We have often referred to backplanes in this documentation because they appear in so many different places in the chart--for example, behind texts and labels--and are primarily used to increase the readability of the generated image. Backplanes are represented by the Backplane object.

Dimensions of Backplanes

The size of the backplane is determined by the object it is attached to. For example, if a backplane is applied to a text, the size of the backplane is initially the size of the text-bounding rectangle. You can further inflate or deflate this rectangle by using the Inflate property of the Backplane object. The following example creates a text object and increases the backplane size:

Dim text As ChartText =  New ChartText()
text.Backplane.Inflate = New SizeF(10, 10)

ChartText text = new ChartText();
text.Backplane.Inflate = new SizeF(10, 10);

Style of Backplanes

The style (shape) of the backplane is controlled by the Style property, which accepts values from the BackplaneStyle enumeration. The default value is Rectangle, but you can of course modify this at runtime:

Dim backplane As Backplane =   someTextProps.Backplane
backplane.Style = BackplaneStyle.CutEdgeRectangle

Backplane backplane = someTextProps.Backplane;
backplane.Style = BackplaneStyle.CutEdgeRectangle;

The possible backplane shapes are Rectangle, Circle, Ellipse, Cut-Edge Rectangle, and Smooth-Edge Rectangle (for details, see BackplaneStyle Enumeration). In the case of Cut-Edge Rectangle and Smooth-Edge Rectangle, you can specify the amount of the edge occupied by the smooth edge or cut edge as a percentage of the backplane width or height, depending on which one is smaller, with the EdgePercent property. The default value is 20%, and it can vary in the range of [0, 50]:

Dim backplane As Backplane =   SomeTextProps.Backplane
backplane.Style = BackplaneStyle.CutEdgeRectangle
backplane.EdgePercent = 30 ' increase the cut edge size

Backplane backplane = someTextProps.Backplane;
backplane.Style = BackplaneStyle.CutEdgeRectangle;
backplane.EdgePercent = 30; // increase the cut edge size 

Frame and Border of Backplanes

A backplane has an attached StandardFrame object controlling the frame properties applied to the backplane rim. It is important to know that when the backplane is not horizontal or vertical, its frame properties are discarded, and you can apply only a border to the backplane. The following table shows two labels with the same frame properties but different orientations:

Label with Raised Frame and Border. Horizontal Orientation.	Label with Raised Frame and Border. 45 Degrees Orientation.

For more information on how to work with the frame property object, please consult the Working with Lines and Working with Frames topics.

Related Examples

Windows Forms: Labels\General

See Also

StandardFrame | LineProperties | ChartText | Legend | Lines | Standard Frames