CS5: Graphics

Charts

In general, a chart is a graphical representation of data. Charts allow users to see what the results of data to better understand and predict current and future data.

A chart can represent tabular numeric data, functions or some kinds of qualitative structure and provides different info.

The term “chart” as a graphical representation of data has multiple meanings:

A data chart is a type of diagram or graph that organizes and represents a set of numerical or qualitative data.

Maps that are adorned with extra information (map surround) for a specific purpose are often known as charts, such as a nautical chart or aeronautical chart, typically spread over several map sheets.

Other domain specific constructs are sometimes called charts, such as the chord chart in music notation or a record chart for album popularity.

Charts are often used to ease understanding of large quantities of data and the relationships between parts of the data. Charts can usually be read more quickly than the raw data. They are used in a wide variety of fields, and can be created by hand (often on graph paper) or by computer using a charting application.

Certain types of charts are more useful for presenting a given data set than others. For example, data that presents percentages in different groups (such as “satisfied, not satisfied, unsure”) are often displayed in a pie chart, but may be more easily understood when presented in a horizontal bar chart. On the other hand, data that represents numbers that change over a period of time (such as “annual revenue from 1990 to 2000”) might be best shown as a line chart.

Types of charts

There are a wide variety of charts available to display data. The list below contains those that are most popular and supported by many programs.

Bar chart

Column chart

Excel sparklines

Flow chart

Gantt chart

Graph

Line chart

Pie chart

Point chart

Bar chart

Alternatively referred to as a bar graph, a bar chart is a graphic representation of data. Bar charts show horizontal or vertical bars going across the chart horizontally, with the values displayed on the bottom of the chart. Below is a sample picture of a bar chart of unique views Computer Hope received between the years of 2005 and 2013. In this chart all important parts that make up the chart are also labeled.

Column chart

A column chart is a graphic representation of data. Column charts display vertical bars going across the chart horizontally, with the values axis being displayed on the left side of the chart. The picture below is an example of a column chart displaying the unique visitors Computer Hope has received between the years of 2000 and 2006. As can be seen in this example, you can immediately see a gentle increase of users without reading any data.

Column charts, as well as some other types of charts are often created in spreadsheet programs, like Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice Calc. Column charts can be used to display a wide range of data, such as sales trends, stock price changes, and precipitation amounts by year.

Excel sparklines

In Microsoft Excel, Excel sparklines are mini charts contained within a single cell. There are three types of sparklines that can be created in Excel.

Column

Line

Win/Loss

The Column and Line sparklines are the two most common types used. In the picture below, a Column sparkline (cell H2) and a Line sparkline (H3) are shown.

Sparklines are useful for displaying small amounts of data in a graphical format, like daily sales for a week or stock prices by quarter for a year.

How to create an Excel sparkline

A sparkline can be added to an Excel spreadsheet by following the steps below.

Click on the Insert tab.

In the Sparklines section, click on the type of sparkline you want to add.

Flowchart

A flowchart is a graphical representation of decisions and their results mapped out in individual shapes that were first developed by Herman Goldstine and John von Neumann in the 1940s. Flowcharts can provide a step-by-step diagram for mapping out complex situations, such as programming code or troubleshooting problems with a computer. The picture to the right shows an image from Microsoft Visio, a popular program used to design and create flowcharts and diagrams.

Below is an example of a basic flowchart created in Visio that gives a good representation of their layout. As can be seen, you have several steps that may be followed systematically to help determine the cause of computer problem. Of course, this is an example and not the full set of steps required to troubleshoot computer issues.

Other examples of how flow charts are used

Flowcharts can also be created for any of the situations below.

Algorithm – List the steps of how an algorithm works.

Audit – Give the steps required to test a system or process with steps on handle any problems.

Procedure – List the steps for completing any procedure to help verify everything is done right the first time and every time.

Program – Steps on how to create or use a program.

Projects – Give an overview of the steps required for creating a new project or the steps on how to complete the project.

Troubleshooting – List the steps involved for troubleshooting a problem, like the example listed earlier.

Gantt chart

A Gantt chart is a type of chart that helps visualize a schedule for a project. Each task of the project is listed in the vertical axis, and days, weeks, or months are listed in the horizontal axis. The Gantt chart shows a bar for each task, with the length of the bar being based on the start and end week or month for the work on that task.

The completion percentage of each task may be listed next to the bar for each task. A vertical line may also be used in a Gantt chart to show the current date, to help visualize if tasks are being completed on time or may be late.

Gantt charts are often used by project managers to provide a better view of a project’s progress and when tasks need to be completed. Microsoft Project is a popular program used to build, present, and share Gantt charts.

Graph

Not to be confused with a chart. A graph (/graf/) is a visual representation of values over grids (horizontal and vertical lines) that give the user an easy to view representation of all the values. Below is the picture and an example of a basic graph.

