Using the Charting window

The following diagram shows you the Charting window, and the different components of it.

Building the Chart

To build the chart, use the tabs on the left:

• Columns specifies the Data Columns and Label Column for the chart
• Chart Type specifies the chart type (Bar, Line etc) plus other attributes of the chart layout
• Series allows you to specify attributes of a particular series. This includes:
  • the Type of each series (Bar, Line etc) - giving you the ability to have different types for each series
  • the attributes of each series (color, width etc).
  • which Axis the series is to use
  • the Title of the Series (this appears in the Legend)
• Labels. Allows you to specify the Labels that appear with each data point.
• Legend specifies the attributes of the Legend.
• Axes specifies the attributes of the Axes.
• Data. This tab:
  • shows you the details of the query that is run to produce the chart data (this query can be modified if required)
  • allows you to specify whether you want to chart all the data, or just some. While developing a chart, it is often useful to chart a subset of the data.
  • allows you to specify any Exclude values. This provides a simple way to remove unwanted or invalid data from the chart.
• Other. This allows you to specify other miscellaneous attributes:
  • colors for the chart plus background area
  • headers and footers, including the system-generated footer

Refresh

This refreshes the chart data from the data source:

• if the data comes from a display grid, the grid is re-read. This can be useful after you have refreshed the grid, or have sorted the data in a different order.
• if the data comes from a query, the query is rerun.

Saving a Chart

You can save your chart with File > Save, or the Save button on the toolbar. The chart will be saved to disk as a *.xcf (chart) file.

Once the chart has been saved, it will be visible in the Query Explorer. The Query Explorer provides a way of quickly seeing all the charts you have developed, and updating them with the current data. This is discussed more fully in Viewing Charts in the Query Explorer.

Commonly used charts can be defined as a Favorite.

Opening a Chart

You can open an existing chart with File > Open Chart for Viewing. The chart will be opened in the chart window in Locked mode. Locked mode is a safety mechanism to prevent you inadvertently making a change that affects the underlying data behind the chart. You will be able to make changes to the chart appearance, however you will not be able to Refresh the chart or change the Data Columns etc.

You can take the chart out of Locked mode with Chart > Locked.

Apply an existing Chart as a Template

This is a very powerful feature of AQT Charting. You can take any existing chart (xcf file) and apply it as a template to your current chart. This is done with File > Open Chart as Template.

To understand how this works, you should realize that an AQT chart consists of two parts:

• the definition / layout of the chart
• the chart data, and the definition of the query that is run to produce the data

When Open Chart as Template is used, AQT will open the selected chart and will apply the current data / query to that chart. Once you have developed a chart style, this allows you to apply that style to other charts.

Default Chart for a Table/Query

When you save the chart for a table or query, it will (by default) be saved with the name of the table/query. For instance, if you are charting table TEST.SALES_DETAILS, the default chart name will be test_sales_details.xcf.

The next time you chart the table, AQT will look for the default chart file. It is exists, AQT will apply that chart as a template to the existing table data.

This feature means that, once you have developed a chart for a table, the chart will automatically be re-displayed the next time you chart the table.