Format Category (X) Axis dialog

This dialog appears when you right-click a chart and then select Format Axis (unavailable to pie or indicator chart) > Format Category (X) Axis from the shortcut menu. It helps you to format the category (X) axis of the chart, and consists of the following tabs:

• Axis tab
• Tick Mark tab
• Font tab
• Orientation tab
• Format tab

OK

Applies the changes and closes the dialog.

Cancel

Does not retain any changes and closes the dialog.

Help

Displays the help document about this feature.

Axis tab

This tab shows some general information of the category (X) axis of the chart. See the tab.

Option

Specifies the options for the axis.

• Minimum Value
  Specifies the minimum value that is to be displayed on the axis. Available only to bubble charts which use the axis to show numeric data and scatter charts.
• Maximum Value
  Specifies the maximum value that is to be displayed on the axis. Available only to bubble charts which use the axis to show numeric data and scatter charts.
• Increment
  Specifies the difference between two adjacent values on the axis. Available only to bubble charts which use the axis to show numeric data and scatter charts.
• Number of Tick Marks
  Specifies how many tick marks to be displayed on the axis. Available only to bubble charts which use the axis to show numeric data and scatter charts.
• Show Gridlines
  Specifies whether to show the horizontal gridlines in the chart.

Scrollable Chart

Specifies whether to make the chart scrollable. If checked, a scrollbar will be added in the chart, with which you can control the visible value range on the axis. Available to 2-D charts of bar, bench, line, area and stock types only.

• Scrollable Visible Values
  Specifies how many data items will be selected on the scrollbar and displayed on the axis by default.
• Scrolling Area Percentage
  Specifies the percentage the scrollbar occupies the whole size of the chart.
• Show Chart in Scrolling Area
  Specifies whether to show the thumbnail chart on the scrollbar.

Line

Specifies the line style for the axis.

• Color
  Specifies the color of the axis.
• Style
  Specifies the style for the line of the axis.
• Transparency
  Specifies the transparency for the color of the axis.
• Thickness
  Specifies the thickness for the line of the axis, in inches.

Gap

Specifies the gap properties for the labels on the axis.

• Label Axis Gap
  Specifies the distance between the label and the axis, in inches.
• Best Effect
  Specifies whether to adjust the labels automatically to make them placed best.

Tick Mark tab

The tab consists of three sub tabs: major tick mark tab, minor tick mark tab, and scale tab.

Major Tick Mark tab

Specifies properties of the major tick marks on the axis. See the tab.

Type

Specifies the type of the major tick marks on the axis.

• None
  If selected, major tick marks will not be shown on the axis and it will be meaningless to specify all the other major tick mark related properties.
• Inside
  If selected, major tick marks will be inside the chart.
• Outside
  If selected, major tick marks will be outside the chart.
• Cross
  If selected, major tick marks will be across the axis.

Line

Specifies the line properties of the major tick marks on the axis.

• Correlate with Axis
  If checked, the line properties of the major tick marks will correlate with that of the axis automatically.
  • Color
    Specifies the color of the major tick marks.
  • Style
    Specifies the type of the major tick marks.
  • Transparency
    Specifies the transparency for the color of the major tick marks.
  • Thickness
    Specifies the thickness of the major tick marks, in inches.
• Tick Mark Length
  Specifies the length of the major tick marks, in inches.

Option

Specifies the other properties of the major tick mark labels on the axis.

• Show Major Tick Mark Labels
  Specifies whether to display the labels of the major tick marks on the axis. If checked, the following properties will be enabled.
• Label Every N Major Tick Marks
  Specifies the frequency at which the major tick marks will be labeled.
• Show Axis Label Tips
  Specifies whether to display the complete label text when the mouse pointer points at a label on the axis.
• Number of Major Labels
  Specifies how many major tick mark labels to be displayed on the axis.
  • Auto
    If checked, all major tick mark labels will be shown.
  • Fixed
    If checked, you can specify the number of the major tick mark labels to be displayed on the axis.

Minor Tick Mark tab

Specifies properties of the minor tick marks on the axis. See the tab.

Type

Specifies the type of the minor tick marks on the axis.

• None
  If selected, minor tick marks will not be shown on the axis and it will be meaningless to specify all the other minor tick mark related properties.
• Inside
  If selected, minor tick marks will be inside the chart.
• Outside
  If selected, minor tick marks will be outside the chart.
• Cross
  If selected, minor tick marks will be across the axis.

Line

Specifies the line properties for the minor tick marks on the axis.

• Correlate with Axis
  If checked, the line properties of the minor tick marks will correlate with that of the axis automatically.
  • Color
    Specifies the color of the minor tick marks.
  • Style
    Specifies the type of the minor tick marks.
  • Transparency
    Specifies the transparency of the minor tick marks.
  • Thickness
    Specifies the thickness of the minor tick marks, in inches.
• Tick Mark Length
  Specifies the length of the minor tick marks, in inches.

Option

Specifies the other properties of the minor tick marks on the axis.

• Show Minor Tick Mark Labels
  Specifies whether to display the labels of the minor tick marks on the axis. If checked, the following two properties will be enabled.
• Label Every N Minor Tick Marks
  Specifies the frequency at which the minor tick marks will be labeled.
• Number of Minor Labels
  Specifies how many minor tick mark labels to be displayed on the axis.
  • Auto
    If checked, all minor tick mark labels will be shown.
  • Fixed
    If checked, you can specify the number of the minor tick mark labels to be displayed on the axis.

