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Charts
UltimaCalc can draw several kinds of charts:
- barcharts as either flat 2D or as simulated 3D;
- line charts (2D) or tape charts (3D);
- pie charts (2D and 3D);
- and stacked bar charts (2D and 3D).
This facility is accessed via the menu item File / Plot Charts. The main calculator window can still be used when this window is open. (Note that evaluation versions of UltimaCalc do not have all of these styles, and also have a limited range of colours.)
To create a new chart, click on 'Options' to open the chart options window, select the 'Chart Type and Font' tab, and specify the number of items to have in a set, where this is relevant. Other options can be set at this time, or later. The image above shows two items selected for each set of data.
After closing the Options window, you can now enter the data. In the column of boxes on the left, the topmost one is for entering a caption for a set (or the caption for a bar if there is only one bar in a set). The boxes underneath allow you to enter the value for each item in the set. Use the Tab key to move between boxes, and hit the Enter key to copy the data into the list on the right. If the chart display is turned on, it will update at this time. The window's width can be changed by dragging its left or right border. To altered data that has been entered, right click on it. The selected line of data will be underlined, and a menu will pop up to give options.
You can click on the Notes button (to the right of the Save button) to add any comments about the chart for future reference. These notes will not appear on the display, but are saved when the data is saved.
Chart Layout
The chart display is turned on and off by means of the check box in the upper left corner. To alter the layout, click on any item in this display. Rectangles will appear around every item as an aid to alignment. (To remove these rectangles, click in any empty space.) You can move items around by dragging them, and you can resize the chart window and the chart itself by dragging the edges or corners. The sizes of the other items depend on the fonts used and the text they display. In the chart options window, you can alter the layout of the legend. The legend is not shown if there is only one item per set, as it would be redundant.
Clear
The 'Clear' button (the large coloured cross) clears away the entered data. However, it does not alter the Title or Subtitle. This is convenient when creating a set of related charts. If a chart was being displayed, it remains on display even after using the 'Clear' button, until new data is entered.
Saving
To save the displayed chart as an image file, right click on it and use the pop-up menu that appears. (More details)
Click on 'Save' to save the data, text, notes and layout information in a plain text file which you can use to re-create the chart later. You can edit this file in Notepad or any other text editor.