CRM 2011 Chart Enhancements

With the advent of R7/Update Rollup 5 from CRM 2011.  The ability to modify charts within the CRM 2011 interface has grown.  However, if you want to take the user chart experience even further, there are still some modifications that you may want to make by exporting the chart out to an .xml file and modifying it in Visual Studio and reimporting it back into CRM.  Below are a few basic examples for various chart types with screenshot examples and the code snippets with the areas highlighted in yellow that you need to modify.

In creating this blog, I found the following resources helpful…

CRM SDK - View Data with Visualizations (Charts)

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg309647.aspx

Chart Types (Chart Controls) - MSDN
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd489233.aspx

Microsoft Chart Controls Add-on for Microsoft Visual Studio
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=23903

Microsoft Chart Controls for .NET Framework Documentation
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=EE8F6F35-B087-4324-9DBA-6DD5E844FD9F&displaylang=e&displaylang=en

Enjoy!

Jack Bender

 

1. Bar & Column Charts

a. Cylinder


<Chart>

<Series>

<Series ChartType="Bar" IsValueShownAsLabel="True" Color="149, 189, 66" BackGradientStyle="TopBottom" BackSecondaryColor="112, 142, 50" Font="{0}, 9.5px" LabelForeColor="59, 59, 59" CustomProperties="PointWidth=0.75, MaxPixelPointWidth=40, DrawingStyle=Cylinder">

<SmartLabelStyle Enabled="True" />

</Series>

</Series>

b.Emboss


<Chart>

<Series>

<Series ChartType="Bar" IsValueShownAsLabel="True" Color="149, 189, 66" BackGradientStyle="TopBottom" BackSecondaryColor="112, 142, 50" Font="{0}, 9.5px" LabelForeColor="59, 59, 59" CustomProperties="PointWidth=0.75, MaxPixelPointWidth=40, DrawingStyle=Emboss">

<SmartLabelStyle Enabled="True" />

</Series>

</Series>

 

c. LightToDark

<Chart>

<Series>

<Series ChartType="Bar" IsValueShownAsLabel="True" Color="149, 189, 66" BackGradientStyle="TopBottom" BackSecondaryColor="112, 142, 50" Font="{0}, 9.5px" LabelForeColor="59, 59, 59" CustomProperties="PointWidth=0.75, MaxPixelPointWidth=40, DrawingStyle=LightToDark">

<SmartLabelStyle Enabled="True" />

</Series>

</Series>

d. Wedge

<Chart>

<Series>

<Series ChartType="Bar" IsValueShownAsLabel="True" Color="149, 189, 66" BackGradientStyle="TopBottom" BackSecondaryColor="112, 142, 50" Font="{0}, 9.5px" LabelForeColor="59, 59, 59" CustomProperties="PointWidth=0.75, MaxPixelPointWidth=40, DrawingStyle=Wedge">

<SmartLabelStyle Enabled="True" />

</Series>

</Series>

 

e. 3D

<ChartAreas>

<ChartArea BorderColor="White" BorderDashStyle="Solid">

<AxisY LabelAutoFitMinFontSize="8" TitleForeColor="59, 59, 59" TitleFont="{0}, 10.5px" LineColor="165, 172, 181" IsReversed="False">

<MajorGrid LineColor="128, 128, 128" />

<LabelStyle Font="{0}, 10.5px" ForeColor="59, 59, 59" />

</AxisY>

<AxisX LabelAutoFitMinFontSize="8" TitleForeColor="59, 59, 59" TitleFont="{0}, 10.5px" LineColor="165, 172, 181" IsReversed="False">

<MajorGrid Enabled="False" />

<MajorTickMark Enabled="False" />

<LabelStyle Font="{0}, 10.5px" ForeColor="59, 59, 59" />

</AxisX>

<Area3DStyle Enable3D="True" LightStyle="Realistic" WallWidth="5" IsRightAngleAxes="true" />

</ChartArea>

</ChartAreas>

f. No Values show on the bars

<Chart>

<Series>

<Series ChartType="Bar" IsValueShownAsLabel="False" Color="149, 189, 66" BackGradientStyle="TopBottom" BackSecondaryColor="112, 142, 50" Font="{0}, 9.5px" LabelForeColor="59, 59, 59" CustomProperties="PointWidth=0.75, MaxPixelPointWidth=40">

<SmartLabelStyle Enabled="True" />

</Series>

</Series>

g. Instead of Stacked… 

Go with 3D Cylinder

<Series>

<Series ChartType="Column" Font="{0}, 9.5px" LabelForeColor="59, 59, 59" CustomProperties="PointWidth=0.75, MaxPixelPointWidth=40, DrawingStyle=Cylinder"></Series>

