Working with uChart

uChart is an XMPie add-on to uCreate Print, which allows you to create dynamic data driven graphical charts and graphs.

uChart integrates the features of Chartbot^TM, a third-party add-on from Soft Horizons (http://wowem.com/consulting.htm)

XMPie has used some of the Chartbot features for its own purposes and has assigned values that cannot be overridden.

You can customize the chart properties to suit your specific needs: choose between different types of charts -pie chart, bar, line etc.; define the color scheme, choose whether or not to display labels, etc. An example dynamic chart is shown in the following figure:

To create a dynamic chart, simply tag a graphic frame with a table content object.

Note that you must have a uChart license to create dynamic charts. If you do not have a license, the dynamic charts will appear with a watermark.

To tag a graphic frame with a table content object:

Using any of the graphic frame tool icons, draw a placeholder frame in the document.
In the Dynamic Content panel, double-click the relevant table content object.

The graphic frame displays a chart icon (pie chart), indicating that the frame has been tagged with the selected table content object.

At this stage, the chart icon does not reflect the table content object data. It only indicates this graphic frame is tagged with a table content object, and that you should now configure the chart properties, as explained in the following steps.
Specify how the table content object data should be presented in this chart, by right clicking anywhere in the graphic frame and selecting Dynamic Content > uChart Properties.

The uChart Properties dialog is displayed.
Set the chart properties as explained in the table below.
When the table content object column values populate the chart, the appropriate dynamic chart is displayed for each recipient.

The uChart Properties dialog includes the following options:

Option	Description
Type	Select the desired type of chart: Pie, Bar, Line, Area or Compound. The options in this dialog differ slightly, depending on the selected type of chart. This table lists options that are common to all types of charts, followed by type-specific options.
Common options	The following options are common to all types of charts:Colors & Data, Preview, Font, Legend, 3D Effect and Chart Options.
Colors & Data	Choose the colors in which the graphic will be shown (to add colors to the list, choose Windows > Swatches from the InDesign menu). Pie Charts only: select either a single color or multiple colors by checking their boxes. The total number of selected colors appears at the bottom of this pane. Use the Up and Down buttons to determine the color order: If the number of slices is larger than the number of colors, the color shades are used to distinguish between slices. If the number of slices is smaller than the number of colors, the colors at the top of the list are used to create the chart. Bar, Line, Area or Compound: double click a single color name (or description) to sassing it to a specific column of the table content object. The Series Color Assignment dialog is displayed, allowing you to set the following: Series: select the relevant table column from the list. Display Name: enter the text to be shown as the column’s label into the text box. When using a Compound chart, the last selected color in the Color list is assigned to the Line graph.
Preview	See a preview of the graphic, reflecting the properties you currently specifying in this dialog. Note that your changes are saved only after you click OK or Apply.
Font	Select the font typeface and size of all text appearances (for example, the legend text, the bar chart grid text, etc.).
Legend	Add a legend by choosing its location with respect to the graphic from the drop-down list. Available options include None, Left or Right. Pie charts include additional options: Circular and Legend Only, which can be set per slice (that is, per table content object column).
3D Effect	Add a three dimensional perspective to the graphic.
Chart Options	Enter a command to enhance the look of your chart. Available commands are listed in Using Enhanced Options.
Options (Pie Chart only)
Separate Slices	Break apart and separate the different slices of the chart.
Merge Small Slices	Combine all slices whose value is less than a specified amount into a single slice.
If less than	Specify the minimal percentage of the data a value must represent in order to be displayed as a separate slice. All slices whose values are lower than this percentage will be combined into a single general slice, whose default Title is Other.
Title	Enter the title to be given to the general slice, which merges all Small Slices whose values are less than the specified percentage. The default Title is Other.
Options (Bar, Line or Area)
Show Bar Values	Include the bar values in the graphic.
Show Grid	Display the graphic on a grid.
Annotate	Specify which of the axes on which the graphic is displayed are to be annotated. Available options are None, X Axis, Y Axis and Both Axes.
X Series	Select the table content object column to be used as the graphic’s X-axis from the drop-down list.

To remove a table content object from a graphic frame:

Right click the tagged graphic frame and choose DynamicContent > Remove Content Object from Graphic.

Enhanced options

uChart allows you to further enhance the look of your charts by simply entering commands in the Chart Options area of the uChart Properties dialog.

When entering uChart parameters, take into account that:

Each parameter should be entered in a new line.
Parameter names are case sensitive.
Parameter names do not contain spaces.
Parameter names must be preceded with a forward slash '/' with no spaces between the parameter name and the slash.
Parameter names must be followed with a space.

The commonly used parameters are listed in the following table (the “Applicable To...” column indicates the chart type by its initial: B=Bar, L=Line, P=Pie). You can access additional parameters from the Chartbot reference guide and Chartbot samples document.

