Box Plot Series

May 28, 2021
5 minutes to read

The Box Plot (also called Box-and-Whisker Plot) chart is used to analyze statistic-driven data points. To draw a Box Plot point, pass the Min, Quartile1, Median, Quartile3, and Max parameters. You can also display a set of Outliers and a Mean value (optional).

Run Demo: Box Plot

Chart Type Characteristics

The table below lists the main box plot chart characteristics:

Feature	Value
Series view type	BoxPlotSeries2D
Diagram type	XYDiagram2D
Number of arguments per series point	1
Number of values per series point	6 values and an array of outliers

The following image shows the Box Plot chart elements:

You can also display the series Mean line. Set the BoxPlotSeries2D.MeanLineVisible property to true for this:

Limitations

The Box Plot series view does not support series labels.
Box plot points cannot be aggregated.

Create a Box Plot Chart

The following example creates a Box Plot chart with three points:

Add a chart to a WPF project.
Add an XYDiagram2D object to the chart.
Add a BoxPlotSeries2D object to the diagram. Specify the series data source.

Use the following properties to specify data members for the series:

Series.ArgumentDataMember
BoxPlotSeries2D.MinValueDataMember
BoxPlotSeries2D.MaxValueDataMember
BoxPlotSeries2D.Quartile1ValueDataMember
BoxPlotSeries2D.Quartile3ValueDataMember
BoxPlotSeries2D.MedianValueDataMember
BoxPlotSeries2D.MeanValueDataMember (Optional parameter)
BoxPlotSeries2D.OutlierValuesDataMember (Optional parameter)

Markup:

XAML

<Window
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
        xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
        xmlns:local="clr-namespace:BoxPlotChart"
        xmlns:dxc="http://schemas.devexpress.com/winfx/2008/xaml/charts" 
        x:Class="BoxPlotChart.MainWindow"
        mc:Ignorable="d"
        Title="MainWindow" Height="600" Width="800">
    <Window.DataContext>
        <local:ChartViewModel/>
    </Window.DataContext>
    <Grid>
        <dxc:ChartControl>
            <dxc:ChartControl.Legends>
                <dxc:Legend HorizontalPosition="Left"/>
            </dxc:ChartControl.Legends>
            <dxc:XYDiagram2D>
                <dxc:BoxPlotSeries2D DataSource="{Binding Data}"
                                     DisplayName="Box Plot"
                                     ArgumentDataMember="Argument" 
                                     MinValueDataMember="Min" 
                                     MaxValueDataMember="Max"
                                     Quartile1ValueDataMember="Quartile1" 
                                     Quartile3ValueDataMember="Quartile3" 
                                     MedianValueDataMember="Median" 
                                     MeanValueDataMember="Mean" 
                                     OutlierValuesDataMember="Outliers"
                                     MeanLineVisible="True">
                    <dxc:BoxPlotSeries2D.Model>
                        <dxc:SimpleBoxPlot2DModel/>
                    </dxc:BoxPlotSeries2D.Model>
                </dxc:BoxPlotSeries2D>
                <dxc:XYDiagram2D.AxisX>
                    <dxc:AxisX2D TickmarksMinorVisible="False"/>
                </dxc:XYDiagram2D.AxisX>
            </dxc:XYDiagram2D>
        </dxc:ChartControl>
    </Grid>
</Window>

Code-Behind:

C#
VB.NET

using System.Collections.ObjectModel;
using System.Windows;
namespace BoxPlotChart {
    public partial class MainWindow : Window {
        public MainWindow() {
            InitializeComponent();
        }
    }
    public class ChartViewModel {
        public Collection<DataPoint> Data { get { return DataPoint.GetDataPoints(); } }
        public class DataPoint {
            public string Argument { get; set; }
            public double Min { get; set; }
            public double Max { get; set; }
            public double Quartile1 { get; set; }
            public double Quartile3 { get; set; }
            public double Median { get; set; }
            public double Mean { get; set; }
            public double[] Outliers { get; set; }
            public DataPoint(string argument, double min, double max, double q1, double q3, double median, double mean, double[] outliers) {
                this.Argument = argument;
                this.Min = min;
                this.Max = max;
                this.Quartile1 = q1;
                this.Quartile3 = q3;
                this.Median = median;
                this.Mean = mean;
                this.Outliers = outliers;
            }
            public static Collection<DataPoint> GetDataPoints() {
                Collection<DataPoint> data = new Collection<DataPoint> {
                    new DataPoint("June", 46, 94, 64, 76, 70, 73, new double[]{ 30, 96.3, 99.56 }),
                    new DataPoint("July", 33, 121, 66, 88, 77, 75, new double[]{ 20, 22, 132.7 }),
                    new DataPoint("August", 10, 90, 40, 60, 50, 55, new double[]{ 4, 5, 95.4, 99.3, 109 })
                };
                return data;
            }
        }
    }
}

