Bar Chart Commands

The following command line arguments to the PDF Chart Creator are specific to Bar Charts. Additionally, the Labels and Axes can be configured.

Note: All color command parameters can be specified in one of three ways, just choose the method that you are most comfortable with:

  • #RRGGBB - HTML color specification, uses hexadecimal notation to define the amount of red (RR), green (GG) and blue (BB) in a color. These values are between 0 (hexadecimal 00) and 255 (hexadecimal FF) inclusive. Click here for more information and examples with hexadecimal colors.
  • R G B - decimal colour specification, uses normal decimal notation to define the amount of red (RRR), green (GGG) and blue (BBB) in a color. These values are between 0 and 255 inclusive. Click here for more information and examples with decimal colors.
  • R.R G.G B.B - real colour specification, used real number notation to define the amount of red (R.R), green (G.G) and blue (B.B) in a color. These values are between 0.0 and 1.0 inclusive. Click here for more information and examples with real colors.

  •   -Datum
    Parameters: label - is the text associated with the bar value - can be up to 30 characters long.
    value - is a numeric value (either integer, real or time).
    Notes:
  • There is an overall limit of 1000 items of data, and at least one item must be defined.
  • Both this and the -DataSet command can be used either individually or together, and in any order.
  • If spaces are required in the label then put quotes around the label text.
  • If a time value is specified as the first value then all values must be time values.
  • If a time value is not specified as the first value then any subsequent value must NOT be a time value.
  • A time value has the general form of HH:MM:SS.FFF where:
    HH - hours (0 upwards)
    MM - minutes (0 to 59)
    SS - seconds (0 to 59)
    FFF - milliseconds (0 to 999)
    Note: HH and FFF are optional

  •   -BarColor
    Parameters: color from - "from" color for a bar (see below for explanation of it's purpose).
    color to - "to" color for a bar (see below for explanation of it's purpose).
    Notes:
  • If the color to and color from values are the same then a bar is filled in with that color. However if the colors specified are different, then the bar is filled in with a color that is interpolated between the two colors based on the bar's value relative to the smallest and largest bar values. For example, if the color range specified is from black to white, then if the bar value is the lowest in the range of bar values then the bar color will be black, if it is the highest in the range it will be white, if it is a value that is halfway between the lowest and highest values then the color is halfway between black and white which is gray, and so on.
  • This allows some nice coloring effects to be achieved with just one bar color defined to use a range (see the example horizontal bar chart that is included with this utility).
  • Up to 50 colors can be specified, if there are more than 50 bars displayed then the colors wrap around to the first one again.
  • There must be at least one bar color specified.

  •   -BarBorder
    Parameters: width - must be greater than 0.0 and less than or equal to 100.0. Normally a value of 1.0 would be used in order to outline the bar.
    color - outline color for the bar.
    Notes:
  • This is optional, but if defined will draw a border of the specified color around the bar.

  •   -BarSpacing
    Parameters: size - must be between 0 and 500 inclusive.
    Notes:
  • This is optional and defines the amount of space between bars.
  • The bar size is automatically made as large as possible in order to fill up the available chart space while leaving the specified amount of space between adjacent bars.
  • If this command is not specified then a default value of 18 (which is equivalent to 1/4 inch, ie 72 / 4 = 18) is used.
  • The -BarSize command below will override this command, but is not normally recommended for use, however for visual comparisons it may be useful for the bar sizes to be the same across different charts.

  •   -BarSize
    Parameters: size - must be between 1 and 500 inclusive.
    Notes:
  • This is optional and not normally recommended for use, however for visual comparisons it may be useful for the bar sizes to be the same across different charts.
  • If the number of bars to be displayed at the size specified is more than the available chart space the size is automatically reduced in order to fit all of the bars within the chart.

  •   -BarLabel
    Parameters: style - must be one of the following values:
  • Axes - the bar label (see format parameter below) will appear at the side of the chart.
  • Start - the bar label (see format parameter below) will appear inside the bar at the start.
  • Center - the bar label (see format parameter below) will appear centered inside the bar.
  • End - the bar label (see format parameter below) will appear inside the bar at the end.
  • AxesAndStart - the bar label will appear at the side of the chart and the bar value will appear inside the bar at the start (the format parameter is not used).
  • AxesAndCenter - the bar label will appear at the side of the chart and the bar value will appear centered inside the bar (the format parameter is not used).
  • AxesAndEnd - the bar label will appear at the side of the chart and the bar value will appear inside the bar at the end (the format parameter is not used).

  • format - is only specified if the style is Axes, Start, End or Center and can be up to 20 characters and allows the inclusion and ordering of the bar label and the bar value to be included by using TTTT to represent the bar label and VVVV to represent the bar value. For example, "TTTT (VVVV)" would show the bar label followed by the bar value in brackets.
    Notes:
  • This is optional and controls where the bar label and bar value text is displayed.
  • If this command is not specified then the default style of AxesAndEnd is used.
  • If spaces are required in the format then put quotes around the format text.