Impractical: Chart data labels without fixed label size option

Xcelsius SP3 was a major release from SAP. It is by far the best Service pack SAP has ever released for Xcelsius. It’s like a breath of fresh air for all existing Xcelsius developers who were working with alternative workarounds to achieve a specific functionality that was not out of box prior to SP3.

Although SP3 introduced a bunch of useful new components and features, there are few things that could have been better. One among them is Chart Data Labels. One of the major enhancements was with the Charting engine. Introduction of data labels was a great enhancement, however it is impractical without a fixed label size option. If you observe the below SWF, you will know what I’m talking about.

If you are an experienced Xcelsius developer, you know what I’m talking about when I say “Fixed Label Size”. However, If you are a novice in Xcelsius, don’t worry, here is a short intro.

To lock the width of the axis labels and prevent them from being re-sized if the scale changes, select Fixed Label Size. If Fixed Label Size is selected, you can define the axis scale labels by clicking on the Manual Edit icon beside Label Abbreviations and then edit the abbreviations. You can find the option under Behavior>Scale tab of the Chart properties.

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Below is a SWF without the Fixed Label Width option selected.

Below is a SWF with the Fixed Data Labels option selected. Observe the Y-Axis labels.

I would want to see the next Fix Pack adding this property to all charts which allows users/developers to select the Fixed Label Width option for Chart Data Labels.