Data Source
A data source specifies where the chart application will retrieve the data that will be charted. It also allows you to specify a title and subtitle for the data, series and category labels and number formatting.
The data source page lists all of the available data sources. You can add new data sources easily.
To specify an existing data source for the current chart
Select the desired data source. It will then become the data source for the current chart.
Press "Next >" to continue to the next page where you can specify the style of your chart.
Creating a new data source
To create a new data source click on New... and you will be prompted to select the type of data source to be created. There are currently two types of data sources:
User Entered Data
User entered data is data that you copy and paste (from an Excel spreadsheet for example) or key directly into a form within the application. See User Entered Data Source Form.
Text data file
AmiChart supports the import of data from text files that are either comma delimited (*.csv) or tab delimited (*.txt) or semicolon delimited. You can create a .txt or .csv file from a spreadsheet program using File|Save As and choosing the desired format.
CSV File (comma delimited)
A CSV file contains comma separated data (.csv extension) which can be produced from a spreadsheet. You specify the filename of your CSV file and the application will extract the data from the file when creating the chart. You can create a CSV file from a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel by selecting File|Save As and choosing "CSV (comma delimited)" for the "Save as type" option. See CSV File Data Source Form.
The same applies to tab separated text data files.
For both types of data sources the following information is also required:
- the name of each column in the data source (also known as the series).
- the units of the data in the columns
NOTE: After you have created your new data source you need to click on it to make the current chart use it as its data source.
Press "Next >" to continue to the next page where you can specify the style of your chart.
Editing the properties of an existing data source
To edit an existing data source click on Properties... and edit the properties of the data source.
Note: Editing the properties of a data source affects all charts using that data source.
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