The Structure of Charts
The structure of a chart, and therefore the list of services and interfaces supported by it, depends on the chart type. For example, the methods and properties of the Z-axis, are available in 3D charts, but not in 2D charts, and in pie charts, there are no interfaces for working with axes.
Title, Subtitle and Legend
Title, subtitle and legend are basic elements provided for every chart. The Chart object provides the following properties for administrating these elements:
- HasMainTitle (Boolean)
- activates the title
- Title (Object)
- object with detailed information about the chart title (supports the com.sun.star.chart.ChartTitle service)
- HasSubTitle(Boolean)
- activates the subtitle
- Subtitle (Object)
- object with detailed information about the chart subtitle (supports the com.sun.star.chart.ChartTitle service)
- HasLegend (Boolean)
- activates the legend
- Legend (Object)
- object with detailed information about the legend (supports the com.sun.star.chart.ChartLegend service)
Both services com.sun.star.chart.ChartTitle and com.sun.star.chart.ChartLegend do support the service com.sun.star.drawing.Shape. This allows to determine the position and size of the elements using the Position and Size properties. As the size of the legend and the titles is calculated automatically based on the current content and the character height for example, the size property provides read access only.
Fill and line properties (com.sun.star.drawing.FillProperties and com.sun.star.drawing.LineProperties services) as well as the character properties (com.sun.star.style.CharacterProperties service) are provided for further formatting of the elements.
com.sun.star.chart.ChartTitle contains not only the listed formatting properties, but also two other properties:
- String (String)
- text which to be displayed as the title or subtitle
- TextRotation (Long)
- angle of rotation of text in 100ths of a degree
The legend (com.sun.star.chart.ChartLegend) contains the following additional property:
- Alignment (Enum)
- position at which the legend appears (value of type com.sun.star.chart.ChartLegendPosition)
The following example creates a chart with a title "Main Title String", a subtitle "Subtitle String" and a legend. The legend has a gray background color, is placed at the bottom of the chart, and has a character size of 7 points.
Dim Doc As Object Dim Charts As Object Dim Chart as Object Dim Rect As New com.sun.star.awt.Rectangle Dim RangeAddress(0) As New com.sun.star.table.CellRangeAddress Rect.X = 8000 Rect.Y = 1000 Rect.Width = 10000 Rect.Height = 7000 RangeAddress(0).Sheet = 0 RangeAddress(0).StartColumn = 0 RangeAddress(0).StartRow = 0 RangeAddress(0).EndColumn = 2 RangeAddress(0).EndRow = 12 Doc = StarDesktop.CurrentComponent Charts = Doc.Sheets(0).Charts Charts.addNewByName("MyChart", Rect, RangeAddress(), True, True) Chart = Charts.getByName("MyChart").EmbeddedObject Chart.HasMainTitle = True Chart.Title.String = "Main Title String" Chart.HasSubTitle = True Chart.Subtitle.String = "Subtitle String" Chart.HasLegend = True Chart.Legend.Alignment = com.sun.star.chart.ChartLegendPosition.BOTTOM Chart.Legend.FillStyle = com.sun.star.drawing.FillStyle.SOLID Chart.Legend.FillColor = RGB(210, 210, 210) Chart.Legend.CharHeight = 7
Background
Every chart has a background area. The Chart object provides the property Area to format the background:
- Area (Object)
- background area of the chart (supports com.sun.star.chart.ChartArea service)
The background of a chart covers its complete area, including the area under the title, subtitle and legend. The associated com.sun.star.chart.ChartArea service supports line and fill properties.
Diagram
The Chart object provides the property Diagram which forms the coordinate system with axes and grids, where the data finally is displayed:
- Diagram (Object)
- object forming the coordinate system where the data is plotted. It supports com.sun.star.chart.Diagram service and:
Different services are supported depending on the chart type (see
Chart Types).
Wall and Floor
The chart wall is the background of the coordinate system where the data is plotted. Two chart walls usually exist for 3D charts: one behind the plotted data and one as the left-hand or right-hand demarcation. This depends on the rotation of the chart. 3D charts usually also have a floor.
The Diagram object provides the properties Wall and Floor:
- Wall (Object)
- background wall of the coordinate system (supports com.sun.star.chart.ChartArea service)
- Floor (Object)
- floor panel of coordinate system (only for 3D charts, supports com.sun.star.chart.ChartArea service)
The specified objects support the com.sun.star.chart.ChartArea service, which provides the usual fill and line properties (com.sun.star.drawing.FillProperties and com.sun.star.drawing.LineProperties services, refer to Drawings and Presentations).
