GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 552161
Make histogram chart "wizard" easier to use
Last modified: 2008-09-17 07:33:48 UTC
The input data for the histogram chart needs 1 less Value (y-value) than the number of Limits (x-values). To do this, I have to select the Limits, then ctrl-select the Values, then click the chart button. In the case of a nice table such as that produced by the histogram tool, if I select the whole table, the histogram chart "wizard" (or whatever it's called) pre-populates the Limits and Values with two equally sized lists. If it never makes sense for the number of Values to ever be greater than or equal to the number of Limits, can the wizard be changed to adjust the Values list so I don't have to do it manually? To keep the histogram tool and chart compatible with each other, it would mean lopping off the first Value. For instance, if the histogram table was A1:B40, and A1 and B1 are headings, the wizard currently sets the Limits to A2:A40 and the Values to B2:B40. I'm so lazy that, at this point, I'd like it to notice the lists are the same size and adjust the Values to B3:B40.
I am not sure that lopping off a value is a good idea. I think the histogram tool ought to change so that it provides the correct info. On top of that, if the "chart" checkbox is checked it should also spawn the graph guru and preload the correct info (or even just create a default histogram.
I'm assuming the histogram tool output is constrained by MS Excel compatibility. I'm all for doing things the correct way, regardless of what Excel does, but I suspect there are a lot of users who like the current output from the histogram. If the output of the histogram tool can be changed, then the graph guru doesn't need to be changed. Bottom line is that I'd like to be able to select the table produced by the tool and create a histogram chart with a few (3) clicks of the mouse. I like your idea of having a "chart" checkbox in the tool because it saves me one step (selecting the output). If the odd bins that get created under some circumstances (such as "More" and "<0", etc.) can be handled too, that would be great.
I have just committed some changes to the histogram tool that will allow it to interface with the histogram chart. I will have a look at making it create the corresponding charts automatically.
There is now a checkbox in the histogram tool to cause a histogram chart to be created. (There are still some formatting issues left but the basic functionality is sound.) This problem has been fixed in the development version. The fix will be available in the next major software release. Thank you for your bug report.