale Dialog for Gantt Chart

5.7.2.) Axis Elements

The appearance properties of the axes and the axis labels are controlled through the axis elements dialog.  To invoke the axis elements dialog, select 'Axis Elements' from the Format menu, or click the 'Format Value Elements' button on the tool bar.  This will bring up the following dialog allowing you to customize elements in all the chart axes.  You can also control the appearance of dial and pie chart labels from this dialog.


Axis Elements Dialog

A tab will appear in this dialog for each axis in the chart.  The dialog allows you to perform the following options.  Note that some options are only available for certain chart types, certain data types, and on certain axes.

5.7.2.1.) Axis Label Formatting

The axis elements dialog also allows you to format the appearance of the axis labels, depending on what type of data is plotted on the axis.  The "Format Options" portion of the dialog contains the label formatting dialog.


Numeric Data Format Options


Locale-Specific Formatting Options


Fixed Point Formatting Options


Scientific Formatting Options


Date/Time Data Format Options


Locale-Specific Formatting Options


Standard Formatting Options


Logical Data Formatting Options

Any changes you make to the data formatting will take effect after you click 'OK' in the axis elements dialog.  Note that there are no additional formatting options for string data.

5.8.) Formatting Plot/Data Elements

EspressReport provides a number of ways to customize and configure the way data points are drawn and annotated on the chart, as well as the chart plot itself.

5.8.1.) Data Properties

Many of the data display options are controlled through the data properties dialog.  From this dialog you can control the size of bars/columns, set display options for null values, and specify options for data labels.  To invoke the data properties dialog, select 'Data Properties' from the Format menu, or click the 'Data Properties' button on the toolbar.  This will bring up the following dialog.


Data Properties Dialog

This data properties dialog contains the following options:

5.8.2.) Date/Time Based Zooming

For charts displaying date or time data on the category axis, EspressReport provides a unique feature allowing users to perform date/time based zooming.  Using this feature, you can group the category elements into user-defined intervals and aggregate the points in each group.  You can also filter the data by specifying upper and lower bounds for the results.

For example, suppose your data contains daily sales volume for the past two years.  Using zooming you could aggregate the data to look at average volume per month, quarter, or year.  Using the upper and lower bounds you could narrow the range to look at weekly sales volume within a specific quarter.

Zooming is available for all chart types except high-low, HLCO, scatter, surface, box, dial, polar, radar, bubble and Gantt.

5.8.2.1.) Adding Zooming

When you create a new chart with date, time, or timestamp data in the category axis, you will be automatically prompted to specify zooming options.  You can manually invoke the zooming option dialog by selecting 'Zoom Options' from the Format menu.

When you first select to add zooming a dialog will appear, prompting you to specify aggregation options for the grouped data points.


Aggregation Options Dialog

In this dialog you can specify the aggregation either sum, minimum, maximum, average, or count, as well as the maximum and minimum scale increments that can be used when zooming the data.  After you have specified the options that you want, click 'OK' and a new dialog will appear allowing you to specify additional zooming options.


Zoom Options Dialog

This dialog allows you to specify a lower and upper bound for the data, as well as the interval by which you would like to group the data.  The scale specified here must be within the maximum and minimum scale specified in the aggregation options dialog.

This dialog also allows you to preserve a linear scale for the chart.  By setting the "Linear" option to true, the chart will always display points for the grouped intervals, even if there is no data associated with a particular group.  For example, say again that you are measuring sales volume over a three month period - April May and June.  If the input data has no records for May, and you set the "Linear" option to true a point will be drawn for May with a value of zero.  If you set the "Linear" option to false, the data point for April will be immediately followed by June.

You can disable/enable zooming, as well as the lower and upper bound restrictions by using the checkboxes at the bottom of the dialog.  Once you have finished specifying all the options, click 'OK' and the zooming will be applied to the chart.

5.8.2.2.) Zooming in Chart Viewer

When deploying charts using Chart Viewer, end users can perform dynamic zooming.  To perform a time-series zoom in the Chart Viewer, hold the CTRL key down, click on a point on the chart, and drag it to another point in the chart. This will automatically zoom in based on the lower and upper bounds selected using the mouse.  The aggregation is performed according to the options that was set at design time.  You can undo the zoom by holding the CTRL key, and right clicking.

The scale internal is automatically chosen, depending on the data and the bounds chosen (as long as minimum 2 data points can be shown).  The scale interval can also be changed in the Chart Viewer by pressing ALT + Z.  This will bring up a dialog allowing the user to change the zoom settings.

