Format Bar dialog for page report

This dialog appears when you double-click a bar of a chart in a page report, or right-click it and then select Format Bar from the shortcut menu. It helps you to format the bars of a 2-D or a 3-D bar chart, and consists of the following tabs:

• General tab
• Fill tab
• Border tab
• Data Label tab

OK

Applies the changes and closes the dialog.

Cancel

Does not retain any changes and closes the dialog.

Apply

Applies all changes and leaves the dialog open.

Help

Displays the help document about this feature.

General tab

For 2-D bar charts

Specifies the general format of the 2-D bar chart. See the tab.

Style

Specifies the style of the bars in the chart. It can be Normal or Cylinder.

Size

Specifies the size of the bars in the chart.

• Bars Width
  Specifies the bar width as a percentage of the unit width.
• Bars Gap
  Specifies the distance between two bars as a percentage of the bar width, only applying to clustered bar charts.

Layout

Specifies the layout of the chart.

• Clustered - 2-D
  Displays and compares data values across categories.
• Stacked - 2-D
  Displays and compares the contribution of each data value to a total across categories.
• 100% Stacked - 2-D
  Displays and compares the percentage that each data value contributes to a total across categories.

Depth

Specifies the depth properties for bars of the chart.

• Use Depth
  Specifies whether to make the bars in the chart three-dimensional. You can also use a formula to control the property.
  • Depth
    Specifies the depth of the bars, in pixels.
  • Direction
    Specifies the direction for depth of the bars, in degrees.

For 3-D bar charts

Specifies the general format of the 3-D bar chart. See the tab.

Size

Specifies the size of bars in the chart.

• Bars Width
  Specifies the bar width as a percentage of the unit width.

Layout

Specifies the layout of the chart.

• Clustered Bar 3-D
  Specifies to apply clustered bar with a 3-D visual effect to the chart.
• Stacked Bar 3-D
  Specifies to apply stacked bar with a 3-D visual effect to the chart.
• 100% Stacked Bar 3-D
  Specifies to apply 100% stacked bar with a 3-D visual effect to the chart.
• Array 3-D
  Specifies to apply array bar with a 3-D visual effect to the chart.

Fill tab

Specifies the color, fill effect and transparency for bars of the chart. See the tab.

Use Single Color

If checked, the bars will use the single color pattern.

• Color
  Specifies the color schema for the bars.

  To change the color, click the color image button to display the color palette in which you can select a color, or click More Colors to customize the color within a wider range in the Pick a Color dialog, or click More Fill Effects to customize in the Fill Effects dialog. You can also input the hexadecimal value of a color directly in the text box after # if you have changed the default color.

• Transparency
  Specifies the transparency of the color schema.
• Vary Colors by Color List
  Specifies whether or not to make the bar colors vary. Available only for clustered bar types and when the chart has no series field. If checked, you can specify the color for each bar in the Color List dialog.
• Color List
  Opens the Color List dialog to modify color pattern for bars in the same data series.

Use Single Color with Condition

If checked, each bar can have its single color pattern based on defined conditions. You can click the Advanced or Normal button to switch between the two editing modes to edit the conditions.

• Normal
  • Select Field
    Lists all the available fields to which the conditional fill can be applied. Select the field on which you want to define the conditions from the drop-down list.
  • Value
    Specifies the value of the condition. Available when you select a category or series field from the Select Field drop-down list.
  • Start Value
    Specifies the start value of the condition. Available only when you select a value field from the Select Field drop-down list.
  • End Value
    Specifies the end value of the condition. Available only when you select a value field from the Select Field drop-down list.
  • Color
    Specifies the color that will be applied to the values which meet the condition.

    To change the color, click the color image button to display the color palette in which you can select a color, or click More Colors to customize the color within a wider range in the Pick a Color dialog, or click More Fill Effects to customize in the Fill Effects dialog. You can also input the hexadecimal value of a color directly in the text box after #.

  • Transparency
    Specifies the transparency for the color of the condition.
  • 
    Adds a new condition line.
  • 
    Removes the selected condition line.
  • Label
    If checked, you can modify the condition expression of the selected condition line which will be shown as the legend entry label.
  • Value
    Specifies to display data in the condition expression as value. Available only when you select a value field from the Select Field drop-down list.
  • Percent
    Specifies to display data in the condition expression in percent. Available only when you select a value field from the Select Field drop-down list and takes effect only on 100% Stacked Bar 2-D chart and 100% Stacked Bar 3-D chart.
• Advanced
  • Condition
    Displays the condition you have defined in the Edit Condition dialog.
  • Color
    Specifies the color that will be applied to the values which meet the condition.

    To change the color, click the color image button to display the color palette in which you can select a color, or click More Colors to customize the color within a wider range in the Pick a Color dialog, or click More Fill Effects to customize in the Fill Effects dialog. You can also input the hexadecimal value of a color directly in the text box after #.

  • Transparency
    Specifies the transparency for the color of the condition.
  • 
    Opens the Edit Conditions dialog to create or edit a condition.
  • Label
    If checked, you can modify the condition expression of the selected condition line which will be shown as the legend entry label.
  • Value
    Specifies to display data in the condition expression as value. Available only when you select a value field from the Select Field drop-down list.
  • Percent
    Specifies to display data in the condition expression in percent. Available only when you select a value field from the Select Field drop-down list and takes effect only on 100% Stacked Bar 2-D chart and 100% Stacked Bar 3-D chart.

Use Multiple Colors with Condition

If checked, each bar can have multiple color patterns based on defined conditions. You can divide each bar into different parts based on different value ranges, along the direction of the value axis, and then specify different conditional colors to different value ranges for distinguishing.

