Chart Options Tutorial: Customizing Analysis Tools and Budget Tools Chart Display

Once you have submitted your query, a graphic display of your data will appear. While the default display is adequate, you may want to alter the display to your own specifications to best fit the data. There are a number of features that are not immediately obvious, but are very useful.

This tutorial will address a few of the more important or more often used features. However, please feel free to experiment with the options to learn more about the possibilities.

Please note: Viewing and editing the chart requires downloading the ChartFX plug-in. If using Internet Explorer, you will be prompted to download the plug-in. If using Netscape, click on the available icon. Chart editing functions are available only if viewing the chart using most versions of Internet Explorer and Netscape. Chart may be viewed if using Mozilla, but may not be edited. Chart will not be visible if viewing the page using Opera.

Click the following links to download this tutorial:     MSWord     PDF

Note: You may click on the thumbnail images below to view a larger image.

Basic Features

Right-click anywhere on the chart to make the options box appear.

Toolbar and Saving a Chart as an Image

	The Chart has a tool bar at the top. (If using a Mozilla browser, there will not be a toolbar since this browser does not support web-based chart modifications) The toolbar also contains the important icons for saving the chart to paste into other documents. Moving the mouse over an icon will help identify what that icon does.
	To save the graph to paste into another document later, select the disk icon in the Toolbar box at the top of the chart. In the Save As dialogue box, click on the drop-down box "Save as type:" and select Metafile pictures. This will save the graph as a picture object that you can open for later use or insert into other documents.

Chart Legend

	On the default graph the legend box appears at the bottom. To have the legend box to appear somewhere else on the chart, move the mouse over the word "Legend box" in the options dialogue box.
	The legend box appears to the right.
	To move the legend box to a more useful location, right-click in the legend-box area. A dialogue box with options will appear. Select "Fixed" from the list of options.
	The legend box will appear in the top left corner of the chart. This box can be moved to your preferred location by clicking within the box and dragging it anywhere on the chart.

Gallery: Changing the Data Display (Lines, Bars, and Area Graphs)

	To change the data display (changing from bars to lines, etc.), select Gallery from the options dialogue box (displayed when you right-click on the chart).
	Moving the mouse onto "Gallery" will produce a small options box showing a variety of options. The verticle bars option is currently selected, as shown by the lighter square around the picture.
	To change the data display to lines, select the lines picture in the top left corner of the small options box. Line graphs are generally the best way to display time-series data. However, your own data and preferences will determine the best graphic display. Experiment with different options to see what best conveys the information.

Background Color

	The "Color" option shown in the options box, allows you to change the background color of the chart. The default color is white, but there may be occasions where you may want a different background color. Moving the mouse over the word "Color" will produce a small option box displaying the available colors.
	Clicking one of the color boxes will set the background of the chart to that color. Here we have chosen light grey.

Series (Line or Bar) Color

Right-click on the line or bar that you would like to change. (In this example, we right-clicked on the red, Health House, series.) Move the mouse over "Color" and select a color from the palette that appears.

Edit Title

	Right click anywhere on the chart, or right click directly on the title. Select the "Edit title" option from the options box that appears.
	A box around the chart title will appear that indicates you may edit the text in that location. You may edit the titles for the x-axis and y-axis, as well, by right-clicking on those titles directly and selecting "Edit title" from the options box that appears.

Advanced Chart Features

For more advanced options, select "Properties" from the option box. The Chart FX Properties dialog box will appear. The tabs at the top of the Properties dialog box take you to different format options.

General Tab

<	General tab options allow you to change general style and formats that apply to the chart as a whole. This includes changing the color palatte that determines which colors are available.

Series Tab

Series tab options allow you to change the format of the series themselves, including the color of each series and whether you want the display of the series to be lines, bars, area, stacked bars, etc. The options available depend on how the series are displayed ("Gallery").

Axes Tab

	The Axes tab shows options available to format the x-axis and y-axis. The main drop down box (currently showing "Y Axis") allows you to change which axis you want to format.
	Click on "Details" at the bottom of the Axes options box to bring up more advanced options for formatting the axes (including changing the scales of each axis).

Step-By-Step Example

	To the left is the chart as it appears from the basic query (Selecting Health, the 79th through 106th Congressional Sessions, House Hearings, Senate Hearings, and New York Times datasets, and percent of instances in the basic query form).
	This example will show you how to change the features so that you can create the chart below. This example can also be found in the Policy Tool Tutorial This chart was created from the original via the following steps:
	Step 1. Right-click in the chart area. In the dialog box that appears, select "properties."
	Step 2. In the properties box that appears, select the "General" tab. Click on the "Palette" drop box, select "gray scale" from the options. Click "Apply".
	Step 3. Select the "Series" tab. Click the button next to the word "Gallery" and click on the picture with the two lines (first picture in the upper left corner). (NOTE: Because "All Series" is indicated in the main drop down box, the changes will apply to all of the series.) Click "Apply."
	Step 4. To remove the shapes on the lines, click on the picture next to the word "Shape" and clicking on the blank area. Click "Apply."
	Step 5. Go to the drop down box that says "All Series." Click on that box, and select one of the series names (in this case, Health Senate).
	Step 6. Click the drop down box next to the word color (in the fill box), to change the color of the line for the selected series.
	Step 7. To change the thickness of the line, click on the drop down box next to the word "Weight." To get a dotted line, click on the drop down box next to the word "Style". Click "Apply" after each change. Step 8. Repeat steps 5 through 7 for each series. Step 9. When finished, click "OK."
	Step 10. To get the Legend Box, right-click in the chart area and select "Legend box" from the dialog box options. A legend box will appear to the right of the chart.
	Step 11. To move the legend box, right-click in the legend box and select "Fixed" from the appearing dialog box options. Then click in the now-smaller legend box and drag it (click-and-hold the mouse button while moving the mouse) anywhere on the graph.
	Finished!