The following example shows how graphics (named Sky) already contained in Apache OpenOffice can be used as a background for a chart. The wall is set to be blue.
Dim Doc As Object Dim Charts As Object Dim Chart as Object Dim Rect As New com.sun.star.awt.Rectangle Dim RangeAddress(0) As New com.sun.star.table.CellRangeAddress Rect.X = 8000 Rect.Y = 1000 Rect.Width = 10000 Rect.Height = 7000 RangeAddress(0).Sheet = 0 RangeAddress(0).StartColumn = 0 RangeAddress(0).StartRow = 0 RangeAddress(0).EndColumn = 2 RangeAddress(0).EndRow = 12 Doc = StarDesktop.CurrentComponent Charts = Doc.Sheets(0).Charts Charts.addNewByName("MyChart", Rect, RangeAddress(), True, True) Chart = Charts.getByName("MyChart").EmbeddedObject Chart.Area.FillStyle = com.sun.star.drawing.FillStyle.BITMAP Chart.Area.FillBitmapName = "Sky" Chart.Area.FillBitmapMode = com.sun.star.drawing.BitmapMode.REPEAT Chart.Diagram.Wall.FillStyle = com.sun.star.drawing.FillStyle.SOLID Chart.Diagram.Wall.FillColor = RGB(00,132,209)
Axes
Apache OpenOffice recognizes five different axes that can be used in a chart. In the simplest scenario, these are the X and Y-axes. When working with 3D charts, a Z-axis is also sometimes provided. For charts in which the values of the various rows of data deviate significantly from one another, Apache OpenOffice provides a second X and Y-axis for second scaling operations.
The Diagram object provides the following properties to access the axes:
- HasXAxis (Boolean)
- activates the X-axis
- XAxis (Object)
- object with detailed information about the X-axis (supports com.sun.star.chart.ChartAxis service)
- HasXAxisDescription (Boolean)
- activates the labels for the interval marks for the X-axis
- HasYAxis (Boolean)
- activates the Y-axis
- YAxis (Object)
- object with detailed information about the Y-axis (supports com.sun.star.chart.ChartAxis service)
- HasYAxisDescription (Boolean)
- activates the labels for the interval marks for the Y-axis
- HasZAxis (Boolean)
- activates the Z-axis
- ZAxis (Object)
- object with detailed information about the Z-axis (supports com.sun.star.chart.ChartAxis service)
- HasZAxisDescription (Boolean)
- activates the labels for the interval marks for the Z-axis
- HasSecondaryXAxis (Boolean)
- activates the secondary X-axis
- SecondaryXAxis (Object)
- object with detailed information about the secondary X-axis (supports com.sun.star.chart.ChartAxis service)
- HasSecondaryXAxisDescription (Boolean)
- activates the labels for the interval marks for the secondary X-axis
- HasSecondaryYAxis (Boolean)
- activates the secondary Y-axis
- SecondaryYAxis (Object)
- object with detailed information about the secondary Y-axis (supports com.sun.star.chart.ChartAxis service)
- HasSecondaryYAxisDescription (Boolean)
- activates the labels for the interval marks for the secondary Y-axis
Properties of Axes
The axis objects of a Apache OpenOffice chart support the com.sun.star.chart.ChartAxis service. In addition to the properties for characters (com.sun.star.style.CharacterProperties service, refer to Text Documents) and lines (com.sun.star.drawing.LineStyle service, refer to Drawings and Presentations), it provides the following properties:
Scaling properties:
- Max (Double)
- maximum value for axis
- Min (Double)
- minimum value for axis
- Origin (Double)
- point of intersect for crossing axes
- StepMain (Double)
- distance between the major interval marks
- StepHelp (Double)
- distance between the minor interval marks (deprecated since OpenOffice.org 3.0; Use property StepHelpCount instead)
- StepHelpCount (Long)
- Contains the number of minor intervals within a major interval. E.g. a StepHelpCount of 5 divides the major interval into 5 pieces and thus produces 4 minor tick marks. (available since OpenOffice.org 3.0)
- AutoMax (Boolean)
- the maximum value for the axis is calculated automatically when set to true
- AutoMin (Boolean)
- the minimum value for the axis is calculated automatically when set to true
- AutoOrigin (Boolean)
- the origin is determined automatically when set to true
- AutoStepMain (Boolean)
- StepMain is determined automatically when set to true
- AutoStepHelp (Boolean)
- StepHelpCount is determined automatically when set to true
- Logarithmic (Boolean)
- scales the axes in logarithmic manner (rather than linear)
- ReverseDirection (Boolean)
- determines if the axis orientation is mathematical or reversed. (available since OpenOffice.org 2.4)
Label properties:
- DisplayLabels (Boolean)
- activates the text label at the interval marks
- TextRotation (Long)
- angle of rotation of text label in 100ths of a degree
- ArrangeOrder (enum)
