NoteSet Parameters

NoteSets provide an easy mechanism for bringing greater clarity to data areas within a NetCharts charts. By being able to arbitrarily specify text and multipoint line vectors, items of interest can be easily identified, and critical regions can be highlighted. NoteSets can be used anywhere on the chart, both inside and outside of the data area.

For the purposes of this documentation, a Note is defined as a single text string and an associated line vector (which may or may not be shown).

A NoteSet is defined as one or more Notes that share a common justification, label type, box type, axis type, and arrow/line type.

The NoteSet package is designed so that users can define unique colors and other characteristics for up to 20 NoteSets. To display notes, only a minimum number of the NoteSets parameters and attributes need to be defined. Most NoteSet attributes are optional.

The following NoteSet parameters are supported in all the chart applets:

NoteSets Required. A list of one or more NoteSet names and justifications.
NoteSet[1-20] Required. Refers to NoteSet1, NoteSet2,...NoteSet20. Defines the text data and line.
NoteLabel A list of one or more label definitions.
NoteBox A list of one or more "box" definitions.
NoteAxis A list of one or more axis definitions.
NoteArrow A list of one or more line and arrow definitions.

NoteSets Parameter

NoteSets = ("Name1", Justify1), ("Name2", Justify2),...;
The NoteSets parameter is a required parameter (for displaying NoteSets) and contains the NoteSet name and justification type for each noteset. The number of defined notesets is based on the number of tuples defined in this parameter.

The following attributes are supported:

"Name" The NoteSet's name.
Justify This attribute defines where each note is placed relative to the note's X/Y position, as follows:
 --------------------------------------
|  TOPLEFT   |    TOP    |  TOPRIGHT   |
|--------------------------------------|
|    LEFT    |   CENTER  |   RIGHT     |
|--------------------------------------|
| BOTTOMLEFT |   BOTTOM  | BOTTOMRIGHT |
 --------------------------------------

NoteSet[1-20] Parameter

NoteSet1  = ("Text1", X, Y, X1, Y1, X2, Y2, X3, Y3), 
            ("Text2", X, Y, X1, Y1, X2, Y2, X3, Y3)),...;

NoteSet2  = ("Text1", X, Y, X1, Y1, X2, Y2, X3, Y3), 
            ("Text2", X, Y, X1, Y1, X2, Y2, X3, Y3)),...;
...
NoteSet20 = ("Text1", X, Y, X1, Y1, X2, Y2, X3, Y3), 
            ("Text2", X, Y, X1, Y1, X2, Y2, X3, Y3)),...;

For each defined NoteSet defined in the NoteSets parameter, there should be a corresponding NoteSet<X> where <X> refers to the appropriate NoteSet number.

Each NoteSet may have an unlimited number of notes, each with its own text string, x/y position, and optional points to draw an arrow segment. While the X/Y must be defined, the X1/Y1, X2/Y2, X3/Y3 are optional and are used to draw a line segment, if desired.

The following note attributes are supported:

"Text" The text of the noteset. The text may contain multiple lines, delimited by the '\n' symbol.
X,Y Required. The note's relative position. This point is also used as the first point for the arrow line if X1,Y1 is defined.
X1,Y1 The second or last point in the arrow line.
X2,Y2 The third or last point in the arrow line.
X3,Y3 The fourth and last point in the arrow line.

NoteLabel Parameter

NoteLabel = ("Mode1", Color1, "FontName1", FontSize1, Angle1),
            ("Mode2", Color2, "FontName2", FontSize2, Angle2),...;
The NoteLabel parameter is a list of label definitions, with the first tuple in the list referring to NoteSet1, the second tuple defining NoteSet2, and so on.

If Mode is "OFF", then the note text for that NoteSet will not be shown. In any other case, the NoteSet text will be drawn using the given label attributes in the NoteLabel parameter. See Label Parameters for more details concerning label attributes.

NoteBox Parameter

NoteBox = (Color1, BorderType1, BorderWidth1, ImageURL1, ImageScale1),
          (Color2, BorderType2, BorderWidth2, ImageURL2, ImageScale2),...;
The NoteBox parameter is a list of region definitions, with the first in the list referring to NoteSet1, the second in the list to NoteSet2, and so on. The NoteBox, if defined, is drawn underneath the note label and can be used to highlight the note. See
Region Parameters for more information.

NoteAxis Parameter

NoteAxis = (XAxis1, YAxis1), (XAxis2, YAxis2),...;
The NoteAxis parameter is a list of axis mapping pairs, with the first in the list referring to NoteSet1, the second in the list to NoteSet2, and so on.

When an X and Y value must be mapped to screen pixels, the axis mapping pair for that noteset is used to determine the mapping strategy.

The following attributes are supported:

XAxis
BOTTOM  - X value is relative to bottom axis values
TOP     - X value is relative to top axis values
PERCENT - X value is a percentage of window width (0-100)
PIXEL   - X value is an absolute pixel location
          relative to the left edge of the applet
YAxis
LEFT    - Y value is relative to left axis values
RIGHT   - Y value is relative to right axis values
PERCENT - Y value is a percentage of window height (0-100)
PIXEL   - Y value is an absolute pixel location
          relative to the top edge of the applet

The axes parameters can be mixed in order to provide the best solution. For example:

NoteAxis = (BOTTOM, LEFT), (PERCENT, LEFT);
specifies that the first NoteSet will use X values that are relative to the Bottom axis, with Y values relative to the Left axis. The second NoteSet will use X values that are a percentage of the window width and Y values, again, that are relative to the Left axis.

NoteArrow Parameter

NoteArrow = (LineType1, LineWidth1, LineColor1, ArrowType1, ArrowStyle1),
            (LineType2, LineWidth2, LineColor2, ArrowType2, ArrowStyle2),...;
The NoteArrow parameter is a list of line and arrow definitions, with the first in the list referring to NoteSet1, the second in the list to NoteSet2, and so on.

The following attributes are supported:

LineType
NONE     - No line
SOLID    - Draws a solid line
DOTTED   - Draws a dotted line
DASHED   - Draws a dashed line 
DOTDASH  - Draws an alternating dot-dash line
LineWidth Width of the line in pixels.
LineColor Color of the line. See NFColor for a complete list of supported color names and value expressions.
ArrowType
NONE   - No Arrow
FROMTO - Arrow is oriented and placed with last point
         on the line.
TOFROM - Arrow is oriented and placed with first point
         on the line.
BOTH   - Two arrows are used, one oriented and placed
         with the last point on the line, the second
         oriented and placed with the first point on
         the line.
ArrowStyle
ROUND  - Round End Point
SHARP  - Sharp End Point
BLOCK  - Block End Point

Examples

The following chart examples demonstrate the flexibility of the NoteSet parameters: