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Axis breaks allow you to skip a range of data on the axis thereby increasing the visual space available for the data that falls outside this range. This feature is most commonly used in the following cases:
- When you have to display data that varies greatly in magnitude.
- When you need to reduce the effect that several large values (peaks in data) have on the scaling of the rest of data.
- When you want to skip data that is of no interest in order to focus on the rest of the data.
You add a scale break to the axis by pressing the Add button. The following settings are available:
Type
Mode - controls the mode in which the scale break operates. The following table described the possible options:
| Scale Break Mode |
Description |
| Automatic |
In this mode the scale break will automatically detect if the data displayed on the axis contains large gaps. The "Threshold Factor" setting allows you to control when the axis will generate a scale break. Smaller values for the factor increase the chance that an automatic scale break will appear and vice versa. The "Min Value" setting allows you to specify a custom min value which has to be used in the scale break generation algorithm. |
| Custom |
In this mode you can specify custom range for the scale break through the "Begin" and "End" settings that accept a value in number or date time format. As with all values in the control the values will be parsed using the current culture settings. |
Position
The controls in this group define the position of the scale break along the axis. The following table described the possible options:
| Position Mode |
Description |
| Percent |
In this mode the scale break position is specified in percentages relative to the axis it splits. You can control the percentage with the "Percentage" setting. |
| Content |
In this mode the scale break position is determined by the amount of data left on the sides of the scale break. This mode will automatically allocate more visual space for visible data ranges that contain more data at the expense of data ranges that contain less. |
| Range |
In this mode the scale break position is determined by the range it represents. |
Style
The controls in this group allow you to modify the visual appearance of the scale break.
- Style - allows you to select from several predefined visual styles - Wave, Line and Zig Zag.
- Width - controls the width of the scale break.
- Fill Style - invokes the fill style dialog allowing you to modify the filling of the scale break.
- Stroke Style - invokes the stroke style dialog allowing you to control the stroke settings applied on the scale break.