Parameters	Values	Effect	Applicable To
/3DDepth	0.0 to 1.0	“Depth” of 3D effect	BLP
/3DViewAngle	0 to 90	Apparent position of 3D effect’s point of view	BLP
/Aspect	0.1 to 10.0	Overall chart width	BLP
/AxisColor	color	Color of all axes	BL
/AxisStyle	lineStyle	Drawing style of axes	BL
/AxisWidth	0 to 1000	Width of all axes	BL
/BarGap	0 to 100.0	Size of the inter-bar gaps	B
/CalloutLayout	Around, Side	Layout of pie chart’s callout lines	P
/CalloutLineColor	color	Color of callout lines	P
/CalloutLineLength	0.04 to 1.0	Callout line length	P
/CalloutLineStyle	llineStyle	Style of callout lines	P
/CalloutLineWidth	0 to 9999	Width of callout lines	P
/ChartLabelSize	0.1 to 100	On-chart value text size	BLP
/ChartValueSize	0.1 to 1000	On-chart value text size	BLP
/ColorListLabels	[(label1)... (labelN)]	Drawing color for specific labels	BLP
/CompressHighLow	No, Yes	Compress out bottom space	BL
/CutoutText	No, Yes	“Cut out” text from surroundings	BLP
/FillBelow	No, Yes	Fill in space below data line	L
/FloorSize	0.1 to 100	Font height of Floor text	BL
/GridLineColor	color	Color of grid	BL
/GridLineStyle	lineStyle	Drawing style of grid lines	BL
/GridLineWidth	0 to 1000.0	Width of grid lines	BL
/GroupGap	0 to 10.0	Inter-group space	BL
/GroupSize	0.1 to 100	Font height of Group text	BL
/HighValue	number	Top of range for data values	BL
/KeepZeroData	Yes, No	Discard 0-valued data	BLP
/LabelColor	color	Color of labels	BLP
/LabelFormat	(stringFormat)	Transforms label text	BLP
/LabelLocation	location	On-chart label-value location	BL
/LabelLocation	location	On-chart label-value location	P
/LabelOverflow	Ignore,...	Clipping of on-chart labels that are too long	BLP
/Layer		Begin layer data; Separates layers	B
/Layering Overlay,	Group, Interleave	Grouping of data layers	BL
/LayerLabel	(text)	LayerLabel text for layers	BL
/LayerLabelFormat	(stringFormat)	Transforms /LayerLabel text	BL
/LayerLabelLocation	location	Location of /LayerLabel	BL
/LeftGap	1.0 to 10.0	Gap width before left most column	BL
/LeftScaleFormat	(numberFormat)	Formatting of scale numbers	BL
/LeftScaleSize	0.1 to 100	Font height of scale numbers	BL
/LeftTextLimit	1000.0 to 1000.0	Left most limit for text	BLP
/LegendOutlineWidth	0 to 10.0	Width of spots’ outlines in legend	BLP
/LegendOverflow	Ignore,...	Clipping of chart legends that are too long	BLP
/LegendPosition	1.0 to 10.0	Shifts legend to right	BLP
/LegendSize	0.1 to 100	Size of Legend spot and text	BLP
/LineFromOrigin	No, Yes	Draws an initial line	L
/LowValue	number	Bottom of range	BL
/MarkerColor	color	Color of data point markers	L
/MarkerShape	shape	Shape of data point markers	L
/MarkerSize	0 to 9999	Size of data point markers	L
/MaxGridDivisions	1 to 10	Max number vertical divisions	BL
/MergeLabels	No, Yes	Merge same-label data	BLP
/NegativeColor	color	Color of negative data	BLP
/OutlineColor	color	Color of edging lines	BLP
/OutlineStyle	lineStyle	Drawing style of lines/edging	BLP
/OutlineWidth	0 to 1000.0	Width of edging	BLP
/PieType	FullPie, HalfPieUp, HalfPieDown	Overall shape of pie charts	P
/PieValueInPercent	Yes, No, or 0 to 5	Print pie data as %; force total = 100% (int)	P
/PrintBottomAxis	Yes, No	Show/hide zero-axis	BL
/PrintBottomTics	No, Yes, IfLabel	Print tic marks on bottom	BL
/PrintCalloutLine	IfNeeded, No, Yes	Print callout lines	P
/PrintFloor	No, Yes	Show/hide line below axis	BL
/PrintGrid	Yes, No	Show/hide grid lines	BL
/PrintLabel	Yes, No, ExceptPlaceholder	Show/hide data labels	BLP
/PrintLeftAxis	Yes, No	Show/hide left vertical axis	BL
/PrintLeftScale	Yes, No	Show/hides left scale numbers	BL
/PrintLeftTics	Yes, No	Show/hide left “tic” marks	BL
/PrintValue	Yes, No	Show/hide data labels	BLP
/RightGap	1.0 to 10.0	Gap width after right most column	BL
/RightTextLimit -	1000.0 to 1000.0	Right most limit for text	BLP
/SliceCutaway	0.0 to 0.5	Space between pie slices	P
/TextShrinkList	[list of .99 to .2]	Text-reduction steps for ShrinkToFit	BLP
/ValueColor	color	Color of values	BLP
/ValueFormat	(numberFormat)	Formatting of values	BLP
/ValueLocation Header,...		On-chart location of values	BL
/ValueLocation Header,...		On-chart location of values	P
/ValueOverflow Ignore,...		Clipping of on-chart values that are too long	BLP

In the following example we have taken a regular two-dimensional bar graph.

We have changed the graph’s color and 3D properties as follows:

We first enabled three dimensional view by issuing the command '/3D Yes'.
Next, we have set the “depth” of the 3D effect to 30 degrees (/3DViewAngle 30) and the apparent position of the 3D effect’s point of view to '1' (/3DDepth 1).
Finally, we changed the color of the chart's grid from black to red (/GridLineColor Red). The resulting bar graph is now as follows: