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Add Charts With Ease

Posted May 3, 2004

People can sometimes grasp a concept or information more easily when you present it to them graphically. This is exactly what Dundas Chart for .NET helps you do. You can use it to create effective chart presentations within WinForms or ASP.NET applications. The impressive array of supported charts includes some chart types you might not have even considered until you see them here.

Dundas Chart's minimum requirements are IIS 4.0 for ASP.NET, and 128 MB or higher of RAM for the WinForms version. The package runs on Windows NT 4.0, 2000, and XP, and it supports C# and VB.NET code.

You can choose between opening the Dundas Chart setup program from the product CD or saving it to a drive. I recommend running it from the CD, because the software doesn't take much time to install, and this way you don't copy files to your hard disk unnecessarily. The browser-based install is smooth and intuitive.

Once the installation is complete, you get a chance to see examples of Dundas Chart charts. The product's documentation presents remarkably intuitive and clear help and examples. In quick succession, you can select a chart style, see an example of that style, and view its source code. The documentation's Chart Gallery lets you see the types of charts at your disposal and pick the ones you want to use. When you select an item from the list of supported charts, you see a graphical representation of the chart with some tabs beneath it. After you choose a chart, you can click on the C# tab or the VB.NET tab to see the source code that generates the chart. You can work through a tutorial on chart elements if you're unfamiliar with creating charts.

Dundas Chart allows you to create a chart in two ways. The easier option is to use the Chart & Data Wizard in design mode when you create your forms (see Figure 1). The wizard lets you select a data source or data set to create your charts. (You can also give the end user the ability to use the Chart & Data Wizard.) Alternatively, you can create a chart with brute force by adding source code to your project by hand —an option that's a little more time-consuming but still relatively easy. This method gives you a way to add charts to an existing project and give your data a nice visual representation it didn't have before.

Dundas Chart gives you the tools to put together effective presentations in virtually no time. You might encounter a small learning curve for some of the charts, but nothing a little experimentation won't help you through. You'll find this easy-to-use package to be well worth the investment.

Dundas Chart for .NET
Dundas Software
Web: www.dundas.com
Phone: 800-463-1492; 416-467-5100
Pricing: Contact vendor for pricing.
Quick Facts: Chart-creation package using C# or VB.NET for WinForms and ASP.NET.
Pros: Quick and easy to start creating charts; numerous chart styles to choose from; excellent documentation.
Cons: Slight learning curve associated with some of the less-intuitive charts.

About the Author
David Mack is a technical lead for the National Intelligence Division of Titan Systems and an independent consultant. He has more than 10 years of experience in object-oriented programming. Reach him at .