5.8.3.) Data Ordering

EspressReport allows you to change the order that the category and series elements are drawn in the chart.  To modify the ordering, select 'Ordering' from the Data menu, or click the 'Data Ordering' button on the toolbar.  This will bring up the following dialog.


Data Ordering Dialog

The dialog contains a tab for the category elements, a tab for the series elements and a tab marked "VALUES".  For the category and series elements you have the following options:

You can also sort the category elements based on their corresponding values.  To do this, select the "VALUES" tab in the data ordering dialog.


Value Data Ordering Dialog

From this dialog you can specify to sort the category elements based on their corresponding values in the value, or secondary value axis.  You can also specify whether to sort them in ascending or descending order.  This resulting sort by value chart is called a Pareto chart, and is often used in process control applications.


Pareto Chart

Please note that any sorting set will be re-applied if the chart is refreshed and/or if the data changes.

5.8.4.) Histograms

Histograms are a useful analysis tool, by allowing you to track the frequency that events occur, or the way that a set of data falls into specific ranges.  EspressReport allows you to plot histograms based on the category elements in a chart.  You can plot histograms for all category data types except time-based data (date, time, or timestamp).

Histograms are calculated by counting data points or instances of each category element.  For numeric categories, you can further specify upper and lower bounds, as well as a scale to create ranges for the frequency counts.

To create a histogram, select 'Histogram Options' from the Format menu. A dialog will appear allowing you to select a histogram plot.


Select Histogram Dialog

When you select the 'Draw Histogram' option another dialog will appear allowing you to specify options for the histogram plot.  From this dialog you can select a lower or upper bound for that data being plotted.  When you place bound restrictions, then the histogram will not count data that falls outside of the range specified by the upper and lower bounds.  Generally it only makes sense to place bound restrictions on numeric category elements.


Histogram Options Dialog

For numeric category elements, you can also specify a scale in order to provide value ranges or groups in which to compute the frequency count.  To specify a scale, select the 'Enable Scale' option.  This will bring up a new dialog allowing you to specify the scale.


Histogram Scale Options

Here you can specify the number of units to be in each scale step.  You can also specify whether to preserve a linear scale.  This will draw a range on the category axis, even if there are no corresponding data points.  For example, if the frequency count is zero between 20 and 30 then the "30" element will still appear on the category axis with a count of zero.  However if linear scale is turned off the "30" element will not be drawn in the chart.

5.8.5.) Formatting Plot Area

The plot area is the plane on which the data points are drawn for two-dimensional charts.  You can customize the appearance of the plot area by selecting 'Plot Area' from the format menu.  Assuming the current chart is a two-dimensional chart the following dialog will appear.


Plot Area Dialog

This dialog allows you to draw a border around the plot area, or fill it to provide a background color.  If you fill the area, you can also specify certain three-dimensional effects either raising, lowering, or drawing a shadow.

5.8.6.) Formatting Chart Legend

You can control and modify the display of the chart legend by selecting 'Legend' from the Format menu, or by clicking on the 'Format Legend' button on the toolbar.  This will bring up the following dialog, allowing you to customize the legend properties.


Format Legend Dialog

The dialog contains the following options:

In addition, you can remove specific category/series elements from the legend, by clicking the 'Hide' button.  This will bring up a list of the legend items, allowing you to select which elements you would like to hide.

5.8.7.) 3D Display Options

EspressReport renders three-dimensional charts in true 3D allowing light source modification, panning, zooming, and rotation. However, 3D rendering can be very memory and CPU intensive. When charts have a lot of data points (like 3D scatter and surface charts) it's possible to run out of memory when generating the chart.  To solve this problem, a rendering approximation feature is provided.  Using this algorithm the chart is not rendered perfectly, but it's usually acceptable when a lot of points have to be shown.

By default, approximation is turned on at a threshold value of 100 points. What this means, is that if a 3D chart has more than 100 data points that approximation will be used. You can turn off the approximation feature, or change the threshold value by selecting '3D Display Options' from the Format menu. This will bring up the following dialog.


3D Display Options Dialog

The two options for 3D approximation allow you to turn on/off the approximation, and to set the threshold value.  The other option in this dialog allow you to draw the series in-line (this is the same as the option in the navigation panel).

5.8.8.) Data Border

For column, bar, stack column, stack bar and HLCO charts, EspressReport allows you to configure a border around the columns.  To set the border option, select 'Data Border' from the Format menu.  This will bring up a dialog allowing you to set border options.


