Aligning Multiple Series with Categorical Values

alexgor — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 07:35:00 GMT

Binding Categorical Data Overview

Binding chart to the data source with categorical values is pretty simple and usually requires just one line of code:

Chart1.Series["Series1"].Points.DataBind(mySource, "ProductName", "Sales");  

It is important to understand that after DataBind method creates series DataPoint objects, their XValue property will always be set to zero and category is saved in the AxisLabel property. Position of each data point along the category axis is determined using the index of the object in Series.Points collection. Below is an example of what your chart may look like:

Alignment of Multiple Series

When you bind multiple series with categorical values you may run into some un-expected results based on how you prepare your data source. For example, let's imagine that our two chart series are bound to this data:

Series 1	Series 2
Product A = 320	Product B = 420
Product B = 580	Product E = 830
Product C = 980
Product E = 100
Product F = 220

As you can notice, we have less categories for the second series and their order does not match categories from the first series. If we try binding chart to this data we will end up with the chart shown below. Chart uses index of the data point to position them along the axis and we end up with orange series points in the wrong position. I added data point labels so that it would easier to see the issue.

In order to resolve this we can modify our data source to contain same number of categories in the same order like this:

Series 1	Series 2
Product A = 320	Product A = Null
Product B = 580	Product B = 420
Product C = 980	Product C = Null
Product E = 100	Product E = 830
Product F = 220	Product F = Null

Simpler approach is just to make a single call to Chart.AlignDataPointsByAxisLabel method which will automatically align the two series by inserting empty points and the end result will look like this:

Hope this helps!

Alex.

Microsoft Chart control for .NET Framework Released!

alexgor — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 06:43:00 GMT

I glad to announce the release of Microsoft Chart for .NET Framework 3.5 SP1, which includes the ASP.NET and Windows Forms Chart Controls. Our Data Visualization team in SSRS worked really hard to deliver those controls!

Here is where you can download it:

Microsoft Chart Controls for Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 – This installs the ASP.NET and Windows Forms Controls. The assemblies will be installed in the GAC as well as in the “%Program File%\Microsoft Chart Controls\Assemblies” folder. If you build an application using the controls, your setup and deployment should add MSChart.exe installer as a pre-requisite.
Microsoft Chart Controls for Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Language Pack – This installs the language pack for the Chart Controls. It is available in 23 .NET Framework languages.
Microsoft Chart Controls Add-on for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 – This installs the IntelliSense file in English for the controls and also adds the controls to the toolbox for ASP.NET and Windows Forms.

Where to find more information?

Alex.

Alex Gorev's Weblog : Microsoft

Aligning Multiple Series with Categorical Values

Binding Categorical Data Overview

Alignment of Multiple Series

Microsoft Chart control for .NET Framework Released!