A plot area is the area in which data points (bars, points, lines, etc) are drawn. A plot area will contain a collection of series. Each series is a collection of data points. A plot area may also contain an axis(s) and wall(s). The axis(s) and wall(s) enhance the visual appearance of the plot area and are usually painted just outside the plot area.

A plot area can be assigned an anchor view location and a view size. The anchor view location is specified in normalized units ((0,0) = left upper corner of chart view, (1,1) = right lower corner of chart view). The view size of the plot area is specified in normalized units ((0,0) = zero size, (1,1) = full size of chart view). The left top corner of the plot area is aligned with the anchor location.

A plot area can be assigned a model size using width, height, and depth properties. The properties use model units.

There are several subtypes of plot areas: Y, XY, XYZ, Pie, Polar, Radar, Data, Sunburst, and Treemap.

A series is a collection of data points that are displayed in the plot area. Area, Line, and Point series can have drop lines. Drop lines extend from the data point down to the series origin or category axis. This can be used to highlight the x value of the point. There are several subtypes of series such as: Y, XY, XYZ, Pie, Polar, and Radar. These subtypes of series correspond to the subtypes of plot areas.

When a chart has multiple legends, a series can be assigned to a specific legend using the legend's ID. Many of the series have properties (e.g. border or fill effect) that can be assigned to both a series and a point. If the property is set for both the series and the point then the point setting overrides the series setting. If the property is unset for both the series and the point then the chart view will provide a default setting.

See the following classes for more information:

• AreaSeries
• BarSeries
• BoxWhiskerSeries
• FunnelSeries
• HighLowAreaSeries
• HighLowBarSeries
• HighLowCloseSeries
• HistogramSeries
• LineSeries
• ParetoSeries
• PieSeries
• PolarSeries
• PointSeries
• RadarSeries
• SunburstSeries
• TreemapSeries
• WaterfallSeries
• XYSeries
• XYZSeries
• YSeries

Using Code

The following example adds a series to a plot area.

Example

The following example adds a series to a plot area.

BarSeries series = new BarSeries();
series.SeriesName = "Series 0";
series.Values.Add(2.0);
series.Values.Add(4.0);
series.Values.Add(3.0);
series.Values.Add(5.0);
YPlotArea plotArea = new YPlotArea();
plotArea.Location = new PointF(0.2f, 0.2f);
plotArea.Size = new SizeF(0.6f, 0.6f);
plotArea.Series.Add(series); 

Dim series As New FarPoint.Win.Chart.BarSeries()
series.SeriesName = "Series 0"
series.Values.Add(2.0)
series.Values.Add(4.0)
series.Values.Add(3.0)
series.Values.Add(5.0)
Dim plotArea As New FarPoint.Win.Chart.YPlotArea()
plotArea.Location = New PointF(0.2F, 0.2F)
plotArea.Size = New SizeF(0.6F, 0.6F)
plotArea.Series.Add(series) 

Using the Chart Designer

1. Select the PlotArea Collection editor.
2. Select the Series Collection editor.
3. Set properties as needed.