Data Border Dialog

The first option allows you to turn on/off the data border.  The second option allows you to set a black border for any white areas in the chart.  Please note that the border is black only if the first option is unchecked and will only appear around white areas in the chart.  The third and fourth options allows you to set the border thickness, and the border color.  If you click the color button a dialog will appear allowing you to select or enter a new color.

5.8.9.) Aggregation

EspressReport allows you to aggregate the data if there is more than one data point associated with a given category (and its series and/or stack, if a series and/or stack is present).  This allows for a broader look at the data rather than just a single data point (out of many).

To aggregate the data, select "Aggregation Options" from the Format menu.  A dialog will appear allowing you to enable aggregation.


Select Aggregation Dialog

When you select "Enable Aggregation", a second dialog box appears asking for the type of aggregation to be applied.  You can choose from maximum, minimum, average, sum and count for the aggregates.  You can specify a primary aggregate (aggregate applied to the column mapped to the primary axis) as well a secondary aggregate (aggregate applied to the column mapped to the secondary axis), if a secondary axis exists.


Aggregate Options Dialog

5.9.) Chart-Specific Options

There are a number of formatting options that are unique to certain chart types.  These options can be modified by selecting 'Chart Options' from the Format menu, or clicking the 'Chart Options' button on the toolbar.  This will bring up a dialog that varies depending on the type of the current chart.  Some chart types have no additional options.

5.9.1.) Bubble Charts

For bubble charts the following dialog is displayed.


Bubble Options Dialog

The following options are available for bubble charts:


Bubble Chart with 3D Shading

5.9.2.) Dial Charts

For dial charts the following dialog is displayed.


Dial Options Dialog

The following options are available for dial charts:


Dial Chart with Center Point Radius

5.9.2.1) Gauge Images

Dial charts have the additional option to display a foreground or background image for the dial plot area.  To add a foreground or background image, select "Dial Foreground..." or "Dial Background..." from the insert menu.  These options are only enabled for dial charts. 


Dial Chart Background Image Dialog

Selecting an image works in the same way as the background image dialog, see section 5.5.1.1.  In the dial chart image dialog, there is also an option to specify the radius of the image.  Specifying 1 for the radius will make the image the same width and height as the plot area.  Increasing or decreasing this value will enlarge or shrink the images respectively.

5.9.3.) Overlay Charts

For overlay charts the following dialog is displayed.


Overlay Options Dialog

From this dialog you can specify which chart type you would like to use for each element of the data series.  Available chart types for the series elements in an overlay chart are column, area, and line.  You can also choose not to display certain series elements.

From this dialog you can also specify which axis you would like to use to plot a series element.  You can place elements on the primary or secondary axes, or you can create new value axes for the series elements.  To create a new value axis, select 'New Axis' from the drop-down menu.  Once you specify to use a new axis, a new option will be added to the drop-down menus for the other data series elements, allowing them to be drawn on the same axis that you previously specified.  Using a variety of axes allows you to precisely tune the scale that the different series elements use. Each of these axes will have its own tab in the Axis Elements window, where you can change the label step interval for each axis independently of the others.


Axis Options Dialog for Multiple Value Axes


Overlay Chart with Multiple Value Axes

If one of the chart types used by the overlay chart is a line, you can specify whether or not to draw the line as a step line using the "Combo Line" tab.  For more about step lines see section 5.9.5.


Combo Line Options for Overlay Charts

5.9.4.) Pie Charts

For pie charts the following dialog is displayed. (Note that different options will appear/disappear depending on whether the chart has a series, and if it's a 2D or 3D chart.) Here are the options available for a 2D chart with series:


Pie Options Dialog (With Series)

And here are the options available for a 2D chart without series, notice that the formation options are removed and the '% in legend' and 'Value in legend' options are added:


Pie Options Dialog (Without Series)

The following options are available for pie charts:


Pie Chart with Side Labels and Lines

5.9.5.) Line Charts

For two-dimensional line charts, one of two different dialogs will be displayed depending on whether the chart has a data series or not.  If the chart has a data series then the following dialog is displayed.


Line Options Dialog (with series)

Line charts with a data series have a specific option that allows you to draw drop bars between two series elements.  The dialog options are as follows:


Line Chart with Drop Bars

Note that the color of the drop bar will vary depending on which series has the higher value for a given point.  If the line chart does not have a series, then the following dialog will appear.


