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How to: Add a Chart to a Report (Report Builder 2.0)

When you want to summarize data in a visual format, use a Chart data region. It is important to choose an appropriate chart type for the type of data that you are presenting. This affects how well the data can be interpreted when put in chart form. For more information, see Preparing Data for Display in a Chart Data Region (Report Builder 2.0).

The simplest way to add a Chart data region to your report is to run the New Chart Wizard. The wizard offers column, line, pie, bar, and area charts. For these and other chart types, you can also add a chart manually.

After you add a Chart data region to the design surface, you can drag report dataset fields for numeric and non-numeric data to the drop zones of the chart. Click the chart to display three drop zones: Series, Category, and Value.

To add a chart to a report by using the New Chart Wizard

  1. On the Insert tab, click Chart, and then click Chart Wizard.

  2. Follow the steps in the New Chart wizard.

    For help with the wizard, see New Table or Matrix and New Chart Wizard Help (Report Builder 2.0).

  3. On the Home tab, click Run to see the rendered report.

  4. On the Run tab, click Design to continue working on the report. For more information, see Customizing Your Data after Running a Wizard (Report Builder 2.0) and Chart and Gauge Layout How-to Topics (Report Builder 2.0).

To add a chart to a report

  1. Create a report and define a dataset. For more information, see Connecting to Your Data (Report Builder 2.0).

  2. On the Insert tab, click Chart, and then click Insert Chart.

  3. Click on the design surface where you want the upper-left corner of the chart, and then drag to where you want the lower-right corner of the chart.

    The Select Chart Type dialog box appears.

  4. Select the type of chart you want to add. Click OK.

  5. Click the chart to display the drop-zones.

  6. Add one or more fields to the data field drop-zone. This information will be plotted on the value axis.

  7. Add a grouping field to the category field drop-zone. When you add this field to the category drop zone, a grouping field is automatically created for you. Each group represents a data point in your series.

  8. To summarize the data by category, right-click the data field and click Series Properties. In the Category box, select the category field from the drop-down list. Click OK.

  9. On the Home tab, click Run to see the rendered report.

  10. On the Run tab, click Design to continue working on the report. For more information, see Chart and Gauge Layout How-to Topics (Report Builder 2.0).

On charts with axes, such as bar and column charts, the category axis may not display all the category labels. For more information about how to change the axis labels, see How to: Specify an Axis Interval (Report Builder 2.0).