Scale tab

Customizes the way in which to label the tick marks on the axis. Available only when the field on the category axis is one of the following types: Number, Date, DateTime, and Time, and not applied for scatter charts or when the category axis is used to show numeric data in bubble charts. See the tab.

Use Constant Interval

Specifies whether to use a constant interval to label the tick marks. If checked, the values of the tick marks will be increased continually on the axis based on the following properties, instead of just using the data values.

Minimum

Specifies the minimum value which will be used to label the tick marks.

• Auto
  If checked, the minimum value will be defined by JReport automatically.
• Fixed
  If checked, you can define the minimum value as required. Input the value in the text box, or specify it in the calendar if the field on the category axis is of Date, DateTime or Time type.

Maximum

Specifies the maximum value which will be used to label the tick marks.

• Auto
  If checked, the maximum value will be defined by JReport automatically.
• Fixed
  If checked, you can define the maximum value as required. Input the value in the text box, or specify it in the calendar if the field on the category axis is of Date, DateTime or Time type.

Major Unit

Specifies the unit between two adjacent major tick marks.

• Auto
  If checked, the unit will be defined by JReport automatically.
• Fixed
  If checked, you can define the unit as required. Input the value in the text box, or choose the desired one from the drop-down list if the field on the category axis is of Date, DateTime or Time type.

Minor Unit

Specifies the unit between two adjacent minor tick marks.

• Auto
  If checked, the unit will be defined by JReport automatically.
• Fixed
  If checked, you can define the unit as required. Input the value in the text box, or choose the desired one from the drop-down list if the field on the category axis is of Date, DateTime or Time type.

Font tab

The tab consists of two sub tabs: major label tab and minor label tab.

Major Label tab

Specifies the font format of the major tick mark labels on the axis. See the tab.

Font

Specifies the font face of the label text.

Size

Specifies the font size of the label text.

Fill Type

Specifies the fill type of the label text.

Color

Specifies the color of the label text.

Transparency

Specifies the transparency of the label text.

Font Style

Specifies the font style of the text. It can be one of the following: Plain, Bold, Italic and Bold Italic.

Minor Label tab

Specifies the font format of the minor tick mark labels on the axis. See the tab.

Correlate with Major Label

If checked, the font format of the minor tick mark labels will correlate with that of the major tick mark labels automatically. Only when it is unchecked can the font properties of the minor tick mark labels take effect.

Font

Specifies the font face of the label text.

Size

Specifies the font size of the label text.

Fill Type

Specifies the fill type of the label text.

Color

Specifies the color of the label text.

Transparency

Specifies the transparency of the label text.

Font Style

Specifies the font style of the text. It can be one of the following: Plain, Bold, Italic and Bold Italic.

Orientation tab

The tab consists of two sub tabs: major label tab and minor label tab.

Major Label tab

Specifies the rotation angle of the major tick mark labels on the axis. See the tab.

Automatic

Specifies to adjust the rotation angle of the major tick mark label text on the axis automatically according to the length of the label text, in degrees.

When this option is checked by default:

• If the text can be completely displayed horizontally, the default rotation angle will be 0.
• If the text cannot be completely displayed horizontally, the default rotation angle will be 30 anticlockwise, and the cut off part will be shown as suspension points.

Angle

Specifies to customize the rotation angle of the major tick mark label text on the axis.

Minor Label tab

Specifies the rotation angle of the minor tick mark labels on the axis. See the tab.

Correlate with Major Label

If checked, the orientation setting of the minor tick mark labels will correlate with that of the major tick mark labels automatically. Only when it is unchecked can the orientation properties of the minor tick mark labels take effect.

Automatic

Specifies to adjust the rotation angle of the minor tick mark label text on the axis automatically according to the length of the label text, in degrees.

When this option is checked by default:

• If the text can be completely displayed horizontally, the default rotation angle will be 0.
• If the text cannot be completely displayed horizontally, the default rotation angle will be 30 anticlockwise, and the cut off part will be shown as suspension points.

Angle

Specifies to customize the rotation angle of the minor tick mark label text on the axis.

Format tab

The tab consists of two sub tabs: major label tab and minor label tab.

Major Label tab

Specifies the data format of the major tick mark labels on the axis. See the tab.

Category

Lists the category types. Select one to customize its format.

Format

Displays all the formats of the selected category. Select the required one and click Add to add it as the format of the specified category. You can add only one format for each category.

Properties

Displays the properties of the format you select. If the formats listed in the Format box cannot meet your requirement, define the format in the text field and then click Add to add it as the format of the specified category.

Sample

Displays the selected format effects.

Stack

Lists all the formats you select from different categories.

Add

Adds a format to the Stack list box.

Remove

Removes a format from the Stack list box.

Apply

Applies the specified format in the Stack list box to the major tick mark labels.

Minor Label tab

Specifies the format of the minor tick mark labels on the axis. See the tab.

Correlate with Major Label

If checked, the data format of the minor tick mark labels will correlate with that of the major tick mark labels automatically. Only when it is unchecked can the format properties of the minor tick mark labels take effect.

Category

Lists the category types. Select one to customize its format.

Format

Displays all the formats of the selected category. Select the required one and click Add to add it as the format of the specified category. You can add only one format for each category.

Properties

Displays the properties of the format you select. If the formats listed in the Format box cannot meet your requirement, define the format in the text field and then click Add to add it as the format of the specified category.

Sample

Displays the selected format effects.

Stack

Lists all the formats you select from different categories.

Add

Adds a format to the Stack list box.

Remove

Removes a format from the Stack list box.

Apply

Applies the specified format in the Stack list box to the minor tick mark labels.