This topic describes some important terms used in the Xceed Chart for WinForms Series documentation.
The term Series represents a logical union of several one-dimensional arrays (data series) containing data related to the specific chart type represented by the series. The series itself displays the data it holds in a series-specific way and also affects the scale of the axes on which it is scaled. You may think of a series as the primary building block for constructing a concrete charting type. For example, a pie chart is created with only one series of type PieSeries, but the Stacked Area chart consists of several AreaSeries, which are displayed on top of each other.
Data Series, on the other hand, are one-dimensional typed arrays, which are used by the Series to hold chart-specific data. Each data series is represented by a DataSeries object. Currently the data series can hold data from the following types:
| Type | Description |
| Double | The data series contains double values. For example, the StockSeries has four data series of type double which contain the open, high, low, and close values. |
| String | The data series contains string values. For example, data point labels and tooltips are contained in data series of type String. |
| FillEffect | The data series contains FillEffect objects. For example, data point fill effects are contained in data series of type FillEffect. |
| LineProperties | The data series contains LineProperties objects. For example, the data point borders are contained in data series of type LineProperties. |
| CursorType | The data series contains CursorType objects. For example, the data point cursors are contained in data series of type CursorType . |
| Bool | The data series contains boolean values. For example, the data point "open in new window" flags are contained in data series of type Bool. |
The operations for inserting objects in the data series are type-safe, which means that the component will throw an exception if you try to insert an object whose type is not compatible with the type of the data series. The following table summarizes the compatibility of the data series types:
| Type | Compatible Types |
| Double | Double, String (parsable double value), IConvertible derivate (Int32, Int64, etc.), DBNull.Value (used for empty data points) |
| String | String |
| FillEffect | FillEffect, Color |
| LineProperties | LineProperties, Color |
| CursorType | CursorType , IConvertible derivate (Int32, Int64 etc.) |
| Bool | Bool, string (parsable boolean value) |
The values contained in a data series can be displayed in the data labels and in the chart legend. The format of the value (controlling the string representation of the value) is controlled by the ValueFormatting object assigned to each data series. It is accessible through the ValueFormatting property of the DataSeries object.
Data Point is another frequently used term. As its name implies, it refers to the data associated with a particular part or segment displayed by a series. The exact data associated with a data point can vary from series to series and closely follows the display logic that the series uses. For example, a pie-chart data point has pie value and pie detachment, while a stock chart data point has open, high, low, and close values. The following is a summary of the information that can be assigned to a data point:
| Data | Description | Note |
| Values | Values required from the respective series type | The number and data series source of the values associated with a series data point depend on the series type. |
| Label | User-specified string, which can be displayed in the legend, data point marks and automatic tooltips. | The series must be derived from Series. Extracted from the Labels data series. |
| XValue | X position value | The series must be derived from XYScatterSeries. Extracted from the XValues series. |
| Fill Effect | FillEffect object controlling the data point filling | The series must be derived from Series. Extracted from the Appearance.FillEffects data series. |
| Line Properties | LineProperties object controlling the lines and borders of the data point | The series must be derived from Series. Extracted from the Appearance.LineProperties data series |
| Tooltip | User-specified tooltip string. | The series must be derived from Series. Extracted from the SeriesInteractivity.Tooltips data series. |
| Cursor | User-specified cursor shape. | The series must be derived from Series. Extracted from the SeriesInteractivity.Cursors data series. |
| URL | User-specified URL link | The series must be derived from Series. Extracted from the SeriesInteractivity.URLs data series. |
| Open In New Window | User-specified boolean flag | The series must be derived from Series. Extracted from the SeriesInteractivity.OpenInNewWindow data series. |
Data points are not represented by concrete programmable objects, but are assembled "on the fly" when the series is rendered. This is why it is very important to properly understand how the component assembles them. How data points are assembled is discussed in detail for each individual series.