Line chart

Alternatively referred to as a line graph, a line chart is a graphic representation of data that is plotted using a series of lines. Line charts display lines going across the chart horizontally, with the values axis being displayed on the left side of the chart. In the picture below, is an example of a line chart showing unique visitors to Computer Hope.

As can be seen in this example, you can easily see the increases and decreases each year over different years.

Pie chart

A pie chart is a circular chart that is sliced into sections (similar to slicing a pie you would eat), each section represents a percentage. The pie chart picture is a quantity of computer hardware and gives the viewer a good idea of how many parts are in stock and what may need to be ordered because there are not many left.

Our pie chart example is made even easier to understand by the addition of labels to each of the sections of the pie chart.

Point chart

A point chart is a graphic chart comprised of various points (or dots) that commonly represent a large quantity of data and can be used to locate trends or averages.

Embedded chart vs Chart sheet

In Microsoft Excel and other spreadsheet programs, there are two types of charts: an embedded chart and chart sheet. An embedded chart is a chart object that can be inserted into a worksheet. A chart sheet is a chart that is a sheet of its own.

To insert an embedded chart, use the Insert option in the spreadsheet program you have available to you.

To insert a chart sheet, right-click on the worksheet tabs at the bottom of the worksheet and click Insert, then Chart.

Graphical Objects

An object may refer to any of the following:

1. In general, an object refers to any item, either in the physical or virtual world. For example, a computer is considered an object in the physical world. In the virtual world, a document, file, folder, and picture are all considered objects.
2. In computer graphics, an object refers to an item within a graphic, such as a graphic circle or a square.
3. When dealing with computer programming, see the object-oriented programming definition.
4. When referring to HTML, the <object> tag is used to designate an object embedded into a web page.

Graphical objects are objects in the terminal that are imposed manually into the chart. These objects are used for analytical purposes. They include:

Line Studies – lines and various geometrical shapes to be imposed into the price or indicators charts. They include support/resistance lines, trendlines, as well as Fibonacci, Gann, Andrews’ tools, etc. More details about line studies can be found in the section of the same name;

Shapes – geometrical shapes (rectangle, triangle, and ellipse) that allow to mark various areas in the price chart;

Arrows – arrows and signs that allow to mark the most significant points in the chart;

Text – text intended for adding of comments to the chart;

Text Label – text intended for adding of comments and anchored to the chart window coordinates. Text label does not move when the chart is scrolled.

All objects are grouped in the “Insert” menu and in the “Line Studies” toolbar. Having selected an object in the list and set a point in the chart (or in an indicator window), one can impose the tool.

To impose several objects, one has to set more than one point. The object will not appear in the chart until all necessary points are set.

After the object has been created, it can be moved or modified. To do so, one has to select the object first. If the “Select object by single mouse click” parameter is set in terminal settings, one has to click once with the left mouse button on any element of the object.

If not, the double-click should be used. The object can be considered as selected if square markers or frames appear. The markers are intended for moving of objects and changing their drawing parameters. Thus, for example, to change the Fibonacci Fan location, one has to hold its central marker with the left mouse button and move the cursor.

And moving of any of the extreme markers will result in changing of the object drawing parameters. Terminal allows to create copies of various object very fast. To do so, one has to select the object and, holding Ctrl pressed, move it with the central marker.

All objects imposed into the chart become unnecessary sooner or later, and they can be removed by commands of the context menu. Besides, the Backspace key allows to remove objects in series. In future, all removed objects can be restored. To do so, it is necessary to execute the “Undo Delete” command of the object context menu, the “Charts – Objects – Undo Delete” menu command, or use accelerating keys of Ctrl+Z.

Object Properties

Every object has its specific properties. Properties can differ depending on the object. To manage the properties of an object, one has to select the object and execute its context menu command of “Properties…”, the “Charts – Objects – Objects List” menu command. After that, the window of the object name will appear that contains several tabs. General object settings are placed in the “Common” tab.

The following is available here:

Name – the object unique name within one chart that is set for the object automatically. It can be changed if another name is entered in this field. Such names make it easy to mark the object out among many others of the same type;

Description – description/text contents of the object that also serve for marking it out among many others of the same type. Besides, these descriptions can be shown in the chart if the “Show object descriptions” option is enabled in the chart settings;

Style – object lines style. Color, forms and thickness of lines can be chosen here;

Draw object as background – draw object in the background, behind the chart. Being enabled, this option provides filling of the objects like shapes or channels (excluding Fibonacci Channel) with color.

Coordinates of the object control points in the chart can be changed in the “Parameters” tab. Time coordinates of the object control points should be entered in the “Time” fields, and coordinates of anchoring to vertical axis of a chart of indicator should be given in the “Value” fields. An object can have from one to three coordinates.

