Olectra Chart - Release and Installation Notes Windows 3.x and Windows 9x/NT architecture 2D and 3D Chart Controls, OCX and DLL ============================================== Version 6.0.1 - March 2nd, 1999 Introduction ============ Welcome to Olectra Chart 6.0.1! This document describes new features that have been added to version 6.0.1, bug fixes to previous versions and known problems with this release of Olectra Chart. Please also see the Errata sheet for additional information. Newsflash! ========== C++Builder 4 users ... please see the "Known Issues with this version" section near the bottom of this file for important information about using Olectra Chart with C++Builder 4. Important News for 16-bit users! ================================ Olectra Chart version 6.0.1 is the last release that will support 16-bit Windows. Further improvements to the product will only support the 32-bit platform. If you have concerns about this issue, please feel free to contact us about it! Web Customers! ============== In order to minimize download size, only the VB demos have been pre-built. However, projects are included for all demos, and can be built from within the appropriate development environments. Year 2000 ========= The dynamic time and date axis feature of Olectra Chart is the only component of the product that uses dates, and it uses them for display purposes only, so strictly speaking it is not affected by Year 2000 compliance. The dynamic time and date axis is constructed so that it can easily represent dates well into the next millennium. You can find more information and examples on how Olectra Chart is Year 2000 ready at: http://www.klgroup.com/cs/tech/yr2000/ New Features in version 6.0.1 ============================= The following new features have been added to this release: 2D Features =========== You can now load data from an ADO recordset via the new LoadAdoRecordset method in the ChartGroup object. This method performs a one-time static load of the recordset data (it does not provide dynamic data binding). The 2D Olectra Chart OCX now provides the ability to pass zero-based arrays to the array data copy methods, in addition to the existing support for one-based arrays. 3D Features =========== The 3D Olectra Chart control is now able to return a list of points that represent the contour lines. The chart type must be surface, and either contouring or zoning must be enabled. The DLL API is: Xrt3dData* Xrt3dDataContours(HXRT3D hChart, int first, int last, int filter) where first is the 1st contour line to be exported; last is the last contour line to be exported; and filter allows every nth contour line to be exported. The returned Xrt3dData structure contains data in the Point format. There will be one series for each requested contour line. For the 3D OCX, a new method has been added to the "Data" (Chart3DData) object. The method is: CData* CreateContours(short first, short last, short filter) where the parameters correspond to those of the DLL, shown above. The data set will be copied into a new CData object, which is returned by the method. This is similar to the way the existing CreateSubset and CreateShaded methods work. Demos and Help ============== Three new MFC/C++ demos have been added: "Radar" and "Chart Labels" in 2D, and "Math Functions" in 3D. As well, the demo help file has been significantly enhanced, and a new topic that helps locate specific code: "What Do You Want To Do With Olectra Chart?" Bug Fixes in version 6.0.1 ========================== The following problems have been resolved by this release: Numerous improvements have been made to Pie charts. In particular, a problem where the front panel of a 3D pie might not draw correctly when a very small slice is present has been corrected. A change was made to the axis annotation placement code for Stacking Bar charts. If the Y-axis minimum is non-zero, it was not previously possible to make the X-axis annotations visible. This can now be accomplished by setting the X-axis annotation placement to Minimum or Maximum. Other improvements include fixing a potential font resource leak with rotated Chart Labels (text areas). The problem occured only with labels that were not visible within the plot (data) area. In the 2D Olectra Chart OCX, an error in the internal dispatch tables used to access the SliceStyle object and its Display property, which caused problems for VC++ users, has been fixed. In the 3D Olectra Chart OCX, enabling the use of TrueType™ fonts in the control without a TrueType™ font selected for the Axis caused a Floating-Point exception to occur under Delphi 4.0. This has been corrected. In the 2D OCX documentation, the "missing slices" topic in section 2.6 of the manual mentions a PointDisplay property. This section is erroneous. The proper way to create missing slices is to use PointStyles. The code to create a missing pie slice should read: ’ PointStyles do not exist by default. Add them before using them. Chart.ChartGroups(1).PointStyles.Add 1, 1 ’ Set the first point of the series to be