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V24.1

How to: Create Excel 2016 Charts in the WinForms Spreadsheet Control

  • 8 minutes to read

Microsoft Excel 2016 introduced several chart types that help you visualize financial, statistical, and hierarchical data:

  • Box and Whisker
  • Waterfall
  • Histogram
  • Pareto
  • Funnel
  • Sunburst
  • Treemap

This topic describes how to use the Spreadsheet API to create and customize these chart types in your applications.

Basics

You can add an Excel 2016 chart to a worksheet in the same manner as any other chart type. Call the Worksheet.Charts.Add method and pass a ChartType enumeration member.

See how to create and position charts in the Spreadsheet control.

Refer to the sections below for details on each Excel 2016 chart type (available options and code samples).

Box and Whisker

Use the chart’s Series.LayoutOptions.BoxAndWhisker property to define options for a Box and Whisker data series.

Property Description
BoxAndWhiskerSeriesOptions.ShowInnerPoints Specifies whether to show inner data points that lie between the lower and upper whisker lines.
BoxAndWhiskerSeriesOptions.ShowOutlierPoints Specifies whether to show outlier data points that lie either below the lower whisker line or above the upper whisker line.
BoxAndWhiskerSeriesOptions.ShowMeanLine Specifies whether to display a line that connects the means of boxes in the series.
BoxAndWhiskerSeriesOptions.ShowMeanMarkers Specifies whether to show the mean markers.
BoxAndWhiskerSeriesOptions.QuartileCalculationMethod Defines the quartile calculation method.

Box and Whisker chart

// Create a box and whisker chart and specify its location.
Chart chart = worksheet.Charts.Add(ChartType.BoxAndWhisker, worksheet["B2:E17"]);
chart.TopLeftCell = worksheet.Cells["G2"];
chart.BottomRightCell = worksheet.Cells["N17"];

// Set the minimum and maximum values for the value axis.
Axis axis = chart.PrimaryAxes[1];
axis.Scaling.AutoMax = false;
axis.Scaling.Max = 70;
axis.Scaling.AutoMin = false;
axis.Scaling.Min = 40;

// Specify series options.
foreach (Series series in chart.Series)
{
    var options = series.LayoutOptions.BoxAndWhisker;
    options.ShowInnerPoints = true;
    options.ShowMeanLine = false;
    options.ShowOutlierPoints = true;
    options.ShowMeanMarkers = true;
    options.QuartileCalculationMethod = QuartileCalculationMethod.ExclusiveMedian;
}

// Add the chart title.
chart.Title.Visible = true;
chart.Title.SetValue("Academic Performance Distribution");

Waterfall

Use the chart’s Series.LayoutOptions.Waterfall property to specify options for a Waterfall data series.

Property Description
WaterfallSeriesOptions.ShowConnectorLines Specifies whether to display connector lines between data points.
WaterfallSeriesOptions.SubtotalDataPoints Returns a collection of total points.

Waterfall chart

// Create a waterfall chart and specify its location.
Chart chart = worksheet.Charts.Add(ChartType.Waterfall, worksheet["B2:C7"]);
chart.TopLeftCell = worksheet.Cells["E2"];
chart.BottomRightCell = worksheet.Cells["L17"];

// Hide the major gridlines for the value axis.
chart.PrimaryAxes[1].MajorGridlines.Visible = false;

// Specify series options.
var options = chart.Series[0].LayoutOptions.Waterfall;
options.ShowConnectorLines = true;
// Set the third data point as total.
options.SubtotalDataPoints.Add(2);
// Set the last data point as total.
options.SubtotalDataPoints.Add(5);

// Add the chart title.
chart.Title.Visible = true;
chart.Title.SetValue("Income Statement");

Histogram

Use the chart’s Series.LayoutOptions.Histogram property to specify options for a Histogram data series.

Property Description
HistogramSeriesOptions.BinType Specifies how to calculate bins for a histogram.
HistogramSeriesOptions.BinCount Defines the number of histogram bins.
HistogramSeriesOptions.BinWidth Defines the bin size.
HistogramSeriesOptions.OverflowType,
HistogramSeriesOptions.OverflowValue
Allow you to create a bin for all values that are above a specific value.
HistogramSeriesOptions.UnderflowType,
HistogramSeriesOptions.UnderflowValue
Allow you to create a bin for all values that are below or equal to a specific value.
HistogramSeriesOptions.IntervalClosedSide Specifies the bin closed side.