- the label may be staggered, thus they are positioned alternately over two lines (values according to com.sun.star.chart.ChartAxisArrangeOrderType)
- TextBreak (Boolean)
- permits line breaks within the axes labels
- TextCanOverlap (Boolean)
- permits an overlap of the axes labels
- NumberFormat (Long)
- number format to be used with the axes labels
- LinkNumberFormatToSource (Boolean)
- determines whether to use the number format given by the container document, or from the property NumberFormat. (since OpenOffice.org 2.3)
Interval mark properties:
- Marks (Const)
- determines the position of the major interval marks (values in accordance with com.sun.star.chart.ChartAxisMarks)
- HelpMarks (Const)
- determines the position of the minor interval marks (values in accordance with com.sun.star.chart.ChartAxisMarks)
Only for bar charts:
- Overlap (Long)
- percentage which specifies the extent to which the bars of different sets of data may overlap (at 100%, the bars are shown as completely overlapping, at -100%, there is a distance of the width of one bar between them)
- GapWidth (long)
- percentage which specifies the distance there may be between the different groups of bars of a chart (at 100%, there is a distance corresponding to the width of one bar)
Grids
For the primary axes grids and sub grids can be displayed, matching to the major and minor intervals. The Diagram object provides the following properties to access the grids:
- HasXAxisGrid (Boolean)
- activates major grid for X-axis
- XMainGrid (Object)
- object with detailed information about the major grid for X-axis (supports com.sun.star.chart.ChartGrid service)
- HasXAxisHelpGrid (Boolean)
- activates minor grid for X-axis
- XHelpGrid (Object)
- object with detailed information about the minor grid for X-axis (supports com.sun.star.chart.ChartGrid service)
the same for y and z:
- HasYAxisGrid (Boolean)
- activates major grid for Y-axis
- YMainGrid (Object)
- object with detailed information about the major grid for Y-axis (supports com.sun.star.chart.ChartGrid service)
- HasYAxisHelpGrid (Boolean)
- activates minor grid for Y-axis
- YHelpGrid (Object)
- object with detailed information about the minor grid for Y-axis (supports com.sun.star.chart.ChartGrid service)
- HasZAxisGrid (Boolean)
- activates major grid for Z-axis
- ZMainGrid (Object)
- object with detailed information about the major grid for Z-axis (supports com.sun.star.chart.ChartGrid service)
- HasZAxisHelpGrid (Boolean)
- activates minor grid for Z-axis
- ZHelpGrid (Object)
- object with detailed information about the minor grid for Z-axis (supports com.sun.star.chart.ChartGrid service)
The grid object is based on the com.sun.star.chart.ChartGrid service, which in turn supports the line properties of the com.sun.star.drawing.LineStyle support service (refer to Drawings and Presentations).
Axes Title
For all axes an additional title can be displayed. The Diagram object provides the following properties to access the axes title:
- HasXAxisTitle (Boolean)
- activates title of X-axis
- XAxisTitle (Object)
- object with detailed information about title of the X-axis (supports com.sun.star.chart.ChartTitle service)
same y and z:
- HasYAxisTitle (Boolean)
- activates title of Y-axis
- YAxisTitle (Object)
- object with detailed information about title of the Y-axis (supports com.sun.star.chart.ChartTitle service)
- HasZAxisTitle (Boolean)
- activates title of Z-axis
- ZAxisTitle (Object)
- object with detailed information about title of the Z-axis (supports com.sun.star.chart.ChartTitle service)
and for the secondary axes (available since OpenOffice.org 3.0):
- HasSecondaryXAxisTitle (Boolean)
- activates title of the secondary X-axis.
- SecondXAxisTitle (Object)
- object with detailed information about title of the secondary X-axis (supports com.sun.star.chart.ChartTitle service)
- HasSecondaryYAxisTitle (Boolean)
- activates title of the secondary Y-axis.
- SecondYAxisTitle (Object)
- object with detailed information about title of the secondary Y-axis (supports com.sun.star.chart.ChartTitle service)
The objects for formatting the axes title are based on the com.sun.star.chart.ChartTitle service, which is also used for chart titles.
Example
The following example creates a line chart. The color for the rear wall of the chart is set to white. Both the X and Y-axes have a gray grid for visual orientation. The minimum value of the Y-axis is fixed to 0 and the maximum value is fixed to 100 so that the resolution of the chart is retained even if the values are changed. The X-axis points in reverse direction from right to left. And a title for the X-axis was added.
