content/graphics/chart/requirements-for-chart-from-calc.html - openoffice-org - Git at Google

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 	<title>Requirements for the New Chart from the Calc's Point of View</title>
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 <h2>Requirements for the New Chart from the Calc's Point of View</h2>

 <p><em>Last modified: 01/22/2002</em></p>

 <h3>Contents</h3>

 <a href="#intro">1. Introduction</a><br>
 <a href="#selection">2. Selection of Ranges</a><br>
 <a href="#feedback">3. Feedback from the Chart</a><br>
 <a href="#update">4. Update of Data Sources</a><br>
 <a href="#misc">5. Miscellaneous Things for the New Chart</a><br>
 <!--
 <br>
 <a href="#references">A. References</a>
 -->

 <a name="intro"><h3>1. Introduction</h3></a>

 This is an overview of the requirements, the Calc application has for the new chart.  All things
 that are currently possible with charts inside of Calc documents must be possible (or improved) in
 the new implementation.  The 'Old Chart' sections refer to those features.  In the 'New Chart'
 sections there are ideas of extensions to the current chart, that should be available in the new
 chart.

 <a name="selection"><h3>2. Selection of Ranges</h3></a>

 <h4>Old Chart</h4>

 <ol>
  <li> Select a rectangular region of cells in a spreadsheet.  The first row and column may be
 	  designated as captions.  It is possible to interpret rows or columns as data series.</li>
  <li> Select several regions where all have one dimension in common, e.g., all regions are columns of
 	  length 7.  In this case we have in principle the same as before.  Currently, if, e.g., all
 	  ranges are columns of the same length, but they do not all span the same rows, you get a long
 	  first series.  This should be improved in the new implementation.</li>
  <li> Add regions with fitting dimension via drag & drop.  The result is as before.</li>
  <li> Select several regions with arbitrary dimension.  The regions are merged in a more or less
       intelligent way, to represent a rectangular region.  This should be improved, by using more
       than one data source and series with different dimensions in one chart.</li>
  <li> Add a range to a heterogeneous set of ranges, as described before, via  drag & drop.  This
 	  currently works as described in the last point.  Using series with different dimension, this can
 	  also be achieved more intelligently, while preserving the distribution of ranges from
 	  before.</li>
  <li> Create a chart using A1:A9 and C1:C9.  Later add B1:B9 via drag & drop.  In the result you get
 	  the new series as second series.  The former second series becomes the third one.</li>
 </ol>

 <h4>New Chart</h4>

 <ol>
  <li> The selection should be split and merged in the most optimal way, to get exactly what a user
 	  intends in most of the common cases.</li>
 </ol>


 <a name="feedback"><h3>3. Feedback from the Chart</h3></a>

 <h4>Old Chart</h4>

 <ol>
  <li> Select a series in a chart.  The corresponding range used by that series in the spreadsheet is
 	  highlighted.</li>
  <li> Select the diagram object.  The complete rectangular range is highlighted.  When dealing with
 	  more than one range, the new chart should mark all ranges in the spreadsheet.</li>
 </ol>

 <h4>New Chart</h4>

 <ol>
  <li> Select a title object, or other objects that use ranges from the surrounding spreadsheet.
 	  Highlight those ranges in the spreadsheet.</li>
  <li> Change the size of a data representation object.  The change should result in a change of the
 	  underlying data.  To ensure this is possible, we should have a read-only flag at a data source
 	  or, alternatively, the data source must support a special interface for enabling this feature.
 	  There should also be a UI feature to enable/disable this behavior.
 </ol>


 <a name="update"><h3>4. Update of Data Sources</h3></a>

 <h4>Old Chart</h4>

 <ol>
  <li> If a value of a cell changes (manually or by calculation) and there are charts that use this
 	  cell in a data source, those charts should be notified with the updated data.  If only values
 	  change (and not dimensions), the update should be as specific as possible, i.e., if only one
 	  cell changes it would be best to receive an event that contains only this single cell
 	  reference.</li>
 </ol>

 <h4>New Chart</h4>

 <ol>
  <li> An update should not result in a 'BuildChart'.  If possible, only the data representations
 	  affected by the update should be rebuilt or changed.</li>
 </ol>


 <a name="misc"><h3>5. Miscellaneous Things for the New Chart</h3></a>

 <ol>
  <li> For data series and titles there should be an extra tab page to select the underlying data
 	  source.  This should be a generic dialog, with which you can add all sorts of registered data
 	  sources.  The question remains, how you can integrate a Calc range chooser in such a general
 	  concept</li>
  <li> You should allow assigning data sources to specific objects as well as selecting a rectangular
 	  region to serve as data for the complete chart.</li>
 </ol>

 <!--
 <a name="references"><h3>A. References</h3></a>

 <ol>
  <li>
   <em>Component-Based Modeling of Data Flow using Dynamic Filter Nets for Graphical
   Visualization</em>, Andr&eacute; Fischer, Bj&ouml;rn Milcke. Document
   <a href="data-flow.html">data-flow.html</a> on
   <a href="http://graphics.openoffice.org/chart/chart.html">graphics.openoffice.org</a>
  </li>
 </ol>
 -->