Line Options Dialog (without series)

The dialog options are as follows:


Line Chart with Step Lines

There are no additional options for three-dimensional line charts.

5.9.5.1.) Double Value Line Charts

EspressReport contains a special option for line charts that allows you to have two values shown for the same line.  Here the secondary axis a used to plot the second value (as in a line-line combination) and then combined with the line on the primary axis.


Double Value Line Chart

To create a double value line chart, design a line-line combination chart (a line chart with primary and secondary values).  Then select 'Axis Elements' from the Format menu.  This will bring up the axis elements dialog.


Axis Elements Dialog for Line-Line Combination Charts

Under the "2nd Axis" tab, there is a checkbox marked "Show using primary axis".  Check this box and click 'OK'.  Your chart will now be drawn as a double value line chart.

5.9.6.) HLCO Charts

For HLCO charts the following dialog is displayed.


HLCO Options Dialog

The 'Show Hi-Low As Candle Stick' option will turn the HLCO chart into a candle representation.  A candle HLCO chart blends the high, low, close, and open data into a single object that resembles a candlestick.


HLCO Candlestick Chart

5.9.7.) Box Charts

For box charts the following dialog is displayed.


Box Options Dialog

This dialog allows you to specify whether to display the box chart in a horizontal or vertical orientation.

5.9.8.) Stack Area Charts

For stack area charts the following dialog is displayed.


Stack Area Options Dialog

You can choose to hide any of the stacks in the chart by clicking on the corresponding check box.  The "Combo Line" tab allows you to specify step lines if the chart is a line stack area combination.  There are no additional options for three-dimensional stack area charts.

5.9.9.) Gantt Charts

For Gantt charts the following dialog is displayed.


Gantt Options Dialog

The following options are available for Gantt charts:


Gantt Chart with Arrows

5.9.10.) Radar Charts

For radar charts the following dialog is displayed.


Radar Options Dialog

By default the scale is the same for all of the axes in the radar chart.  Unchecking the "Synchronize All Axes" option will allow each axis in the radar chart to be scaled independently.  You can select to use auto-scaling for each axis, or you can set the scales manually, by invoking the axis scale dialog.

The second options allows you to set how the grid is drawn for the radar chart.  By default, if the grid is enabled, it is drawn in straight lines that connect the tickers on each axis.  Enabling the "Draw Circular Grid" option will draw the grid in a circle, similar to the polar chart grid.

The third option allows you to specify a cut-off point for the data points (areas) in the radar chart.  You can enter the maximum value that should be shown in the chart.  The areas bounded by the data points will not be drawn beyond the specified cut-off point.

5.9.11.) Scatter Charts

For scatter charts the following dialog is displayed.


Scatter Options Dialog

The "Max Y Cut Off Point" option allows you to specify a maximum value for the Y point of the scatter coordinates.  Any coordinates that fall beyond this threshold are not plotted.  Connecting lines wil draw up to the edge of the threshold, and continue to the next data point.

The "Combo Line" option allows you to specify to draw the connecting line as a step line, as well as specify the step line ratio.

5.9.12.) Polar Charts

For polar charts the following dialog is displayed.


Polar Options Dialog

5.9.13.) Column Charts with Series

For column charts with a data series the following dialog is displayed.


Column Options Dialog

Normally, when column charts have a data series, each series has it's own color that is applied for every category in the chart.  If you want to assign different colors to the columns in the chart regardless of the series, you can enable the 'Unique Color Column' option in this dialog.  With this turned on, you can set the color for each column in the chart independently.

5.9.14.) Column/Bar Charts without Series

For column/bar charts without a data series the following dialog is displayed.


Column/Bar Options Dialog

Normally, when column/bar charts don't have a data series, all categories in the chart have single color.  If you want to assign different colors to the categories in the chart, uncheck the 'Single Color For All Categories' option in this dialog.

5.9.15.) Two-Dimensional Line Combination Charts

For any other two-dimensional line combination chart, the following dialog is displayed.


Line Combination Chart Options

This dialog allows you to specify whether to draw the combo line as a step line, as well as specify the step line ratio.

5.9.16.) Doughnut Charts

The chart options for a doughnut chart are almost exactly the same as those for a pie chart.  You can refer to the options under Pie Charts for more details.


Doughnut Chart Options

The only option unique to doughnut charts is the Arc Length Ratio (%) which specifies the size of the hole at the center of the chart.  A higher number results in a smaller hole.