missing. Chart.ChartGroups(1).PointStyles(1,1).Slice.Display = oc2dDisplayHide New Features in version 6.0 =========================== The following new features were added to the main (6.0) release: 2D Features =========== New Chart type -- A new chart type, the bubble chart, has been added. Bubble charts use a logical series composed of two physical series to display bubble values. Stacking - In addition to stacking bar charts, it is now possible to stack the area, plot, polar and radar chart types. Axis - Annotations can now be rotated to arbitrary angles. Axes can be assigned line styles, including individual colors and tick length. Pie charts - The Start angle for pie drawing can be specified. Individual pie slices can be exploded or hidden using the new "pointstyles" technique (see below). Pointstyles - The ability to override the data style at a particular point has been added via the new "pointstyles" APIs. DLL users should check out the changes to the "Cash Flow" demo, where pointstyles are used to explode pie slices. OCX users should check out the new "Data Styles" demo, where pointstyles are used to change individual symbols. Legend - The order of entries in the legend can be reversed, and a single-line legend title can be added. Polar charts - Polar charts allow negative values for the Y-axis. Minimum image size - Headers, footers and labels now permit use of an image without any text - the image size can be the minimum size for the title or label. Symbol types - 5 new symbol types have been added. CopyXVectorIn - The OCX's CopyXVectorIn method now accepts the DATE parameter type, although the dates must fall into Olectra Chart's normally accepted date range. 3D Features =========== Chart types - 3D Scatter Plots have been added. Current Grid/IrGrid data can be plotted as scatter, or the new "Point" data type can be used to specify data as a series of (x,y,z) points. A "Scatter" demo has been provided for both DLL and OCX developers, to show how to use this new chart type. Printing - Stroke font printing has been substantially improved, reducing the jagged character effect sometimes observed in previous versions. Fonts - Support for the use of TrueType™ fonts on the axes and in text areas has been added. Legend - Custom levels can be entirely displayed, and/or a filter can be applied to display only every nth level. A single-line legend title can be added. Grid lines - Grid lines can now be assigned line styles, including individual colors. Minimum Image Size - Headers, footers and labels now permit use of an image without any text - the image size can be the minimum size for the title or label. Bug Fixes ========= The following problems with previous versions of Olectra Chart were fixed for the main (6.0) version: Common Issues ============= * A problem where the Data objects did not unregister properly has been corrected. All Olectra registry keys are now removed during uninstall. 2D Issues ========= * Area picking below the X-axis is corrected. * A problem attaching a text label to the "other" slice is corrected. 3D Issues ========= * A problem where the chart did not always redraw after being rotated with the left and right mouse buttons has been corrected. * The 3D DLL's LEGEND_LABEL_FUNC now provides the correct chart handle in the 1st parameter. Known Issues with this version ============================== * C++Builder 4 The final build of C++Builder 4 became available from Inprise just as this release of Olectra Chart was being finalized. Support for ActiveX controls appears to be significantly improved in C++Builder version 4, but the C++Builder examples in this release of Olectra Chart are not fully compatible. However, the improved support for ActiveX controls means that the Chart's object hierarchy can be accessed directly, leading to code that looks more like it does in Delphi or Visual Basic. C++Builder 4 examples will be added to the Olectra section of the KL Group website as soon as they are available. For the latest information, consult the Olectra Chart FAQ at: http://www.klgroup.com/olectra/chart/faq.html * Delphi 4 A problem occurs when Delphi 4 imports some Olectra Chart methods. Delphi 4 seems to generate an erroneous entry for the return code in the parameter list of type "WORD BOOL". This problem is resolved by installing the latest Delphi 4 update, which is available from Inprise at: http://www.inprise.com/devsupport/delphi/downloads/index.html Windows 3.1 Issues ================== Property pages consume USER resources when displayed -- If you go through too many property tabs while displaying the property pages, it will eventually GPF. This is a known problem with Microsoft, filed in the Knowledge Base under Q122292. Contacting KL Group =================== For support and other issues, email KL Group at: olectra_support@klgroup.com For a complete list of known issues and their solutions, check out the Olectra Chart FAQ on the KL Group web page, at: http://www.klgroup.com/olectra/chart/faq.html (The FAQ has been updated recently; please check it out.) Thank you for using Olectra Chart!