A data axis is an axis that shows the extent of the different data values in a graph. For example, in a bar graph that shows sales totals for different months of the year, the size of each bar represents the sales for that month. A data axis identifies the numbers that each bar represents.
Bar, line, area, scatter, bubble, stock, radar, polar, and combination graphs have at least one data axis, the Y1-axis. When you want to show relationships between data of differing scales, then you use a dual-Y graph, which has two data axes: the Y1-axis, and a Y2-axis. The Y1-axis and the Y2-axis are parallel to each other. They are vertical, except on horizontally oriented graphs.
Scatter and bubble graphs have another data axis as well: the X-axis. The X-axis is perpendicular to the Y-axis or Y-axes. As a data axis, it shows the extent of the values that appear in the graph. A polar graph does not have a visible X-axis, but the X-axis values go around the graph counterclockwise.
A data axis includes tick marks, which measure regular intervals along the axis. It also includes tick labels, which identify the numeric value that each tick mark represents. The BI Beans graph has a separate class for each data axis, a class for all of the tick marks for each axis, and a class for all of the tick labels for each class. The graph also has a class for the title of each axis, so that you can display more information about the data.
The following table lists the data axes in a BI Beans graph and, for each axis, shows its axis class, tick mark class, tick label class, and title class.
Data Axis |
Axis Class |
Tick Mark Class |
Tick Label Class |
Title Class |
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X-axis |
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Y1-axis |
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Y2-axis |
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