A bar chart in Excel is a data visualization tool that presents data using horizontal bars. The length of each bar in the chart is proportional to the value it represents. Using a bar chart, you can easily compare values across two or more categories. In this article, you will learn how to create bar chart in Excel in C# and VB.NET using Spire.XLS for .NET.
Install Spire.XLS for .NET
To begin with, you need to add the DLL files included in the Spire.XLS for .NET package as references in your .NET project. The DLL files can be either downloaded from this link or installed via NuGet.
PM> Install-Package Spire.XLS
Create Bar Chart in Excel in C# and VB.NET
The following are the main steps to create a bar chart:
- Create an instance of Workbook class.
- Get the first worksheet by its index (zero-based) though Workbook.Worksheets[sheetIndex] property.
- Add some data to the worksheet.
- Add a clustered bar chart to the worksheet using Worksheet.Charts.Add(ExcelChartType.BarClustered) method.
- Set data range for the chart through Chart.DataRange property.
- Set position, title, category axis title and value axis title for the chart.
- Loop through the data series of the chart, show data labels for the data points of each data series by setting the ChartSerie.DataPoints.DefaultDataPoint.DataLabels.HasValue property as true.
- Set the position of chart legend through Chart.Legend.Position property.
- Save the result file using Workbook.SaveToFile() method.
- C#
- VB.NET
using Spire.Xls;
using Spire.Xls.Charts;
using System.Drawing;
namespace CreateBarChart
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
//Create a Workbook instance
Workbook workbook = new Workbook();
//Get the first worksheet
Worksheet sheet = workbook.Worksheets[0];
//Set sheet name
sheet.Name = "Bar Chart";
//Hide gridlines
sheet.GridLinesVisible = false;
//Add data to the the worksheet
sheet.Range["A1"].Value = "Country";
sheet.Range["A2"].Value = "Cuba";
sheet.Range["A3"].Value = "Mexico";
sheet.Range["A4"].Value = "France";
sheet.Range["A5"].Value = "German";
sheet.Range["B1"].Value = "Jun";
sheet.Range["B2"].NumberValue = 6000;
sheet.Range["B3"].NumberValue = 8000;
sheet.Range["B4"].NumberValue = 9000;
sheet.Range["B5"].NumberValue = 8500;
sheet.Range["C1"].Value = "Aug";
sheet.Range["C2"].NumberValue = 3000;
sheet.Range["C3"].NumberValue = 2000;
sheet.Range["C4"].NumberValue = 2300;
sheet.Range["C5"].NumberValue = 4200;
//Set cell styles
sheet.Range["A1:C1"].Style.Font.IsBold = true;
sheet.Range["A2:C2"].Style.KnownColor = ExcelColors.LightYellow;
sheet.Range["A3:C3"].Style.KnownColor = ExcelColors.LightGreen1;
sheet.Range["A4:C4"].Style.KnownColor = ExcelColors.LightOrange;
sheet.Range["A5:C5"].Style.KnownColor = ExcelColors.LightTurquoise;
//Set cell borders
sheet.Range["A1:C5"].Style.Borders[BordersLineType.EdgeTop].Color = Color.FromArgb(0, 0, 128);
sheet.Range["A1:C5"].Style.Borders[BordersLineType.EdgeTop].LineStyle = LineStyleType.Thin;
sheet.Range["A1:C5"].Style.Borders[BordersLineType.EdgeBottom].Color = Color.FromArgb(0, 0, 128);
sheet.Range["A1:C5"].Style.Borders[BordersLineType.EdgeBottom].LineStyle = LineStyleType.Thin;
sheet.Range["A1:C5"].Style.Borders[BordersLineType.EdgeLeft].Color = Color.FromArgb(0, 0, 128);
sheet.Range["A1:C5"].Style.Borders[BordersLineType.EdgeLeft].LineStyle = LineStyleType.Thin;
sheet.Range["A1:C5"].Style.Borders[BordersLineType.EdgeRight].Color = Color.FromArgb(0, 0, 128);
sheet.Range["A1:C5"].Style.Borders[BordersLineType.EdgeRight].LineStyle = LineStyleType.Thin;
//Set number format
sheet.Range["B2:C5"].Style.NumberFormat = "\"$\"#,##0";
//Add a clustered bar chart to the worksheet
Chart chart = sheet.Charts.Add(ExcelChartType.BarClustered);
//Set data range for the chart
chart.DataRange = sheet.Range["A1:C5"];
chart.SeriesDataFromRange = false;
//Set position of the chart
chart.LeftColumn = 1;
chart.TopRow = 6;
chart.RightColumn = 11;
chart.BottomRow = 29;
//Set and format chart title
chart.ChartTitle = "Sales Report";
chart.ChartTitleArea.IsBold = true;
chart.ChartTitleArea.Size = 12;
//Set and format category axis title
chart.PrimaryCategoryAxis.Title = "Country";
chart.PrimaryCategoryAxis.Font.IsBold = true;
chart.PrimaryCategoryAxis.TitleArea.IsBold = true;
chart.PrimaryCategoryAxis.TitleArea.TextRotationAngle = 90;
//Set and format value axis title
chart.PrimaryValueAxis.Title = "Sales(in USD)";
chart.PrimaryValueAxis.HasMajorGridLines = false;
chart.PrimaryValueAxis.MinValue = 1000;
chart.PrimaryValueAxis.TitleArea.IsBold = true;
//Show data labels for data points
foreach (ChartSerie cs in chart.Series)
{
cs.Format.Options.IsVaryColor = true;
cs.DataPoints.DefaultDataPoint.DataLabels.HasValue = true;
}
//Set position of chart legend
chart.Legend.Position = LegendPositionType.Top;
//Save the result file
workbook.SaveToFile("CreateBarChart.xlsx", ExcelVersion.Version2016);
}
}
}
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