• Select Field
  Lists all the available fields to which the conditional fill can be applied. Select the field on which you want to define the conditions from the drop-down list.
• Start Value
  Specifies the start value of the condition.
• End Value
  Specifies the end value of the condition.
• Color
  Specifies the color that will be applied to the values which meet the condition.

  To change the color, click the color image button to display the color palette in which you can select a color, or click More Colors to customize the color within a wider range in the Pick a Color dialog, or click More Fill Effects to customize in the Fill Effects dialog. You can also input the hexadecimal value of a color directly in the text box after #.

• Transparency
  Specifies the transparency for the color of the condition.
• 
  Adds a new condition line.
• 
  Removes the selected condition line.
• Label
  If checked, you can modify the condition expression of the selected condition line which will be shown as the legend entry label.

Sample

Displays a preview sample of your selection.

Border tab

Specifies the properties for border of the bars, which take effect only when the Border property on chart paper is set to true in the Report Inspector. See the tab.

Border Type

Displays the type for border of the bars. The default value is solid, and cannot be changed.

Color

Specifies the color for border of the bars.

To change the color, click the color image button to display the color palette in which you can select a color, or click More Colors to customize the color within a wider range in the Pick a Color dialog. You can also input the hexadecimal value of a color directly in the text box after #.

Transparency

Specifies the transparency for color of the border.

Line Style

Specifies the line style to apply to border of the bars.

Thickness

Specifies the thickness of the border, in pixels.

End Caps

Specifies the ending style of the border line.

• butt
  Ends unclosed sub paths and dash segments with no added decoration.
• round
  Ends unclosed sub paths and dash segments with a round decoration that has a radius equal to half of the width of the pen.
• square
  Ends unclosed sub paths and dash segments with a square projection that extends beyond the end of the segment to a distance equal to half of the line width.

Line Joint

Specifies the line joint style for the border line.

• miter
  Joins path segments by extending their outside edges until they meet.
• round
  Joins path segments by rounding off the corner at a radius of half the line width.
• bevel
  Joins path segments by connecting the outer corners of their wide outlines with a straight segment.

Sample

Displays a preview sample of your selection.

Path

Specifies the fill pattern of the border line.

• Outline Path
  Specifies the fill pattern of the border line to be outline path.
• Fill Path
  Specifies the fill pattern of the border line to be whole path.

Dash

Specifies the dash size of the border line.

• Auto Adjusted Dash
  If selected, the dash size will be adjusted automatically.
• Fixed Dash Size
  If selected, the dash size will be fixed size.

Data Label tab

Specifies properties for data labels displayed on the bars. See the tab.

Static Data Label

Specifies properties of the static data labels on the bars. Not supported on 3-D bar charts.

• Show Static Data Label
  Specifies whether or not to show the static data labels on the bars. Only when it is checked can the following static data label related properties take effect.
• Position
  Specifies the position of the static data labels on the bars.
  • auto fit
    If selected, the static data labels will be displayed automatically.
  • outside top
    If selected, the static data labels will be displayed on the outside top of the bars.
  • inside top
    If selected, the static data labels will be displayed on the inside top of the bars.
  • inside center
    If selected, the static data labels will be displayed at the inside center of the bars.
  • inside bottom
    If selected, the static data labels will be displayed at the inside bottom of the bars.
• Suppress Label When 0
  If true, the static data label whose value is 0 will not be displayed on the chart.
• Auto Arrange
  Specifies whether to display the static data labels inside the bars at the best position. Available only when the static data label's position is set to one of the following: inside center, inside top and inside bottom.
  • true
    The static data label will be displayed horizontally at the specified position if the bar has enough room horizontally, otherwise, it will be displayed vertically. If a bar does not have enough room both vertically and horizontally, its static data label will not be displayed.
  • false
    The static data labels will be displayed at the specified position, and if the labels get overlapping, some of them will not be displayed.

Font

Specifies the font format of text in the data labels.

• Font list
  Lists all the available font faces that can be selected to apply to the text.
• Font Size
  Specifies the font size of the text.
• Font Color
  Specifies the font color of the text.

  To change the color, click the color image button to display the color palette in which you can select a color, or click More Colors to customize the color within a wider range in the Pick a Color dialog, or click More Fill Effects to customize in the Fill Effects dialog. You can also input the hexadecimal value of a color directly in the text box after #.

• Transparency
  Specifies the transparency of the text.
• Rotation
  Specifies the rotation angle of the text around its center, in degrees. The default value is 0.
• Shearing
  Specifies the gradient of the text.

Effects

Specifies the special effects of text in the data labels.

• Style
  Specifies the font style of the text. It can be one of the following: plain, bold, italic, and bold italic.
• Strikethrough
  Specifies the style of the horizontal line with which the text is struck through. It can be one of the following: none, thin line, bold line, and double lines.
• Underline
  Specifies the style of the horizontal line under the text. It can be one of the following: none, single, single lower, bold line, bold lower, double lines, bold double, patterned line, and bold patterned.
• Superscript
  Raises the text above the baseline and changes the text to a smaller font size, if a smaller size is available.
• Embossed
  Makes the text appear to be raised off the page in relief.
• Outlined
  Displays the inner and outer borders of each character.
• Subscript
  Lowers the text below the baseline and changes the text to a smaller font size, if a smaller size is available.
• Engraved
  Makes the text appear to be imprinted or pressed into the page.
• Shadowed
  Adds a shadow beneath and to the right of the text.

Related topics:

• Formatting the bars