Imports System.Collections.ObjectModel
Imports System.Windows

Namespace BoxPlotChart
    Public Partial Class MainWindow
        Inherits Window

        Public Sub New()
            InitializeComponent()
        End Sub
    End Class

    Public Class ChartViewModel
        Public ReadOnly Property Data As Collection(Of DataPoint)
            Get
                Return DataPoint.GetDataPoints()
            End Get
        End Property

        Public Class DataPoint
            Public Property Argument As String
            Public Property Min As Double
            Public Property Max As Double
            Public Property Quartile1 As Double
            Public Property Quartile3 As Double
            Public Property Median As Double
            Public Property Mean As Double
            Public Property Outliers As Double()

            Public Sub New(ByVal argument As String, ByVal min As Double, ByVal max As Double, ByVal q1 As Double, ByVal q3 As Double, ByVal median As Double, ByVal mean As Double, ByVal outliers As Double())
                Me.Argument = argument
                Me.Min = min
                Me.Max = max
                Me.Quartile1 = q1
                Me.Quartile3 = q3
                Me.Median = median
                Me.Mean = mean
                Me.Outliers = outliers
            End Sub

            Public Shared Function GetDataPoints() As Collection(Of DataPoint)
                Dim data As Collection(Of DataPoint) = New Collection(Of DataPoint) From {
                    New DataPoint("June", 46, 94, 64, 76, 70, 73, New Double() {30, 96.3, 99.56}),
                    New DataPoint("July", 33, 121, 66, 88, 77, 75, New Double() {20, 22, 132.7}),
                    New DataPoint("August", 10, 90, 40, 60, 50, 55, New Double() {4, 5, 95.4, 99.3, 109})
                }
                Return data
            End Function
        End Class
    End Class
End Namespace

Format the Crosshair Label

Use the XYSeries2D.CrosshairLabelPattern property to format the crosshair label text.

The Chart Control provides the following placeholders that you can use in patterns:

Placeholder	Description
{BP_MIN}	Displays the Box Plot point’s Minimum value.
{BP_Q1}	Displays the Box Plot point’s First Quartile value.
{BP_MDN}	Displays the Box Plot point’s Median value.
{BP_AVG}	Displays the Box Plot point’s Mean value.
{BP_Q3}	Displays the Box Plot point’s Third Quartile value.
{BP_MAX}	Displays the Box Plot point’s Maximum value.

XAML

<dxc:BoxPlotSeries2D CrosshairLabelPattern="{}{A}&#x0a;Min: {BP_MIN}&#x0a;Q1: {BP_Q1}&#x0a;Q3: {BP_Q3}&#x0a;Max: {BP_MAX}"/>

You can use format specifiers to format the placeholders’ values. For example, the “{BP_Q1:f1}” pattern displays the First Quartile value with one digit after the comma.

Change Chart Appearance

This section explains how to modify the Box Plot chart’s appearance.

The BoxPlotSeries2D class exposes the following appearance settings for the Box Plot chart:

BoxPlotSeries2D.CapWidthPercentage - Gets or sets the cap width of a Box Plot series point as percentage.
BoxPlotSeries2D.BoxWidth - Gets or sets the Box Plot’s point width measured in axis units.
XYSeries.Brush - Gets or sets the color of the XY-series.
BoxPlotSeries2D.MeanLineStyle - Specifies Mean line style settings. See the following help topic for more information about line style settings: LineStyle.

XAML

<dxc:BoxPlotSeries2D MeanLineVisible="True"
                     CapWidthPercentage="50" 
                     BoxWidth="0.5"
                     Brush="MediumSeaGreen">
    <dxc:BoxPlotSeries2D.MeanLineStyle>
        <dxc:LineStyle Thickness="2" DashCap="Flat">
            <dxc:LineStyle.DashStyle>
                <DashStyle Dashes="2 1 5 1"/>
            </dxc:LineStyle.DashStyle>
        </dxc:LineStyle>
    </dxc:BoxPlotSeries2D.MeanLineStyle>
</dxc:BoxPlotSeries2D>

Controls

Tools

Controls and Extensions

Tools

Maintenance Mode

Controls

Tools

Controls and Extensions

Tools

Maintenance Mode

Chart Type Characteristics

Limitations

Create a Box Plot Chart

Format the Crosshair Label

Change Chart Appearance