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12.2.11 Options Menu

 

The Options menu of the graph edit window consists of the following options:

General...

 

The Graph Options dialog box is used for changing the overall appearance and operation of the graph. The Graph Options dialog allows you to set:

To set the Graph Options:

  1. Select General... from the graph window Options menu. NExS displays the Graph Options dialog box as shown in Figure 12.6.

  2. In the Graph Type area, click on a radio button to choose the type of graph you wish to make. Keep in mind, that with the current data ranges selected, you may not be able to generate the desired graph type. NExS displays an appropriate error message if it is unable to create the desired graph type.

    Certain graph types can be combined by setting the graph type in the individual Data Set dialogs. For example, this allows you to mix scatter, line, and bar charts all on the same graph. Setting the type from the Graph Options dialog forces the type on all the contained data sets.

         

  3. The Redraw on Recalculation setting controls whether this graph is automatically redrawn as the result of changes in the spreadsheet.

  4. The Defer Redraw button controls whether changes made from the options of the Graph Edit window automatically cause the graph to redraw. This option is generally not needed. It should be used when making many changes to a very large graph on a relatively slow system When the changes have been made, do an explicit Redraw of the graph.

       

  5. Click on the selection button labeled Display Legend to display a legend to the right of the graph. For line graphs, the legend displays the line and marker style for each data series along with the associated legend text. For bar graphs or histograms, the legend shows bar colors. For contour graphs, the legend show colors and levels. Surface graphs have no legend.

     

  6. Click on the selection button labeled Skew Data to place the bars in a two or more bar graph data series side-by-side. Disabling this option causes the bars to be placed on top of each other. This option also works with Line, Scatter, Hi Lo, Box, and Westinghouse graphs. In these graphs, this option is useful for slightly separating data points that may be obscuring each other.

     

  7. In the Title Text area type in the text title of your graph. You may enter one or more lines of text for the graph title. NExS displays the first line of the graph title centered above the graph; subsequent lines are left justified with the first line. You can format the text using the following special characters:

    ^ Starting a line with the caret character will center the line with respect to the previous line. Otherwise normal left justification is used.
    { The left brace character begins a block of text.
    } The right brace character ends a block of text. Text blocks may contain other text blocks. Text blocks are typically used when multiple characters must be superscripted or subscripted.
    _ The underscore causes the next character or text block to be subscripted with respect to the preceding character.
    ^ Inside a line, the caret causes the next character or text block to be superscripted with respect to the preceding character.
    \ The backslash turns off the special properties of the following character so it can be printed out. The string \\ prints a single backslash.

     

  8. The Title Font area lets you set set the font family, style, size, and color for the Graph Title.

  9. Click OK to confirm your choices, dismiss the dialog box, and redraw the graph. Click Apply to confirm your choice, keep the dialog box open, and redraw the graph. Click Cancel to dismiss the dialog box.

   figure4158
Figure 12.6: Graph Options Dialog Box

X Axis..., Y Axis..., Aux. Y Axis, and Z Axis...

             

These dialog boxes are used to change the appearance of the axes to be displayed. A large variety of options can be defined for each axis.

To change Axis characteristics:

  1. Select the appropriate axis (e.g. X Axis...) from the graph window Options menu. NExS displays the Axis Options dialog box as shown in Figure 12.7.

     

  2. Click on the selection button to labeled Auto Scale if you want NExS to automatically define axis scaling, based on its evaluation of the data to be plotted. By default Auto Scale is on. Click this button off to use the scale in the Min and Max entry boxes.

  3. In the Min and Max areas, enter a low and high value for the axis values. The axis will be scaled to include these values, but with logical start and end points. NExS ignores the maximum and minimum values entered here if Auto Scale is enabled.

       

  4. Click on the selection button labeled Auto Ticks if you want NExS to select the number of tick marks for the axis. By default, Auto Ticks is on.

  5. In the Major and Minor areas, enter the number of tick marks to be placed on the given axis. NExS ignores this number if Auto Ticks is enabled. The axis will have the specified number of major ticks with corresponding labels and the specified number of minor ticks between pairs of major ticks.

  6. Click on the selection button labeled Log Scale if you want to plot the current coordinate of data on a logarithmic scale, checking for data values less than or equal to zero. Leave this button off if you want NExS to plot data on a linear scale.

  7. Set the Ticks Out button to cause tick marks to point away from the body of the graph. Otherwise, tick marks will point inward towards the graph itself.

  8. Select Exploded Axis to have the axis and tick marks displayed slightly away from the graph area itself.

       

  9. Set the Axis Color if you wish it to be a different color than the default foreground color for this graph.

     

  10. Click on the Grid Lines button to display grid lines for this axis. These are drawn from each tick mark on the axis across the entire extent of the other axes. A cross-hatched grid can be drawn by activating this option for both the X and the Y axes. The color of this grid is controlled by the Grid Color selection. It defaults to the foreground color for this graph.

       

  11. In the Axis Label area type in the text for the axis label. NExS centers the label along the axis, outside the graph area. Multiple lines of text may be entered. You can format the text using the following special characters:

    ^ Starting a line with a caret character will center the line with respect to the previous line. Otherwise normal left justification is used.
    { The left brace character begins a block of text.
    } The right brace character ends a block of text. Text blocks may contain other text blocks. Text blocks are typically used when multiple characters must be superscripted or subscripted.
    _ The underscore causes the next character or text block to be subscripted with respect to the preceding character.
    ^ Inside a line, a caret character causes the next character or text block to be superscripted with respect to the preceding character.
    \ The backslash turns off the special properties of the following character so it can be printed out. In addition, The string \\ prints a single backslash.

  12. Select the font family, style, size, and color for the Axis Label using the selection boxes provided.

  13. Use the Tick Style section to define the font family, style, size, and color for the tick marks and tick labels.

  14. Click OK to confirm your choices, dismiss the dialog box, and redraw the graph. Click Apply to confirm your choices, keep the dialog box open, and redraw the graph. Click Cancel to dismiss the dialog box.

   figure4204
Figure 12.7: X Axis Options Dialog Box


next up previous contents index
Next: 12.3 Using Existing Graphs Up: 12.2 Graph Editor Previous: 12.2.10 Rotate...

NExS User's Guide, Version 1.4.5
Grey Trout Software
11 April 1999