Overview

This topic describes the main elements that constitute Dundas Gauge for Reporting Services™. Please refer to the figure below for a graphical representation of these main gauge elements.

Figure 1: Main Elements of Dundas Gauge for Reporting Services™.

 

Using the Properties Window of Visual Studio .NET to set the properties of the Gauge control will no effect on the Gauge. To set the properties of the Gauge control, please use the dialogs provided.

Gauge Control

The Gauge control is used to display gauge elements (e.g. circular and linear gauges, state indicators, numerical indicators, etc.).

Each instance of the control on a report has one main gauge, and the type of this main gauge is determined when using the wizard. Once created the type of the main gauge cannot be changed.

 

For further details on the control see the Gauge Control topic.

Circular Gauges

A circular gauge can display multiple scales, pointers and ranges. It also has a pivot point, around which all of its associated objects are drawn (this also determines the point around which needle pointers rotate).

The pointers that belong to a circular gauge have values. In otherwards, the gauge object itself does not have values assigned to it.

 

For further details see the Circular And Linear Gauges topic.

Linear Gauges

A linear gauge can display multiple scales, pointers and ranges. It can also have a horizontal, vertical, or automatically calculated orientation.

The pointers that belong to a circular gauge have values. In otherwards, the gauge object itself does not have values assigned to it.

 

For further details see the Circular And Linear Gauges topic.

Pointer Types and Pointer Values

Pointers are gauge elements that indicate, or point, to some value that is present on their gauge's scale. There are 4 types of pointers, and 3 ways in which their values can be set.

Pointer Types

The 4 types of pointers, as defined by a pointer's Type property include the following:

1. The Needle pointer (circular gauges only). Needle pointers are commonly used to point to the values of a circular gauge's scale.
2. The Marker pointer. Marker pointers, which can be used for both circular and linear gauges, have a wide variety of marker styles (e.g. diamond, rectangle, triangle, etc.).
3. The Bar pointer. Bar pointers, which can be used for both circular and linear gauges, also have several pre-defined styles. Their starting point, set by the BarStart property, can be either zero or the start of the scale. Bar pointers at a first glance appear to be similar to ranges, however, it is important to note that, unlike ranges, bar pointers have values.
4. The Thermometer pointer. (linear gauges only)

 

For more information, see the topics on Linear Pointers or Circular Pointers.

Pointer Values

The 3 ways in which a pointer's value can be set are shown below, starting with the most simple method first.

 

A pointer's value can be set using:

1. The Pointer Value in the Data Tab of the Wizard dialog.
2. The Pointer Value in the Pointers Tab of the Gauge Designer dialog.
3. The Value or ValueSource properties of a CircularPointer or LinearPointer object programmatically by using the Code Editor.

 

For more information see the Overview of Adding Data topic.

Scales

Scales display a range of possible values that are "pointed" to by pointers.  There are two types of scales: linear and circular.

All scales have the following characteristics in common:

• Minimum and maximum.
• Major and minor tick marks.
• Minimum and maximum pins (pointers cannot point to a value below the minimum pin, or above the maximum pin).
• Custom labels collection (note: unlike the labels stored in container's Labels collection, these labels must be associated with a scale).
• Various appearance properties (e.g. fill color, etc.).
• Can optionally be logarithmic, with a specified base.

Linear scales have the following unique attributes:

• Start and end margins.
• Position and width.

Circular scales have the following unique attributes:

• Start and sweep angles.
• Radius.

 

For further details see the Scales topic.

Numeric Indicators

Numeric indicators are objects that visually represent some numerical data.

All indicators:

• Have several pre-defined styles.

• Have values, which can be set one of several ways, depending on whether the indicator is a main gauge or a sub-gauge). 

• When a numeric indicator is a main gauge then data can be added by:

  1. Setting the Numeric Value in the Data Tab of the Wizard dialog.
  2. Setting the indicator's Value in the General Tab of the Gauge Designer dialog.
  3. By setting the Value or ValueSource properties of the numeric indicator in the Code Editor (stored in the control's NumericIndicators collection property).
     
     For more information see the Overview of Adding Data topic.
• When a numeric indicator is a sub-gauge gauge then data can be added by setting the indicator's Value in the General Tab of the Sub-Gauge Designer dialog, launched by clicking on the Properties button in the main designer's Sub-Gauges Tab when a numeric indicator is selected.
• Can optionally have a parent, which then determines the coordinate system of the indicator.  Possible parents are the container, a linear gauge, a circular gauge, another indicator, etc.).

Numeric indicators can be formatted, and can optionally have a Range object associated with them.

For further details see the Numeric Indicators topic.

State Indicators

State indicators indicate some sort of state, and or either on or off, true or false, etc.

All state indicators:

• Can use one of several pre-defined styles.

• Have values, which can be specified by setting the indicator's Value in the General Tab of the Sub-Gauge Designer dialog, launched by clicking on the Properties button in the main designer's Sub-Gauges Tab when a state indicator is selected.

• Can optionally have a parent, which then determines the coordinate system of the indicator.  Possible parents are the container, a linear gauge, a circular gauge, another indicator, etc.).

State indicators have a collection of  State objects.  These objects have a start and end value, and if the value of the indicator falls within one of the ranges the indicator is considered to be "on".

 

For further details see the State Indicators topic.

Ranges

Ranges are objects that highlight a range of values, and:

• Have a start value and width.
• Have an end value and width.
• Must be associated to a gauge object's scale.

 

For further details see the Ranges topic.

Gauge Labels and Scale Labels

There are two main types of labels:

1. Labels for scales. There are standard labels used along the scale, whose position is determined by the scale's interval.  The scale can also have custom labels that can be positioned anywhere along the scale.
2. Gauge labels that are stored in the control's Labels property. These labels can be displayed anywhere within the gauge container.

 

For further details see the Labels topic.

Images

Images can be implemented in several different ways:

1. Top image: one top image can be specified for the gauge container using the TopImage property.  This image is used as an overlay (e.g. skin) for the entire container.
2. Gauge control images: the gauge control can have gauge images displayed anywhere within the control. These images support transparency, and are stored in the control's Images property. 
   
   These images can optionally have a parent object that will then affect their coordinate system (i.e. positioning properties).  
3. Gauge element images: various gauge elements can use an image via their Image property. For example, a pointer can display a custom image, in which case the image is then used to point to values along a scale.

Specifying an Image

Image properties of gauge elements can be set by specifying either the URL or pathname of an image saved to disk.

 

For further details see the Images topic.

See Also

 

 

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