How to: Bind a Chart to an XML Data Source

• Oct 02, 2023
• 2 minutes to read

This tutorial demonstrates how a chart can be bound to an XML data source. In this example, we’ll bind a chart to the Departments.xml file, shipped with the XtraCharts suite and located in the directory, where you installed DevExpress demos.

To bind a chart to an XML data source, do the following.

1. Start Microsoft Visual Studio, and create a new Windows Forms Application, or open an existing one.
2. Add a chart to the form.
3. Add Bar series to the chart.

4. Handle the Form1_Load event using the following code.

   C#

   using System;
   using System.Data;
   using System.Windows.Forms;
   using DevExpress.XtraCharts;
   // ...
   
   private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) {
       // Create a DataSet instance and, make it read the xml file.
       DataSet ds = new DataSet();
       ds.ReadXml(@"..\..\Departments.xml");
   
       // Specify the dataset as the chart's data source.
       chartControl1.DataSource = ds;
       // Specify the argument and value data members for the series. 
       chartControl1.Series[0].ArgumentDataMember = "Table.Department";
       chartControl1.Series[0].ValueDataMembers.AddRange(new string[] { "Table.Budget" });
       // Define an appropriate scale type for the series points' values.
       chartControl1.Series[0].ValueScaleType = ScaleType.Numerical;
   }
   

   VB.NET

   Imports System
   Imports System.Data
   Imports System.Windows.Forms
   Imports DevExpress.XtraCharts
   ' ...
   
   Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs) _ 
   Handles MyBase.Load
       ' Create a DataSet instance and, make it read the xml file.
       Dim ds As New DataSet()
       ds.ReadXml("..\..\Departments.xml")
   
       ' Specify the dataset as the chart's data source.
       chartControl1.DataSource = ds
       ' Specify the argument and value data members for the series. 
       chartControl1.Series(0).ArgumentDataMember = "Table.Department"
       chartControl1.Series(0).ValueDataMembers.AddRange(New String() { "Table.Budget" })
       ' Define an appropriate scale type for the series points' values.
       chartControl1.Series(0).ValueScaleType = ScaleType.Numerical
   End Sub
   

The result is shown in the following image.