Graphs [LWN.net]

Graphs

Posted Feb 6, 2007 17:01 UTC (Tue) by corbet (editor, #1)
In reply to: Graphs by dougm
Parent article: Comparing Linux and Minix

The graphs were my attempt to learn how to do pretty pictures with gnumeric. I simply couldn't find a way to add legend info, sorry. I tried to fill in in with the text, but clearly fell short.

For the IOtest plot, Minix is the dotted line. For UnixBench, Minix is the lower of each pair of bars. UnixBench computes an "index" for each test, with larger numbers meaning higher performance. So the numbers don't really mean anything except in relation to each other.

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Graphs

Posted Feb 8, 2007 17:20 UTC (Thu) by tialaramex (subscriber, #21167) [Link]

Gnumeric's chart capabilities are fairly powerful (for a spreadsheet rather than a dedicated chart making app) but they're not as intuitive as they might be. This reminded me to write to the Gnumeric developer list asking about improvements that could be made.

The key piece of UI in the Customise Chart dialog is the top right tree display of elements, and the tiny menu bar attached below it. To add a Legend, pick your chart (probably called 'Chart1') and click Add, then Legend. If you don't pick 'Chart1' you can't add a Legend, because the top level item is a 'Graph' which can hold only charts and titles.

This is great, because you can have e.g. a histogram, an XY chart and three title lines all neatly together, but it's also not very helpful for beginners, who may just want a simple chart with a key.

Graphs

Posted Feb 8, 2007 17:37 UTC (Thu) by daenzer (✭ supporter ✭, #7050) [Link]

> The graphs were my attempt to learn how to do pretty pictures with gnumeric. I simply couldn't find a way to add legend info, sorry.

The gnumeric chart UI can be cumbersome. To add a legend, you need to select the 'Chart' in the top-left tree-view widget and then click on the 'Add' button below with a plus sign to the left of it.