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Edit Chart

  • Updated

The Edit Chart dialog lets you edit details about your chart or graph.

You can set the title, change the design, move the legend, re-import data, and specify other chart parameters.

 

Note, to edit the title of a Pie chart, you'll have to edit the data table. Switch to the Data view using the database icon in the Left bar, and click on Data. For a pie chart, SmartDraw uses the first column in the data table as the title. You can edit that in this view.

 

Changing the Design of Your Graph

You can easily swap between chart types using the type down. Not sure which graph is right for your presentation? Try switching between a bar chart and a line chart to see which communicates your information more effectively.

Here's the same data set as a bar chart:

mceclip0.png

And as a pie chart:

mceclip1.png

Keep in mind that not all data is meant to be displayed as every graph type.

 

Position the Legend

Using the Legend drop-down you can decide where your legend will display.

 

Parameter Options

SmartDraw has already set the defaults that will look good so there's no reason to change these parameters unless you want to create a custom look and feel.

 

  • titlePos: title position
    • "none": no title
    • "top": display above graph area
    • "topleft": display above graph area, on left
    • "topright": display above graph area, on right
    • "bottom": display below graph area
    • "bottomleft": display below graph area, on left
    • "bottomright": display below graph area, on right
  • titleColor: title text color (set via SetTextColor)
  • titleFontSize: title font size

 

Parameters specific to bar and line charts:

 

  • legendShape: legend color shape
    • "round": draw the legend color as circle
    • "square" draw the legend color as square
  • unitLabel: y axis units label that is displayed at the top of the y axis
  • tickLen: axis tick lengths
  • tickWidth: line thickness of the ticks
  • graphLineWidth: line thickness of the graph data lines
  • yTickCount: # of ticks on the y axis
  • yMinZero: if true, sets the min value of the yAxis to 0, otherwise, min value is computed from the data
  • yRuleLines: if true, displays ruling lines behind the graph, aligned with the y axis ticks
  • yAxisHide: if true, hides the main (vertical) part of the y axis (ticks and tick labels will still be shown unless yTickCount = 0)
  • xAxisStep: the step count for the x axis labels (and ticks). Defaults to 1, meaning no labels are skipped. Note: the step will be increased if there is not enough room for the x axis labels.
  • xLabelMaxLen: if set (or non-zero), will truncate x axis labels to the given max length (and add tooltips to the labels with the entire original text).
  • xLabelBehavior: defines optional layout for the x axis labels:
    • "vertical": orients the labels vertically
    • "wrap": wraps the labels to the bar (group) width (min wrap width of 40 pixels)
    • "none": (default) leaves labels as single horizontal text line (current behavior)
  • yFormatter: D3-based format string for the yAxis labels (see https://github.com/d3/d3-format Default is "s")
  • dataSetColors: comma-separated list of colors that define the data set colors
  • labelFontSize: font size of the axis, unit and legend text

 

Parameters specific to pie charts:

 

  • chartRadius: radius of the core pie graph area (minus labels, legend and title)
  • innerRadius: inner radius of the pie chart (a non-zero value creates a donut-type pie chart)
  • displayDivider: Boolean. If true, display a divider between pie wedges.
  • dataSetColors: comma-separated list of colors that define the data set colors
  • labelFontSize: font size of the axis, unit and legend text
  • labelColor: color of data labels when displayed outside of chart area as callouts (defaults to textColor)
  • altLabelColor: color of data labels when displayed inside of chart area (defaults to labelColor)
  • labelPos: location of data labels
    • "none": do not display data labels
    • "inside": display data labels inside
    • "outside": display data labels outside with callouts
    • "mixed": display data labels inside if they fit, otherwise display outside with callouts
  • labelFormat: defines how the data labels are displayed
    • "value": display data as values (default)
    • "percent": display data as a percentage of the whole data set
  • showDataLabels: Boolean. If true, prepend data title to the data.
  • labelLineLength: length of data callout lines when displayed as outside.