For some objects, additional options are used in the “Parameters” tab:

Angle in degrees – angle of the object slope anticlockwise in degrees;

Scale – ratio between units of vertical (pips) and horizontal (bars) axes of the object. Normally, the number of pixels in a unit of the horizontal axis (time) differs from that of the vertical axis (prices) when chart are drawn. One-to-one scale brings them to the same value. For certain objects, changing of this parameter changes the ratio;

Arrow code – object code;

Ray – show the object trendlines as rays;

Anchor – one of the chart corners at which the text label is anchored;

X-distance – horizontal distance between the anchor corner of the window and the text label in pixels;

Y-distance – vertical distance between the anchor corner of the window and the text label in pixels.

The object visualization mode for different timeframes can be changed in the “Visualization” tab. The object will then be shown only for the selected timeframes. This can be useful when the tool has different settings for different timeframes.

The “Fibo Levels” tab is specifically used only for Fibonacci tools. The list of the tool levels is given here in form of a table. The values of the levels can be changed or deleted (the “Delete” button). A new level can be added by pressing of the “Add” button. At that, if “(%$)” is entered in the “Description” field, the price value corresponding with this level will be shown in the chart. The “Defaults” button resets the initial values.

The “Style” field that allows setting up the color, appearance, and thickness of levels of the object is located in the lower part of the tab.

A VIDEO SHOWING GRAPHICAL OBJECTS

Presentation Output

Output may refer to any of the following:

Any information that is processed by and sent out from a computer or other electronic device is considered output. An example of output is anything viewed on your computer monitor screen, such as the words you type on your keyboard. Without some type of output that a human could see, feel, or hear a human could not interact with the computer. In the picture, the bottom half shows data being sent from a computer to a printer, which is also considered a form of output.

Examples of output on a computer

Digitized speech

Hard copy

Soft copy

In addition to computers, output can be produced from any electronic device. For example, a water heater may receive input from a temperature sensor. The output would be a signal that turns on a pilot light or gas burner to heat the water to the desired temperature.

Digitized speech

Digitized speech is anything spoken that was converted from an analog signal to a binary signal to be used for playback at a later time.

Hard copy

Alternatively referred to as a paper copy, a hard copy is any information that is printed on paper. Hard copies allow data to be read without the need of a computer and are often required when someone needs to sign a document.

How is a hard copy produced by a computer?

A hard copy can be created using a printer (e.g., dot matrix printer, inkjet printer, laser printer, etc.) and a typewriter.

How is a hard copy put back into a computer?

To create a digital version of a hard copy (soft copy), an optical scanner or OCR is used. An OCR reproduction of a text document can be modified in a word processor.

Why would someone need to make a hard copy?

As more and more people move to digital and paperless solutions, there are not many reasons to make a hard copy. However, hard copies still find some uses which we’ve listed below.

They are useful when a paper needs to be signed.

They are needed for someone who doesn’t have access to a computer or digital device.

They are needed for reports for school.

They are needed when a print out for legal filing or taxes that requires a hard copy.

They are needed for copies of receipts, proof of purchase, or completed service.

What’s the difference between a hard copy and a soft copy?

A hard copy is physical, such as a tax form, printed document, or textbook. A soft copy is a digital version of these media that is kept on a storage device.

Soft copy

A soft copy is a digital reproduction of a physical document. For example, if you scanned a tax form into your computer, you would be creating a soft copy of it. The most common method of displaying a soft copy is using a computer monitor or another display, such as a smartphone screen.

How do I create a soft copy?

If it’s a text document, you can type it out, but the most common way is using a scanner.

What’s the difference between a hard copy and a soft copy?

A hard copy is physical, such as a tax form, printed document, or textbook. A soft copy is a digital version of these media that is kept on a storage device.

A VIDEO SHOWING PRESENTATION OUTPUT

Slide Show

A slide show or slide presentation is a series of pictures or pages of information (slides), often displayed on a large screen using a video projector. The first slide shows were done with pictures on pieces of glass, to be later replaced photographic film slides in the 1940s.

As the technology improved, overhead projectors began to be used to project a picture on a screen and the slides were made with transparent slide media, about the size of a piece of paper. Printers could print text and images on this media or dry-erase markers could be used to write and draw on the media.

For today’s presentations and showing slides, a slide in a slide show is essentially a single screen of information, able to display text, charts, and images. A slide can also feature various transitions, which are added effects to enhance the slide and provide different viewing styles. Transitions can include words fading in or out of view, words sliding in to view from the left, right, top or bottom of the slide, as well as others. Slide-based presentations are a popular choice for business meetings, due to the ease of creating each slide and attention they can grab from viewers when done correctly.

Simple to complex designs can be created with Microsoft PowerPoint and the presentations can be built with as many slides as necessary. Google Docs also offers a presentation application, allowing multiple people to work on the presentation in a collaborative effort.

Other applications are also available for creating slides and presentations, including applications from Adobe and IBM. After completed slide shows are usually shown on a projector or TV. Slide shows can even be copied onto a DVD and played in a standard DVD player instead of through a computer.

A VIDEO SHOWING SLIDE SHOW