Graph Preferences: Options, General category

Before you begin

This dialog box is displayed when you select Preferences from the Graph menu of a report. For information about setting graph preferences during find and replace, see Find and Replace: Graph Preferences: General tab.

The following options are applied to the report that is currently displayed.

The General category of the Graph Preferences dialog box allows you to make the following selections:

Font and line resizing:

• Absolute: Fonts and lines do not change size when the graph is resized.

• Relative: Fonts and lines are automatically resized relative to the graph, when the graph is resized.

Scrolling:

• Maximum number of categories: The categories of a graph report are commonly the values along the X-axis of a graph report. This data often corresponds to the rows of a grid report, which represent attribute elements. If the data for the graph has more categories than the number specified in this box, a scroll bar is displayed that you can use to see the rest of the categories.

• Use as minimum number of categories: Select this option to use the number of categories specified in Maximum number of categories as the minimum number of categories to display.

• Maximum number of series: The series of a graph report are commonly the values along the Y-axis of a graph report. These often correspond to the columns of a grid report, which represent a metric. This information is also displayed in the legend of a graph report. If the data for the graph has more series than the number specified in this box, a scroll bar is displayed that you can use to see the rest of the series.

In some instances, as with pie charts, limiting the number of categories and series can reduce the visual clutter of a graph. In other cases, for example with histograms, increasing the number of categories and series can be necessary to display all of a graph's data on one page.

Graph Labels:

A label is the words or text that appears along a graph's axes. Use the following options to define how graph labels are displayed:

• Use nested labels: Displays or hides nested labels, which minimizes the amount of text displayed along the category axis. This is helpful when the rows of a grid report contain several attributes, which are all displayed in each label on the category axis of the graph. When this setting is selected, the following option becomes available:

• Draw bracket for each level: Displays brackets for each level in the nested label to further organize the category axis.

• Concatenate labels for multiple series: Displays or hides the individual labels of graphs that have several data series.
  
  For example, if you have a stock graph for the report Electronic Sales over Time, you could have several data series, one for each subcategory. If you select this check box, you see the labels of the subcategories joined together, as TV Revenue, Video Equipment Revenue, and so on. If you clear this check box, you see the labels as separate labels, as TV Revenue, Computer Revenue, and so on.

  This option only works for graphs that require multiple data for one data point, such as bubble, scatter, and stock graphs.

• Suppress last level labels: Displays or hides the last level labels of graphs that have several data series. This option applies to all data series in the graph.
  
  For example, if you have a stock graph for the report Electronic Sales over Time, you could have several data series, one for each subcategory. These series would be displayed as TV Revenue, Camera Revenue, DVD Player Revenue, and so on. If you select this check box, the last label of the subcategories is not displayed. For example, the labels TV Revenue, Camera Revenue, and DVD Player Revenue are displayed as TV, Camera, and DVD Player respectively.

  This option is useful for graphs that require multiple data for one data point, such as bubble, scatter, and stock graphs.

Other:

• Use zero instead of null values: Determines how null values are displayed on a graph. From the drop-down list, you can select the following options:

• Project Default: Uses the project level option to determine how to display null values on a graph. The option selected for the project applies to all graphs in the project by default. This option can be defined for a project using the Project Configuration Editor.

• No: Displays null values as empty values when displayed on the graph.

• Yes: Displays null values with a value of zero (0) when displayed on the graph.

• Show subtotals in the graph: Shows or hides subtotals in the graph, if subtotals have been added to the report.

• Use font anti-aliasing: Enables or disables anti-aliasing for fonts in graphs. When anti-aliasing is enabled, the font is displayed more clearly and distinctly in the graph.

• Enable curved areas/Enable curved lines: Applies a curved line effect to Area and Line graphs. In many cases, curved lines provide these graphs with a cleaner and more attractive look and feel. This property is available only for Area and Line graphs.

• Apply rounded effects to all series: Determines whether a glossy, rounded effect is applied to the graph series in Graph view in MicroStrategy Developer and Editable, Interactive, and Express Mode in MicroStrategy Web. In Flash Mode in MicroStrategy Web only, a more distinct rounded and glossy effect is applied to the graph series. If you already applied a gradient effect to the graph series, the colors you chose there are still applied to the graph. However, the new bevel effect you select in this property is applied to the series instead of the one you selected in the Format dialog box.

  Rounded effects for graphs can be enabled or disabled for all graph reports in a project. If rounded effects are disabled for a project, then this option has no effect on the display of the graph. The option to enable rounded effects for a project can be defined using the Project Configuration Editor.

• Allow different borders per series: Select this check box to allow different border formatting for each series in a graph. Be aware that the borders for graph series are set to 100% transparency by default, which means that the borders are not visible. To see any border formatting, make sure that the transparency of the border is less than 100%.

  If you clear this check box, all series use the same border formatting. If you had previously set unique border formatting for each series, clearing this check box defines each series to use the border formatting of the first series of the graph report. This means that any border formatting for the other series of the graph is overwritten.

  To define different border formatting for each series in a graph from MicroStrategy Web, you must first select this check box and save your changes in MicroStrategy Developer. Unique border formats for each series in a graph can then be applied and saved from either Web or MicroStrategy Developer.

• Apply metric formatting when available: Determines whether to display graph colors defined for the metrics, or to only use the default color scheme for the graph report. The colors for metrics displayed in a graph report are defined by their position in the graph report, along with the default color scheme selected in Graph Preferences: Options, Colors category. The Apply metric formatting when available check box is selected by default, which means that if a metric has been defined to use a specific color when displayed on a graph, that color replaces the default color scheme for the graph report. For example, if you select the MicroStrategy color scheme, the first metric is displayed with a blue color, the second metric is displayed with a red color, the third metric is displayed with a yellow color, and so on. However, the metric in the second position of the graph report is defined to use a green color whenever it is displayed on a graph report. This means that rather than displaying the metric using the red color defined by the MicroStrategy color scheme, the metric is displayed using the green color defined for the metric. If a metric does not have a color defined to be used when it is included on a graph report, then the default color scheme for the graph report determines the color for the metric.

  If you clear this check box, then the colors for all metrics are determined based on the default color scheme for the graph report.

Related Topics

• Graph Preferences: Layout category

• Graph Preferences: Size category

• Graph Preferences: Graph Types category

• Graph Preferences: Colors category