Apache OpenOffice Community Forum

Is it possible to plot the zeropoint of the X- and Y axis on specific coordinates in Calc diagrams or is this only possible with the box in which the diagram is placed?

Jaap565

Sorry, I'm not sure I understand what you're looking for.

Did you try the axis properties > Scale > Axis at: ___ setting?

That allows you to change where the axis line will be drawn (normally the line is drawn at zero).

This is the original question we posted on another Forum.

''Is it possible to plot the zeropoint of the X- and Y axis on specific coordinates in Calc diagrams or is this only possible with the box in which the diagram is placed?

Is it an option to divide the diagram box into three boxes. One for the actual diagram, one for the y-axis and one for the x-axis? Then it is possible to position the diagram on the wanted x/y-coordinates. It will also be another mayor improvement in comparison to MSExcel.

With this feature added to Calc it will be possible to use Calc for the production of diagrams for the Rotterdam MSR-project. The alignment of the y-axis is crucial for this project.

(See http://www.hetmilieuinderegiorotterdam. ... index.html , Hoofdstuk 8 Groen p.e. (i.e. Chapter '8') and http://www.hetmilieuinderegiorotterdam. ... index.html )''

acknak wrote:Sorry, I'm not sure I understand what you're looking for.

Did you try the axis properties > Scale > Axis at: ___ setting?

That allows you to change where the axis line will be drawn (normally the line is drawn at zero).

Yes, we tried this option. This is not the solution. We want to place the zero point fo the Y-axis on specific coordinates.

In OOo 3.1, axes crosspoint will be changeable for X-Y scatterplot Charts, see on OOoNinja page.

Hmm... Can you give a specific example of a chart that uses this feature? I followed the links you gave, but they each have many charts, and it's not obvious to me what feature you're referring to. All the graphs there look like they could be made with OOo Chart--as far as I can tell.

If by "three boxes" you're talking about having a distinct coordinate space that you can use to establish the layout of the chart, I think OOo Chart is not the solution for you. That strikes me as quite an advanced feature, where OOo is only meant to do the common and simpler kind of task. OOo Chart normally determines the layout on it's own--there is no way for the user to control the layout. You can position the diagram within the area of the chart, but you would have to do it manually for every chart.

When there are 4 diagrams beneath each other in a report, it is essential that the Y-axis are lined-up identically. Otherwise the layout will look messy. When you line-up on the lower left corner of the actual box in which the diagram is placed, it causes a problem when you have a diagram with Y-axis labels consisting of 4 digits, combined with a diagram with Y-axis labels consisting of (for example) 2 digits. The digits on the far left (the first digits of the labels) line-up, but the actual Y-axis next to the 4 digit label will be more to the right then the Y-axis which is labelled with 2 digits. In other words the number of digits determines the placement of the Y-axis.

It is possible to manage this problem by trial and error and by the use of reference lines, but it would be better to have a user interface in which you can enter the coordinates of the zero point of the Y-axis. The other items of the diagram should be linked to the Y-axis.

In OOo 3.1, such settings will be possible, download development version.
Select Y axis and double click, or in context menu select Object properties, the position tab you can select zero point, and on scale tab the axis scale.

ArjanA wrote:When there are 4 diagrams beneath each other in a report, it is essential that the Y-axis are lined-up identically. ...

Ok, thanks. I see what you mean now, and I take back what I said before: I can see that this is something that many reports could benefit from. It's a basic requirement when you need several charts stacked together.

The two most relevant issues for this seem to be:
Issue 33793: template for charts
Issue 36672: styles concept for chart components

However, the comments there (so far) do not address the problem that you're dealing with, as far as I can tell.

You might want to register there and add a comment explaining your situation and linking to this thread.

acknak wrote:Ok, thanks. I see what you mean now, and I take back what I said before: I can see ...

Thank You very much for Your advice! I will do so.