Several series are aligned if they have the same number of data points and the X values of all corresponding data points have identical values.
Series alignment enables you to make comparisons between series with values that have the same X-axis range. This is useful when reading charts with multiple data sets.The following example shows two series that are not aligned.
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In the example above, some days do not have any data point and other days have more than one data points. Furthermore, the data points do not line up with the grid lines because they data points of the same date have different time values.
By aligning the two series in the example above, you can get a chart that makes more sense. The figure below displays data that is grouped by day and includes empty points:
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The following operations require charts with multiple series to be aligned otherwise an exception will be thrown:
- When drawing a stacked area, bar or column chart (including all 100% stacked charts).
- When sorting data in multiple series with one Sort method call.
- When filtering data in multiple series with one Filter method call.
- When copying, splitting or merging data from multiple series using one CopySeriesValues method call.
- When displaying multiple series (in the same chart area) with indexed X values (IsXValueIndexed property set to TRUE).
You can align two series grouping data, filtering data, and inserting empty data points.
Grouping
Group series points in desired intervals, such as days, weeks, and months. Multiple points are grouped into single points (see the figures below).
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Inserting Empty Points
Empty points represent missing data and can be used to maintain the same number of points in all series.
The figure below demonstrates the use of empty points to align two series.
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