Specifying text properties for titles, labels, axes, and legends
A graph can have four text elements:
-
Title
-
Labels for the axes
-
Text that shows the values along the axes
-
Legend
You can specify properties for each text element.
To specify text properties for the title, labels,
axis values, and legend of a graph:
-
Select Properties from the graph’s
pop-up menu and then select the Text page in the Properties view. -
Select a text element from the list in the Text
Object drop-down list.
-
Specify the font and its characteristics.
Using Auto Size
With Auto Size in effect, PowerBuilder resizes the text appropriately
whenever the graph is resized. With Auto Size disabled, you specify
the font size of a text element explicitly.
To have PowerBuilder automatically size a text element
in a graph:
-
On the Text properties page for the graph,
select a text element from the list in the Text Object drop-down
list. -
Select the Autosize check box (this is the default).
To specify a font size for a text element in a
graph:
-
On the Text properties page for the graph,
select a text element from the list in the Text Object drop-down
list. -
Clear the Autosize check box.
-
Select the Font size in the Size drop-down list.
Rotating text
For all the text elements, you can specify the number of degrees
by which you want to rotate the text.
To specify rotation for a text element in a graph:
-
On the Text properties page
for the graph, select a text element from the list in the Text Object
drop-down list. -
Specify the rotation you want in the Escapement
box using tenths of a degree (450 means 45 degrees).
Changes you make here are shown in the model graph in the
Design view and in the Preview view.
Using display formats
To use a display format for a text element in
a graph:
-
On the Text properties page for the graph,
select a text element from the list in the Text Object drop-down
list. -
Type a display format in the Format box or choose
one from the pop-up menu. To display the pop-up menu, click the
button to the right of the Format box.
Modifying display expressions
You can specify an expression for the text that is used for
each graph element. The expression is evaluated at execution time.
To specify an expression for a text element in
a graph:
-
On the Text properties page for the graph,
select a text element from the list in the Text Object drop-down
list. -
Click the button next to the Display Expression
box.The Modify Expression dialog box displays.
-
Specify the expression.
You can paste functions, column names, and operators. Included
with column names in the Columns box are statistics about the columns,
such as counts and sums. -
Click OK to return to the graph’s Properties
view.
Example
By default, when you generate a pie graph, PowerBuilder puts
the title at the top and labels each slice of the pie with the percentage
each slice represents of the whole. Percentages are accurate to
two decimal places.
The following graph has been enhanced as follows:
-
The current date displays
in the title -
The percentages are rounded to integers
-
The raw data for each slice is shown in addition
to the percentages
To accomplish this, the display expressions were modified
for the title and pie graph labels:
|
Element |
Original expression |
Modified expression |
|---|---|---|
|
Title |
|
|
|
Pie graph labels |
|
|