L.4.13.2.2 Chart

Different chart types can have many different components defined in the XML, and not all are shown here. For many charts though, at a very high level, the chart XML is composed of the following pieces:

<chartSpace>
  <chart>
    <view3D>
      <perspective val="30"/>
    </view3D>
    <plotArea>
      <layout/>
      <barChart>
        ...
      </barChart>
      <catAx/>
      <valAx/>
    </plotArea>
    <legend>
      ...
    </legend>
  </chart>
  <printSettings>
    ...
  </printSettings>
</chartSpace>

The element that defines the type of chart, barChart in the example above, can also specify caches for both category axis data (which is really just strings for the categories), as well as for the numbers, or values, shown on the chart. The cat element defines the string cache for the category axis, and the val element defines the number caches.

Depending on the type of the chart, the plot area can optionally contain elements that define the axes— such as the value axis and category axis—or shape properties. In the example above, the category axis, catAx, and value axis, valAx are defined. These define things like positioning, orientation, label position, and tick marks for the axis. The actual strings and data that the axis corresponds to are defined by the cat and val elements.

Lastly, the chart element contains a legend element which defines the chart legend.