Chart tricks for Microsoft CRM 2011, make your charts look appealing!

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 has some great charts out of the box, but sometimes it’s handy to know how to make changes to these chart layouts. Here are a few tips and tricks we’ve put together to help make your Microsoft CRM charts more appealing. Enjoy!

Adding a Scale Break to Charts in Microsoft CRM

If you have a huge gap between the low and high data values – it can make your chart look ugly (see the chart to the left). To counter this, here are some step-by-step directions on how to add a scale break to your CRM charts:

• To add the scale break – export the chart xml to your local drive (how to export chart: Create a solution and add the Entity which feeds your chart – e.g. Opportunity).
• On the left pane, select Components > Entities > Opportunities > Charts
• Select your chart
• Click on the ‘More Actions’ > Export Chart and save the chart on your hard drive
• Open the saved xml file and add the ScaleBreakStyle under AxisY node:

<AxisY LabelAutoFitMinFontSize=”8″ TitleForeColor=”59, 59, 59” TitleFont=”{0}, 10.5px” LineColor=”165, 172, 181″ IntervalAutoMode=”VariableCount”><MajorGrid LineColor=”239, 242, 246″ />
<MajorTickMark LineColor=”165, 172, 181″ />
<LabelStyle Font=”{0}, 10.5px” ForeColor=”59, 59, 59″ />
<ScaleBreakStyle Enabled=“True” BreakLineStyle=“Straight” Spacing=“2″ />
</AxisY>

Now, import the modified xml, and then publish it. Your chart should now have scale breaks like our example to the right:

Change the Data Label Format in Microsoft CRM

This is handy if the data labels of your chart are in thousands or billions (J) and you don’t want to see all zeros.

• Export the chart xml and add LabelFormat under Series
• LabelFormat = “‘$’#,0,,,.00;(‘$’#,0,,,.00)”  for billions
• LabelFormat = “‘$’#,0,.00;(‘$’#,0,.00)” for thousands

Example:

————– Original Code ———————

<Series>
<Series ChartType=”Column” IsValueShownAsLabel=”True” Font=”{0}, 9.5px” LabelForeColor=”59, 59, 59″ CustomProperties=”PointWidth=0.75, MaxPixelPointWidth=40“></Series>
</Series>

–Modified Code: please note you can also change the Data Label color, font size, column width here–
<Series>
<Series ChartType=”Column” IsValueShownAsLabel=”True” Font=”{0}, 11.5px“ LabelForeColor=”0,0,128“ CustomProperties=”PointWidth=0.75, MaxPixelPointWidth=10“ LabelFormat=“‘$’#,0,.00;(‘$’#,0,.00)”></Series>
</Series>

• Import the modified xml and your chart now appears as one at the right:

Remove Data Labels from Charts in Microsoft CRM

Use this trick to remove Data Labels from your chart:

• Export chart xml  and change IsValueShownAsLabel from True to False

Example:

<Series>
<Series ChartType=”Column” IsValueShownAsLabel=”False” Font=”{0}, 9.5px” LabelForeColor=“59, 59, 59″ CustomProperties=“PointWidth=0.75, MaxPixelPointWidth=40></Series>
</Series>

Change Chart Palette Colors in Microsoft CRM

• Edit the XML (the color section)
  • For Stacked, Funnel and Pie charts: <Chart Palette=”None” PaletteCustomColors=”218,112,214; 128,0,128; 0,255,255; 218,165,32; …
  • For Line and Bar charts: <Series IsValueShownAsLabel=”False” Color=”255, 0, 0″

The colors referenced are in RGB format where an integer from 0 to 255 represents the saturation of red, green, and blue respectively. The colors are listed in order that you see them from top to bottom in the graph. Here is a great website that lists over 500 Colors with RGB and Hex values.

Turn a flat chart into 3D Chart in Microsoft CRM

• Go to the bottom of <ChartAreas> and insert the following line under </AxisX>

Example:
</AxisX>
<Area3DStyle Enable3D=“True” LightStyle=”Realistic” WallWidth=”5″ IsRightAngleAxes=”true” />
</ChartArea>
</ChartAreas>

• After IsRightAngleAxes=”true” attribute you can add more 3D attributes: Rotation=”45″ Inclination=”45″ />
  
• Another View with Inclination=“45″ />Rotation=”45″ />

The following picture shows how the properties in ChartArea.Area3DStyle correspond to the appearance of the 3D chart area.

NOTE: When a chart is set to 3D, the following chart features are not valid:

• Scale breaks
• Gradients
• Scrolling and zooming