</Series>

<ChartAreas>

 -and-

 </AxisX>

<Area3DStyle Enable3D="True" LightStyle="Realistic" WallWidth="5" IsRightAngleAxes="true" />

</ChartArea>

 

2) Pie/Doughnut Charts

a.    Pie Chart

b.    Pie Chart – 3D

<ChartAreas>

<ChartArea>

<Area3DStyle Enable3D="True" />

</ChartArea>

</ChartAreas>

c.    Pie Chart – Concave

<Series>

<Series ShadowOffset="0" IsValueShownAsLabel="true" Font="{0}, 9.5px" LabelForeColor="59, 59, 59" CustomProperties="PieLabelStyle=Inside, PieDrawingStyle=Concave" ChartType="pie">

<SmartLabelStyle Enabled="True" />

</Series>

</Series>

<ChartAreas>

<ChartArea>

<Area3DStyle Enable3D="False" />

</ChartArea>

</ChartAreas>

 

d.    Pie Chart – Soft Edge

<Series>

<Series ShadowOffset="0" IsValueShownAsLabel="true" Font="{0}, 9.5px" LabelForeColor="59, 59, 59" CustomProperties="PieLabelStyle=Inside, PieDrawingStyle=SoftEdge" ChartType="pie">

<SmartLabelStyle Enabled="True" />

</Series>

</Series>

<ChartAreas>

<ChartArea>

<Area3DStyle Enable3D="False" />

</ChartArea>

</ChartAreas>

 

e.    Doughnut Chart

<Series>

<Series ShadowOffset="0" IsValueShownAsLabel="true" Font="{0}, 9.5px" LabelForeColor="59, 59, 59" CustomProperties="PieLabelStyle=Inside, PieDrawingStyle=Default" ChartType="Doughnut">

<SmartLabelStyle Enabled="True" />

</Series>

</Series>

 

f.     Doughnut Chart – 3D

<Series>

<Series ShadowOffset="0" IsValueShownAsLabel="true" Font="{0}, 9.5px" LabelForeColor="59, 59, 59" CustomProperties="PieLabelStyle=Inside, PieDrawingStyle=Default" ChartType="Doughnut">

<SmartLabelStyle Enabled="True" />

</Series>

</Series>

<ChartAreas>

<ChartArea>

<Area3DStyle Enable3D="true" />

</ChartArea>

</ChartAreas>

</ChartAreas>

 

g.    Doughnut Chart – Concave

<Series>

<Series ShadowOffset="0" IsValueShownAsLabel="true" Font="{0}, 9.5px" LabelForeColor="59, 59, 59" CustomProperties="PieLabelStyle=Inside, PieDrawingStyle=Concave" ChartType=" Doughnut">

<SmartLabelStyle Enabled="True" />

</Series>

</Series>

<ChartAreas>

<ChartArea>

<Area3DStyle Enable3D="False" />

</ChartArea>

</ChartAreas>

h.    Doughnut Chart – Soft Edge

<Series>

<Series ShadowOffset="0" IsValueShownAsLabel="true" Font="{0}, 9.5px" LabelForeColor="59, 59, 59" CustomProperties="PieLabelStyle=Inside, PieDrawingStyle=SoftEdge" ChartType=" Doughnut">

<SmartLabelStyle Enabled="True" />

</Series>

</Series>

<ChartAreas>

<ChartArea>

<Area3DStyle Enable3D="False" />

</ChartArea>

</ChartAreas>

 

3)      Funnel Charts

Circular Base by Default
YIsHeight by Default

a. Square Base


<Series>

<Series ShadowOffset="0" IsValueShownAsLabel="true" Font="{0}, 9.5px" LabelForeColor="59, 59, 59" ChartType="Funnel" CustomProperties="FunnelLabelStyle=Outside, FunnelNeckHeight=0, FunnelPointGap=1, FunnelNeckWidth=0", Funnel3DDrawingStyle=SquareBase">

<SmartLabelStyle Enabled="True" />

</Series>

</Series>

 

b. Neck


<Series>

<Series ShadowOffset="0" IsValueShownAsLabel="true" Font="{0}, 9.5px" LabelForeColor="59, 59, 59" ChartType="Funnel" CustomProperties="FunnelLabelStyle=Outside, FunnelNeckHeight=3, FunnelPointGap=1, FunnelNeckWidth=5">

<SmartLabelStyle Enabled="True" />

</Series>

</Series>

 

c. YIsWidth

<Series>

<Series ShadowOffset="0" IsValueShownAsLabel="true" Font="{0}, 9.5px" LabelForeColor="59, 59, 59" ChartType="Funnel" CustomProperties="FunnelLabelStyle=Outside, FunnelNeckHeight=0, FunnelPointGap=1, FunnelNeckWidth=0, FunnelStyle=YIsWidth">

<SmartLabelStyle Enabled="True" />

</Series>

</Series>