Histogram chart

// Create a histogram chart and specify its location.
Chart chart = worksheet.Charts.Add(ChartType.Histogram, worksheet["B2:B21"]);
chart.TopLeftCell = worksheet.Cells["D2"];
chart.BottomRightCell = worksheet.Cells["K18"];

// Specify histogram series options.
var options = chart.Series[0].LayoutOptions.Histogram;
options.BinType = HistogramBinType.BinWidth;
options.BinWidth = 24;
// Specify the gap width.
chart.Series[0].GapWidth = 10;

// Add the chart title.
chart.Title.Visible = true;
chart.Title.SetValue("Exam Score Distribution");

Pareto

Use the chart’s Series.LayoutOptions.Histogram property to specify bin options for a Pareto data series.

See histogram series options.

Pareto chart

// Create a Pareto chart and specify its location.
Chart chart = worksheet.Charts.Add(ChartType.Pareto, worksheet["B2:C7"]);
chart.TopLeftCell = worksheet.Cells["E2"];
chart.BottomRightCell = worksheet.Cells["L17"];

// Specify series options.
var options = chart.Series[0].LayoutOptions.Histogram;
options.BinType = HistogramBinType.ByCategory;
// Specify the gap width.
chart.Series[0].GapWidth = 15;

// Add the chart title.
chart.Title.Visible = true;
chart.Title.SetValue("Key Causes of Late Projects");

Funnel

Funnel charts do not include type-specific options.

Funnel chart

// Create a funnel chart and specify its location.
Chart chart = worksheet.Charts.Add(ChartType.Funnel, worksheet["B2:C6"]);
chart.TopLeftCell = worksheet.Cells["E2"];
chart.BottomRightCell = worksheet.Cells["L18"];

// Add the chart title.
chart.Title.Visible = true;
chart.Title.SetValue("Website Visitor Trend");

Sunburst

Sunburst charts do not include type-specific options.

Sunburst chart

// Create a sunburst chart and specify its location.
Chart chart = worksheet.Charts.Add(ChartType.Sunburst, worksheet["B2:E18"]);
chart.TopLeftCell = worksheet.Cells["G2"];
chart.BottomRightCell = worksheet.Cells["N19"];

// Hide the chart title.
chart.Title.Visible = false;

Treemap

Use the chart’s Series.LayoutOptions.Treemap property to specify options for a Treemap data series.

Property Description
TreemapSeriesOptions.ParentLabelLayout Defines the layout of parent labels.

Treemap chart

// Create a treemap chart and specify its location.
Chart chart = worksheet.Charts.Add(ChartType.Treemap, worksheet["B2:E14"]);
chart.TopLeftCell = worksheet.Cells["G2"];
chart.BottomRightCell = worksheet.Cells["N17"];

// Specify series options.
var options = chart.Series[0].LayoutOptions.Treemap;
options.ParentLabelLayout = TreemapParentLabelLayout.Banner;

// Add the chart title.
chart.Title.Visible = true;
chart.Title.SetValue("Daily Food Sales");

Chart Style and Colors

You can use the following style and color customization API to change the appearance of Excel 2016 charts:

Property Description
Chart.Style Specifies the chart style. Several predefined styles are available for Excel 2016 charts: Style1Style9.
Chart.ColorPalette Defines a color palette for an Excel 2016 chart.
ChartObject.LoadStyle Allows you to apply a custom style to an Excel 2016 chart.

The example below demonstrates how to create a Waterfall chart and specify its colors and style.

Change the chart style and color palette for a waterfall chart

// Create a waterfall chart and specify its location.
Chart chart = worksheet.Charts.Add(ChartType.Waterfall, worksheet["B2:C7"]);
chart.TopLeftCell = worksheet.Cells["E2"];
chart.BottomRightCell = worksheet.Cells["L17"];

// Hide the major gridlines for the value axis.
chart.PrimaryAxes[1].MajorGridlines.Visible = false;

// Specify series options.
var options = chart.Series[0].LayoutOptions.Waterfall;
// Display connector lines.
options.ShowConnectorLines = true;
// Set the third data point as the total.
options.SubtotalDataPoints.Add(2);
// Set the last data point as the total.
options.SubtotalDataPoints.Add(5);

// Specify the chart style.
chart.Style = ChartStyle.Style3;
// Change chart colors.
chart.ColorPalette = ChartColorPalette.Colorful4;

// Add the chart title.
chart.Title.Visible = true;
chart.Title.SetValue("Income Statement");

Limitations

Chart Type Limitations
All charts 1. The WinForms Spreadsheet control supports only one gradient fill style for a chart area: linear gradient fill with two color stops. Other gradient types are replaced with a solid fill.
2. A pattern fill applied to a chart area or data series is replaced with a solid fill.
Box and whisker 1. Data labels are not displayed.
2. The Series.GapWidth property value is ignored.
Waterfall Charts with empty data values are rendered incorrectly.
Treemap 1. The Overlapping layout option is not supported. If you enable this option for a chart, the Spreadsheet control displays parent labels as banners above the categories.
2. Banner labels have no background fill.
See Also