In Q4 2006 the axes in the chart component are redesigned in order to be more flexible and answer the demand for open customization. This version also addresses some issues like overlapped labels and dynamic scale decoration based on the length of the scale in device units.

Most of the properties / objects in the old model are replaced by equivalent properties / objects in the ScaleConfigurator attached to the axis. For a full description on the new axis model please consult the documentation of the axes. Following is a list of the changes:

Changing the type of scaling - linear, logarithmic, ordinal (former dimension) and date time is changed. To apply different type of scaling you need to change the scale configurator associated with the axis:

Old code snippet:

NChart chart = nChartControl1.Charts[0];
NAxis axis = chart.Axis(StandardAxis.PrimaryX);
axis.ScaleMode = AxisScaleMode.Dimension;

Translates to:

NChart chart = nChartControl1.Charts[0];
NAxis axis = chart.Axis(StandardAxis.PrimaryX);

NOrdinalScaleConfigurator oridnalScale = new NOrdinalScaleConfigurator();
axis.ScaleConfigurator = oridnalScale;

Changing the appearance of scale decorations (ticks, labels, ruler etc.) is moved from the axis object to the scale configurator. Furthermore they are grouped in objects corresponding to the type of the element – for example ticks are represented by the NScaleTickStyle object, grid lines are represented by NScaleGridStyle object. Each propery of the scale configurator describes the type of grid line or tick controlled by the attached NScaleGridStyle or NScaleTickStyle object. The following code snipped shows how to translate the change of the color of a major grid lines:

Old code snippet:

NChart chart = nChartControl1.Charts[0];
NAxis axis = chart.Axis(StandardAxis.PrimaryX);
axis.MajorGridLineStyle.Color = Color.Red;

Translates to:

NChart chart = nChartControl1.Charts[0];
NAxis axis = chart.Axis(StandardAxis.PrimaryX);

NStandardScaleConfigurator scale = (NStandardScaleConfigurator)axis.ScaleConfigurator;
scale.MajorGridStyle.LineStyle.Color = Color.Red;

Axis ticks appearance properties are now controlled through special objects:

Old code snippet:

NChart chart = nChartControl1.Charts[0];
NAxis axis = chart.Axis(StandardAxis.PrimaryX);

axis.OuterTickLineStyle.Color = Color.Red;
axis.MinorTickLineStyle.Color = Color.Red;
axis.InnerTickLineStyle.Color = Color.Red;

Translates to:

NChart chart = nChartControl1.Charts[0];
NAxis axis = chart.Axis(StandardAxis.PrimaryX);

NStandardScaleConfigurator scale = (NScaleConfigurator)axis.ScaleConfigurator;
scale.OuterMinorTickStyle.LineStyle.Color = Color.Red;
scale.OuterMajorTickStyle.LineStyle.Color = Color.Red;
scale.InnerMajorTickStyle.LineStyle.Color = Color.Red;

Older axis model assumed that the scale will have inner and outer ticks which may not be always true - some scales like the hierarchical scale that will be soon introduced by the component do not have ticks at all. Furthermore when custom programming the scale you may want to add new types of ticks with different settings.

Standard axis labels and titles are again moved to the NStandardScaleConfigurator object. The labels and titles are improved to support automatic layout and label overlap detection. You can now align titles better relative to the axis.

Old code snippet:

NChart chart = nChartControl1.Charts[0];
NAxis axis = chart.Axis(StandardAxis.PrimaryX);
axis.TextStyle.FontStyle.Name = "Tahoma";

Translates to:

NChart chart = nChartControl1.Charts[0];
NAxis axis = chart.Axis(StandardAxis.PrimaryX);

NStandardScaleConfigurator scale = (NScaleConfigurator)axis.ScaleConfigurator;
scale.LabelStyle.TextStyle.FontStyle.Name = "Tahoma"

In Q4 you may add an unlimited number of axis titles by custom programming the scale. You can also define your own set of rules for creating value labels.

Axis positioning is now controlled through the axis Anchor property accepting different types of axis anchors. For a detailed description on axis anchors please consult the documentation.

Old code snippet:

NChart chart = nChartControl1.Charts[0];

NAxis axis = chart.Axis(StandardAxis.PrimaryX);
axis.PositionAxis(StandardAxis.PrimaryY, 10, true);

New code snippet:

NChart chart = nChartControl1.Charts[0];
NAxis primaryX = chart.Axis(StandardAxis.PrimaryX);

NAxis primaryY = chart.Axis(StandardAxis.PrimaryY);
primaryX.Anchor = new NCrossAxisAnchor(AxisOrientation.Horizontal, new NValueAxisCrossing(primaryY, 10, true));

Old axis positioning did not support axis stacking (having multiple axes on the sides of the chart area without overlapping) as well as crossing of axis in model coordinates.

Sizes that do not scale on the axes are now specified in NLength format.

Old code snippet:

NChart chart = nChartControl1.Charts[0];
NBarSeries bar = (NBarSeries)chart.Series.Add(SeriesType.Bar);

bar.Values.Add(10);
bar.Values.Add(20);
bar.Values.Add(24);

bar.MarkerStyle.Visible = true;
bar.MarkerStyle.Width = 2.5f;
bar.MarkerStyle.Height = 2.5f;

Translates to:

NChart chart = nChartControl1.Charts[0];
NBarSeries bar = (NBarSeries)chart.Series.Add(SeriesType.Bar);

bar.Values.Add(10);
bar.Values.Add(20);
bar.Values.Add(24);

bar.MarkerStyle.Visible = true;
bar.MarkerStyle.Width = new NLength(2.5f, NRelativeUnit.ParentPercentage);
bar.MarkerStyle.Height = new NLength(2.5f, NRelativeUnit.ParentPercentage);

The reason for this change is the to support better scaling of charts at different resolutions. Previously it was not possible to tell the markers of the series to scale in other units than model units (for example you will not able to specify marker size 10x10px).

The following table describes the major changes in the programming interface in more detail: