Customizing Graphs and Charts »Table of ContentsLabVIEW 2011 HelpEdition Date: June 2011Part Number: 371361H-01»View Product InfoEach graph and chart includes many options that you can use to customize appearance, convey more information, or highlight data. Although graphs and charts plot data differently, they have sev eral common options that you access from the shortcut menu. However, some options are available only for a specific type ofgraphorchart.Using Multiple X- and Y-Scales Use multiple scales on a graph or chart to display multiple plots that do not share a common x- or y- scale. Right-click the scale of the graph or chart and select Duplicate Scalefrom the shortcut menu to add multiple scales to the graph or chart. Right-click the plot in the p lot legend and select the scale to associate with the plot from the X scaleor Y scaleshortcut menus. You canadd multiple x- and y- scales to waveform,XY, intensity, and digital waveform graphs. Mixed signal graphs and all charts support only multiple y-scales. Autoscaling All graphs and charts, except for the 3D graphs, automatically enable autoscaling, which means they adjust their horizontal and vertical scales to fit the data you wire to them. By default, autoscaling i s enabled for graphs and charts. However, autoscaling can slow performance. Right-click the graph or chart and select X Scale»AutoScale Xor Y Scale»AutoScale Yfrom the shortcut menu to turn autoscaling on or off. NoteFor the Compass Plot, Error Bar Plot, Feather Plot, and XY Plot Matrix, s elect Autoscale Xor Autoscale Yfrom the shortcut menu. Use theOperatingtool or theLabelingtool to change the horizontal or vertical scale directly. NoteLabVIEW does not include hidden plo ts when you autoscale the axes of a graph or ch art. If you want to include the hidden pl ots when you autoscale, make the hidden plots transparent instead. Right-click the plot image in the plot legend and se lect Color from the shortcut menu to change the color of plots. When a graph or chart scale resizes, other elements on the graph or chart move and resize. To d isable this behavior so the plot area size stays fixed, right-click the graph or chart and select Advanced»Auto Adjust Scales from the shortcut menu. If you disable this behavior, the scales might clip or overlap each other. NoteThe Auto Adjust Scalesoption does not apply to the Compass Plot, Error Bar Plot, Feather Plot, XY Plot Matrix, or the 3D graphs. Formatting X- and Y-Scales To configure the scales for the graph or chart, right-click the graph or chart and select Propertiesfrom the shortcut menu to display the Graph Propertiesdialog box or Chart Propertiesdialog box. Use theDisplay Formatpage of thePropertiesdialog box to specify how the scales of the x-axis and y-axis appear on graphs or charts, except for the 3D graphs. By default, the x-scale has a label of Timeand the y-scale has a label of Amplitude . Use the Formatpage of the3D Plot Propertiesor3D Graph Propertiesdialog boxes to specify how the scales of the axes appear on the 3D graphs. Use the Display Formator Formatpages also to specify a numeric format for the scales of a grap h or chart. Select Advanced editing modeto display the text options that let you enter format strings directly. Enterformat stringsto customize the appearance and numeric precision of the scales.
