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Chart Annotation Layers

Purpose

This topic provides conceptual information about the annotations and touch interactions available on the XamDataChart™ control including the different types of touch interaction layers available. These layers are not supported by the following chart series:

  • Scatter

  • Polar

  • Radial

  • Stacked

Required background

The following topics are prerequisites to understanding this topic:

Topic Purpose

The XamDataChart control requires a data object model to be mapped to control’s BindingContext property. This article will provide a simple data object model but you can create your own and use it with this sample code instead.

This topic explains various types of Category Series in the XamDataChart control.

In this topic

This topic contains the following sections:

Overview

Touch interactions summary

Touch interactions are implemented through touch interaction layers which are series that are added to the series collection. These layers are dependent on the touch position. Adding the touch interaction layers to the XamDataChart control disables the default behavior of the crosshairs and/or tooltips (depending on which type of layer added).

The default behavior is disabled because it prevents visual confusion as the touch interaction layers perform a similar visual function compared to the built in behavior as the touch point moves. You can, however, override this behavior and allow the default crosshair functionality to perform in addition to the touch interaction layer functionality. Also of note, only target a series by one tooltip layer at a time. If you target more than one tooltip layer at a series, the touch interaction layers that use tooltips will not function as expected. This is due to the fact that series tooltips can only have one parent in the visual tree. Using a tooltip for a series in more than one location at once is not allowed.

The following screenshot displays the XamDataChart control with the category highlight layer, the crosshair layer and the item tooltip layer implemented.

XF InteractionsOverview 1.png

Common Properties

Common properties and methods overview

Since the touch interaction layers inherit from the Series object, they gain a lot of the properties and methods that are available on the Series base class. However, not everything from the Series class is meaningful for the hover interaction layers. For example, touch interaction layers are not designed to interact with the touch point and should not be hit testable; consequently they will not raise touch related events.

For more information on the common properties and methods, see the Common Properties topic.

Types of Layers

Introduction

Currently there are 5 different touch interaction layers available on the XamDataChart control. Each of these touch interactions layers provides a different highlight, touch and tooltip interactions that may be used individually or combined with one another providing powerful touch interactions.

Types of Layers

The following table summarizes the different types of layers available on the XamDataChart control.

Layer Type Description

The CrosshairLayer provides crossing lines that meet at the actual value of every targeted series.

XF InteractionsOverview 2.png

For more information, see the Crosshair Layer topic.

The CategoryHighlightLayer targets a category axis, or all category axes in the XamDataChart control. They draw a shape that illuminates the area of the axis closest to the touch position.

XF InteractionsOverview 3.png

For more information, see the Category Highlight Layer topic.

The CategoryItemHighlightLayer layer highlights items in a series that use a category axis either by drawing a banded shape at their position or by rendering a marker at their position.

XF InteractionsOverview 4.png

For more information, see the Category Item Highlight Layer topic.

The CategoryToolTipLayer displays grouped tooltips for series using a category axis.

XF InteractionsOverview 5.png

For more information, see the Category Tooltip Layer topic.

The ItemToolTipLayer displays tooltips for all target series individually.

XF InteractionsOverview 6.png

For more information, see the Item Tooltip Layer topic.

The FinalValueLayer provides an annotation along the axis of the ending value displayed in a series.

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For more information, see the Final Value Layer topic.

The CalloutLayer displays a callout annotation at an X/Y position. It can show a label and some extra content on mouse-over.

The CalloutLayer supports all series types.

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For more information, see the Callout Layer topic.

Related Content

Topic Purpose

This topic provides information about the properties and methods that the touch interaction feature uses for highlighting and interacting with the tooltip interactions inherited from the Series class.

This topic provides information about the crosshair layer used for touch interactions. It describes the properties of the crosshair layer and provides an implementation example.

This topic provides information about the category highlight layer which is used for touch interactions. It describes the properties of the category highlight layer and provides an example of its implementation.

This topic provides information about the category item highlight layer used for touch interactions. It describes the properties of the category item highlight layer and provides an example of its implementation.

This topic provides information about the category tooltip layer used for touch interactions. It describes the properties of the category tooltip layer and provides an example of its implementation.

This topic provides information about the item tooltip layer which is used for touch interactions. It describes the properties of the item tooltip layer and also provides an example of its implementation.