The Chart Preference Form

Form Overview

This form is opened by selecting (highlighting) a bubble chart in the Portfolio Bubble Chart List form and then clicking the [Modify] button at the top of the form or clicking on the [Modify] button at the bottom of a displayed Bubble Chart form.

Use this form to customize the appearance and change data attributes of your charts. The form has four tabs for setting different preferences: Parameters, Axis and Bubble Display, Ticks and Gridlines, and Fonts.

Parameters Preferences Tab:

Chart Name: You can change the bubble chart name in this field. The chart name must be unique to the Portfolio List and not exceed 48 characters, including spaces.

X-Axis: Select the X-axis attribute parameter from this list in this drop-down menu.

Y-Axis: Select the Y-axis attribute parameter from this list in this drop-down menu.

Bubble Size Values: Select the bubble-size attribute parameter from this list in this drop-down menu. The bubbles in the chart will be sized relative to the values selected here.

The "Use Weighted Values" Check boxes (Bubble Chart Pro™ Plus only): Select a "Use Weighted Value" check box if you want to chart the corresponding individual weighted normalized attribute values instead of the actual attribute values.

X-Axis High: Enter the maximum value for the X-axis value in this field.

X-Axis Low: Enter the minimum value for the X-axis value in this field.

Use X-Axis Default Limits Check Box: When this box is checked, the X-Axis High and X-Axis Low fields are automatically populated with the maximum and minimum values from the selected X-Axis attribute. Furthermore, if the data for the attribute changes such that the maximum or minimum values are changed, these fields are also changed and the Bubble Charts are redrawn with the new maximum and/or minimum values. If this box is unchecked, the Bubble Charts are drawn using the values specified in the X-Axis High and X-Axis Low fields.

Y-Axis High: Enter the maximum value for the X-axis value in this field.

Y-Axis Low: Enter the minimum value for the X-axis value in this field.

Use Y-Axis Default Limits Check Box: When this box is checked, the Y-Axis High and Y-Axis Low fields are automatically populated with the maximum and minimum values from the selected Y-Axis attribute. Furthermore, if the data for the attribute changes such that the maximum or minimum values are changed, these fields are also changed and the Bubble Charts are redrawn with the new maximum and/or minimum values. If this box is unchecked, the Bubble Charts are drawn using the values specified in the Y-Axis High and Y-Axis Low fields.

Bubbles and Colors Preferences Tab:

Bubble Display Preferences:

[Display as 3D Bubbles] checkbox: When this checkbox is selected, bubbles are displayed with a 3D spherical look.

[Equally-Sized Bubbles] check box: When this box is checked all of the bubbles are drawn to the same size, essentially turning the chart into a scatter chart. You may find this quite useful in visualizing the relationship of the projects in the X-Y plane.

Bubble Scale drop-down menu: This allows you to uniformly shrink or expand the size of all of the bubbles from 20% to 200% of their default size.

Display Bubble Numbers check box: This displays numbers in the center of the bubbles corresponding to numbers next to the item in the legend. This is useful when you have bubbles with similar or same colors.

Display Drop Shadows check box: This displays bubbles with drop shadows to give a more 3-D appearance.

Order Legend by Value check box (Bubble Chart Pro™ PLUS only): Use this check box to select how the projects in the legend are ordered. When checked, the projects are ordered by their overall value ranking in the portfolio; otherwise, they are ordered alphanumerically. The default value is unchecked (order alphabetically).

Color and Gradient Preferences:

[Background Color] selection: Click this square to open the system Color Picker form to select the background color for the chart.

[Foreground Color] selection: Click this square to open the system Color Picker form to select the foreground color for the chart. This color is used for the chart text and axes.

[Grid line color] drop-down menu: Use this menu to select the grid line colors. Gridlines can be black, grey, or match the selected foreground color.

Gradient Type drop-down menu: Use this menu to select the type of gradient that you want in the background. "None" displays the background as a solid color corresponding to the selected Background Color. Selecting the other options draws a gradient in the background beginning with the background color and transitioning to the gradient color. The figure below displays example gradients corresponding to different menu selections. The gradients shown start with a dark-blue background color and transitioning to a light-blue gradient color.

[Gradient Color] selection: Click this square to open the system Color Picker form to select the second color for the gradient. The first color is the background color.

[% Opacity] slider and field: You can adjust the bubble transparency by using the % Opacity slider or entering the value directly in the field. "100%" is nor transparency and "0%" is completely transparent (invisible). Note that best transparency effects are obtained using a light background and drop shadows are turned off.

Bubble Proportionality Preferences:

[Bubbles Proportional to Area] radio button: Select this radio button to set the bubble area to be proportional to the values assigned to the bubble size. This is a straight-line linear relationship between the value and the area of the bubble, so the bubble area will increase in direct proportion to the assigned values. [Bubbles Proportional to Area] is the default value for this preference.

[Bubbles Proportional to Radius] radio button: Select this radio button to set the bubble radius to be proportional to the values assigned to the bubble size. This is a curved-line relationship between the values and the area of the bubble. Since Area=πr², the area of the bubbles will increase proportionally faster than the assigned values. This can be useful when illustrating charts in which you want to magnify the differences in the bubble sizes.

Ticks and Gridlines Preferences Tab:

[Show Axis Ticks] check boxes: Select these check boxes to toggle the display of the axis' ticks. Checking these boxes causes the X- or Y-axis ticks to be displayed. Un-checking these boxes will also cause the Show X-Axis Tick Labels and Show Y-Axis Tick Labels to become unchecked; however, these can be re-checked if you want to display the ticks without the labels. The default condition for both of these preferences is checked.

[Show Axis Tick Labels] check boxes: Select these check boxes to toggle the display of the respective axis’ tick labels. Checking these boxes causes the X- or Y-axis tick labels to be displayed. It will also cause the Show X-Axis Ticks and Show Y-Axis Ticks check boxes to become checked because the axis tick labels cannot be displayed without the axis ticks. The default condition for both these preferences is checked.

[Show Axis grid lines] check boxes: Select these check boxes to toggle the display of the axis’ grid lines. Checking these boxes causes the X- or Y-axis grid lines to be displayed. The default condition for both of these preferences is checked.

[Number of Axis Ticks] check boxes: Use these drop-down menus to select the number of ticks and/or grid lines, up to 20, to be displayed. The default value for both these preferences is five.

[Axis Significant Figures] check boxes: Use these drop-down menus to select the number of decimal point figures to be displayed. You can select up to seven significant figures to be displayed. The default value for both of these preferences is one.

Font Preferences Tab:

The Font Preferences is the second tabbed page of the Chart Preferences form. It allows you to control the size, type and style (plain, bold, or italic) of the chart fonts. Use the Size drop-down menus to set the font size and the Type drop-down menus to set the font type. Check the [Bold and/or Italic] check boxes for bold and/or italic font styles, respectively. The default font type is Microsoft Sans Serif on Windows and Lucida Grande on Mac OS X and higher.

Chart Preference Form Buttons:

[Save]: Click on this button to save any changes made to the Chart Preferences, close the form, and redraw the chart.

[Cancel]: Click on this button to close the Chart Preferences form. No changes will be saved.

[Save As Default]: Click on this button to save your current settings as the Chart Preference Default Values. All new charts will then use these settings.

[Restore All Defaults]: Click on this button to restore all of the last saved Chart Preference Default Values.