Displaying and Formatting a Graph Legend

The legend of a graph reflects the data displayed in the graph's Y-axis, also called the graph series. This is the data that comes from the columns of the corresponding grid report, and usually represents metrics.

A graph legend generally appears as a box to the right or left of your graph. The box contains small samples of each color on the graph as well as a short description of what each color means. A graph legend is a common component of any graph report, because it helps the analyst understand what the colors and shapes in the graph mean in terms of your data.

As you format your graph, you may find that you need to make a graph legend visible or format it. Steps are below for displaying, hiding, and formatting a graph legend in both MicroStrategy Developer and MicroStrategy Web.

Displaying and Formatting a Graph Legend in MicroStrategy Developer

If a graph legend does not already appear on your graph report, display it using the following steps.

To Display a Graph Legend on the Graph in MicroStrategy Developer

Ensure you are viewing your report in Graph or Grid Graph View.
Choose Graph >Display > Legend. A graph legend is displayed on your graph. To remove the legend from the graph, select Legend again.
Some graph types such as Histogram and 3D Surface do not use graph legends. Selecting to display a legend for these types of graphs has no effect on the graph. These types of graphs use other titles and labels to provide context for data.

To Define Display Options for a Graph Legend

You can define various display options for a graph legend.

Choose Graph > Graph Options.
Expand the category for the graph style you are using.
If you are formatting the legend of a vertical Bar graph, expand the Vertical Bar Options category.
Select the Display category.
You can define the following display options for a graph legend:

Markers and Text: Allows you to select from the following options to position the markers in relation to the text in the legend:

Markers to Left of Text
Markers to Right of Text
Text Centered on Markers
Markers Above Text
Markers Below Text

Layout: Allows you to select from the following options to define where the legend is displayed within the graph frame:

Legend on Right Side
Legend on Left Side
Legend Below Chart

Box Style: Allows you to select from the following options to define the type of frame to surround the text in the legend:

No Frame
Single Line Frame
Double Line Frame
Beveled Frame
Reverse Beveled Frame

Format your graph legend.
You can edit the color series markers in the legend and therefore the colors of the series on your graph, or format the size and font of text elements in the legend. To format a graph legend, see Formatting a Graph Legend in MicroStrategy Developer below.

Formatting a Graph Legend in MicroStrategy Developer

You can format several aspects of a graph legend, including the text.

You have created a graph and selected to display the graph legend. For steps to display a graph legend, see Displaying and Formatting a Graph Legend in MicroStrategy Developer.

To Format a Graph Legend in MicroStrategy Developer

View your report in Graph or Grid Graph View.
Choose Graph > Formatting > Legend.
Select from the Fill, Border, and Font formatting categories to modify the legend formatting.
For information on the options available for each formatting category, see Manually Formatting Graph Series and Objects.
Click Apply.
Click OK.

Displaying or Formatting a Graph Legend in MicroStrategy Web

The steps below show you how to display and format a graph legend in MicroStrategy Web.

The procedure below describes how to format a graph using the Format: Graph dialog box in MicroStrategy Web. This dialog box contains all formatting options for a graph. As an alternative, you can quickly format a graph by right-clicking the graph component and selecting a formatting option. You can also format the graph using the Formatting toolbar, which is available from the View menu.

To Display and Format a Graph Legend in MicroStrategy Web

Run a report, and view it in either Graph View or Grid and Graph View.
Choose Format > Graph.

If DHTML is disabled, choose Graph > Go.

Select the Format tab.
- If DHTML is disabled, select the Format link.
From the left-most drop-down list at the top, select Format. From the next drop-down list, select Legend.

If DHTML is disabled: From the drop-down list, under Format, select Legend. Click the check mark icon.

Select the Show check box to ensure that the legend is displayed on the graph.
From the Position drop-down list, specify whether the legend is positioned to the Right, Left, or at the Bottom of the graph.
Specify the font type, size, color, and effects to apply to the legend.
From the Fill Color drop-down list, specify the background color for the legend. You can also apply several effects to the color of the series, as described below.
If DHTML is disabled, you cannot create custom colors in the Fill Color drop-down list. Also, you cannot apply gradients, transparency effects, or bevel effects.
- Apply a color gradient, which is a combination of two colors, to the legend. To do so, in the Fill area, click the arrow on the right side of the color picker, and then select Gradients. In the Gradients dialog box, select the two colors to use for the gradient. Then, select a shading style in which to display the gradient to determine the direction in which the two colors are blended together.
- Adjust the transparency of the color of the legend using the Transparency scrolling bar. Click and drag the scrolling bar until you reach the desired color transparency. As you scroll, the percentage of transparency is displayed in a tooltip. When you set the transparency to a low percentage (by dragging the bar to the left), the colors of the object appear brighter and more solid. When you set the transparency to a high percentage (by dragging the bar to the right), the colors of the object appear lighter and less solid.
- Select from several bevel effects from the Effects drop-down list, such as Chiseled Edge or Sphere, to apply to the legend.
From the Line Color drop-down list, specify a color for the border lines of the legend.
From the right-most drop-down list on the Format tab, select Legend Area to access formatting options for the entire background area of the legend.

If DHTML is disabled: From the drop-down list, under Format, select Legend Area to access formatting options for the entire background area of the legend. Click the check mark icon.

Apply formatting changes to the legend area as described above.
Click Apply to apply the changes to the graph, or click OK to apply the changes and close the dialog box/panel.