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	<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0//EN">
	<html>
	<!-- $Revision: 1.2 $ -->
	<!-- $Author: bm $ $Date: 2002/03/04 09:50:47 $ -->

	<head>
	<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
	<title>Requirements for the New Chart from the Calc's Point of View</title>
	<meta name="keywords" content="Chart, DataSource, DataSink, DataSourceFilter, Mapping">
	<meta name="author" content="Bjoern Milcke">
	<!-- <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://www.openoffice.org/branding/style.css" media="screen"> -->
	</head>

	<body>

	<h2>Requirements for the New Chart from the Calc's Point of View</h2>

	<p><em>Last modified: 01/22/2002</em></p>

	<h3>Contents</h3>

	<a href="#intro">1. Introduction</a><br>
	<a href="#selection">2. Selection of Ranges</a><br>
	<a href="#feedback">3. Feedback from the Chart</a><br>
	<a href="#update">4. Update of Data Sources</a><br>
	<a href="#misc">5. Miscellaneous Things for the New Chart</a><br>
	<!--
	<br>
	<a href="#references">A. References</a>
	-->

	<a name="intro"><h3>1. Introduction</h3></a>

	This is an overview of the requirements, the Calc application has for the new chart. All things
	that are currently possible with charts inside of Calc documents must be possible (or improved) in
	the new implementation. The 'Old Chart' sections refer to those features. In the 'New Chart'
	sections there are ideas of extensions to the current chart, that should be available in the new
	chart.

	<a name="selection"><h3>2. Selection of Ranges</h3></a>

	<h4>Old Chart</h4>

	<ol>
	<li> Select a rectangular region of cells in a spreadsheet. The first row and column may be
	designated as captions. It is possible to interpret rows or columns as data series.</li>
	<li> Select several regions where all have one dimension in common, e.g., all regions are columns of
	length 7. In this case we have in principle the same as before. Currently, if, e.g., all
	ranges are columns of the same length, but they do not all span the same rows, you get a long
	first series. This should be improved in the new implementation.</li>
	<li> Add regions with fitting dimension via drag & drop. The result is as before.</li>
	<li> Select several regions with arbitrary dimension. The regions are merged in a more or less
	intelligent way, to represent a rectangular region. This should be improved, by using more
	than one data source and series with different dimensions in one chart.</li>
	<li> Add a range to a heterogeneous set of ranges, as described before, via drag & drop. This
	currently works as described in the last point. Using series with different dimension, this can
	also be achieved more intelligently, while preserving the distribution of ranges from
	before.</li>
	<li> Create a chart using A1:A9 and C1:C9. Later add B1:B9 via drag & drop. In the result you get
	the new series as second series. The former second series becomes the third one.</li>
	</ol>

	<h4>New Chart</h4>

	<ol>
	<li> The selection should be split and merged in the most optimal way, to get exactly what a user
	intends in most of the common cases.</li>
	</ol>


	<a name="feedback"><h3>3. Feedback from the Chart</h3></a>

	<h4>Old Chart</h4>

	<ol>
	<li> Select a series in a chart. The corresponding range used by that series in the spreadsheet is
	highlighted.</li>
	<li> Select the diagram object. The complete rectangular range is highlighted. When dealing with
	more than one range, the new chart should mark all ranges in the spreadsheet.</li>
	</ol>

	<h4>New Chart</h4>

	<ol>
	<li> Select a title object, or other objects that use ranges from the surrounding spreadsheet.
	Highlight those ranges in the spreadsheet.</li>
	<li> Change the size of a data representation object. The change should result in a change of the
	underlying data. To ensure this is possible, we should have a read-only flag at a data source
	or, alternatively, the data source must support a special interface for enabling this feature.
	There should also be a UI feature to enable/disable this behavior.
	</ol>


	<a name="update"><h3>4. Update of Data Sources</h3></a>

	<h4>Old Chart</h4>

	<ol>
	<li> If a value of a cell changes (manually or by calculation) and there are charts that use this
	cell in a data source, those charts should be notified with the updated data. If only values
	change (and not dimensions), the update should be as specific as possible, i.e., if only one
	cell changes it would be best to receive an event that contains only this single cell
	reference.</li>
	</ol>

	<h4>New Chart</h4>

	<ol>
	<li> An update should not result in a 'BuildChart'. If possible, only the data representations
	affected by the update should be rebuilt or changed.</li>
	</ol>


	<a name="misc"><h3>5. Miscellaneous Things for the New Chart</h3></a>

	<ol>
	<li> For data series and titles there should be an extra tab page to select the underlying data
	source. This should be a generic dialog, with which you can add all sorts of registered data
	sources. The question remains, how you can integrate a Calc range chooser in such a general
	concept</li>
	<li> You should allow assigning data sources to specific objects as well as selecting a rectangular
	region to serve as data for the complete chart.</li>
	</ol>

	<!--
	<a name="references"><h3>A. References</h3></a>

	<ol>
	<li>
	<em>Component-Based Modeling of Data Flow using Dynamic Filter Nets for Graphical
	Visualization</em>, André Fischer, Björn Milcke. Document
	<a href="data-flow.html">data-flow.html</a> on
	<a href="http://graphics.openoffice.org/chart/chart.html">graphics.openoffice.org</a>
	</li>
	</ol>
	-->

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