Dim Doc As Object Dim Charts As Object Dim Chart as Object Dim Rect As New com.sun.star.awt.Rectangle Dim RangeAddress(0) As New com.sun.star.table.CellRangeAddress Doc = StarDesktop.CurrentComponent Charts = Doc.Sheets(0).Charts Rect.X = 8000 Rect.Y = 1000 Rect.Width = 10000 Rect.Height = 7000 RangeAddress(0).Sheet = 0 RangeAddress(0).StartColumn = 0 RangeAddress(0).StartRow = 0 RangeAddress(0).EndColumn = 2 RangeAddress(0).EndRow = 12 Charts.addNewByName("MyChart", Rect, RangeAddress(), True, True) Chart = Charts.getByName("MyChart").embeddedObject Chart.Diagram = Chart.createInstance("com.sun.star.chart.LineDiagram") Chart.Diagram.Wall.FillColor = RGB(255, 255, 255) Chart.Diagram.HasXAxisGrid = True Chart.Diagram.XMainGrid.LineColor = RGB(192, 192, 192) Chart.Diagram.HasYAxisGrid = True Chart.Diagram.YMainGrid.LineColor = RGB(192, 192, 192) Chart.Diagram.YAxis.Min = 0 Chart.Diagram.YAxis.Max = 100 Chart.Diagram.XAxis.ReverseDirection = true 'needs OpenOffice.org 2.4 or newer Chart.Diagram.HasXAxisTitle = true Chart.Diagram.XAxisTitle.String = "Reversed X Axis Example"
3D Charts
Most charts in Apache OpenOffice can also be displayed with 3D graphics. The following properties are provided for 3D charts at the Diagram object:
- Dim3D (Boolean)
- activates 3D display
- Deep (Boolean)
- the series will be arranged behind each other in z-direction
- RightAngledAxes (Boolean)
- activates a 3D display mode where X- and Y-axes form a right angle within the projection. (available since OpenOffice.org 2.3)
- D3DScenePerspective (Enum)
- defines whether the 3D objects are to be drawn in perspective or parallel projection.(values according to com.sun.star.drawing.ProjectionMode)
- Perspective (Long)
- Perspective of 3D charts ( [0,100] ) (available since OpenOffice.org 2.4.1)
- RotationHorizontal (Long)
- Horizontal rotation of 3D charts in degrees ( [-180,180] ) (available since OpenOffice.org 2.4.1)
- RotationVertical (Long)
- Vertical rotation of 3D charts in degrees ( [-180,180] ) (available since OpenOffice.org 2.4.1)
The following example creates a 3D area chart.
Dim Doc As Object Dim Charts As Object Dim Chart as Object Dim Rect As New com.sun.star.awt.Rectangle Dim RangeAddress(0) As New com.sun.star.table.CellRangeAddress Doc = StarDesktop.CurrentComponent Charts = Doc.Sheets(0).Charts Rect.X = 8000 Rect.Y = 1000 Rect.Width = 10000 Rect.Height = 7000 RangeAddress(0).Sheet = 0 RangeAddress(0).StartColumn = 0 RangeAddress(0).StartRow = 0 RangeAddress(0).EndColumn = 2 RangeAddress(0).EndRow = 12 Charts.addNewByName("MyChart", Rect, RangeAddress(), True, True) Chart = Charts.getByName("MyChart").embeddedObject Chart.Diagram = Chart.createInstance("com.sun.star.chart.AreaDiagram") Chart.Diagram.Dim3D = true Chart.Diagram.Deep = true Chart.Diagram.RightAngledAxes = true 'needs OpenOffice.org 2.3 or newer Chart.Diagram.D3DScenePerspective = com.sun.star.drawing.ProjectionMode.PERSPECTIVE Chart.Diagram.Perspective = 100 'needs OpenOffice.org 2.4.1 or newer Chart.Diagram.RotationHorizontal = 60 'needs OpenOffice.org 2.4.1 or newer Chart.Diagram.RotationVertical = 30 'needs OpenOffice.org 2.4.1 or newer
Stacked Charts
Stacked charts are charts that are arranged with several individual values on top of one another to produce a total value. This view shows not only the individual values, but also an overview of all the values.
In Apache OpenOffice, various types of charts can be displayed in a stacked form. All of these charts support the com.sun.star.chart.StackableDiagram service, which in turn provides the following properties:
- Stacked (Boolean)
- activates the stacked viewing mode
- Percent (Boolean)
- rather than absolute values, displays their percentage distribution
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