How to create Excel high low close chart in C#, VB.NET?

3 mins read

This article explains how to create a high-low-close chart in Excel using Syncfusion Excel (XlsIO) library.

What is a high-low-close chart?

A high-low-close chart is a type of chart typically used to illustrate movements in the price of a financial instrument over time. Each vertical line on the chart shows the price range over one unit of time.

Create high low close chart in Excel

High-Low-Close Chart

To create a high-low-close chart in Excel using XlsIO, you need to do the following steps.

Steps to create high-low-close chart:

Step 1: Initialize chart

Create a chart object by calling the worksheet.Charts.Add method.

            //Create the chart
            IChartShape chart = worksheet.Charts.Add();

Step 2: Assign data and specify the chart type

Set a range of data from the worksheet to chart’s DataRange property and specify the chart type to ExcelChartType.Stock_HighLowClose enum value.

            //Set region of Chart data
            chart.DataRange = worksheet["A1:F4"];
            //Set chart type to Stock_HighLowClose
            chart.ChartType = ExcelChartType.Stock_HighLowClose;

Note:

For creating a stock high-low-close chart, the series count must be 3. The data range should be set before selecting the chart type.

Step 3: Apply basic chart elements

Add the basic elements like chart title, data labels and legend.

ChartTitle of chart object.
Set DataLabels via DefaultDataPoint.
Set TRUE to chart’s HasLegend property, to show the legend.

              //Apply chart elements
              //Set Chart Title
              chart.ChartTitle = "High-Low-Close Chart";
 
              //Set Legend
              chart.HasLegend = true;
              chart.Legend.Position = ExcelLegendPosition.Bottom;
              
              //Set Datalabels
              IChartSerie serie1 = chart.Series[0];
              serie1.DataPoints.DefaultDataPoint.DataLabels.IsValue = true;
              serie1.DataPoints.DefaultDataPoint.DataLabels.IsSeriesName = true;
              serie1.SerieFormat.MarkerStyle = ExcelChartMarkerType.Circle;
              serie1.SerieFormat.MarkerBackgroundColorIndex = ExcelKnownColors.LightGreen;

Properties used to modify the markers in the high-low-close chart

Below is the list of properties that are used to change the markers in high-low-close chart.

MarkerBackgroundColor (or) MarkerBackgroundColorIndex
MarkerForegroundColor (or) MarkerForegroungColorIndex
MarkerSize
MarkerStyle
IsAutoMarker
Note:
Marker properties are applicable for all high (chart.Series[0]), low (chart.Series[1]) and close (chart.Series[2]) series.

Download Complete Sample

Download input file with data

To know more about creating charts with various settings using Syncfusion Excel (XlsIO) library, please refer the documentation.

The following C#/ VB.NET complete code snippet shows the creation of high-low-close chart using XlsIO.

using Syncfusion.XlsIO;
using System.Reflection;
using System.IO;
 
namespace ChartSample
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            using (ExcelEngine excelEngine = new ExcelEngine())
            {
                IApplication application = excelEngine.Excel;
                application.DefaultVersion = ExcelVersion.Excel2016;
 
                //Open existing workbook with data entered
                Assembly assembly = typeof(Program).GetTypeInfo().Assembly;
                Stream fileStream = assembly.GetManifestResourceStream("ChartSample.InputTemplate.xlsx");
                IWorkbook workbook = application.Workbooks.Open(fileStream);
                IWorksheet worksheet = workbook.Worksheets[0];
 
                //Initialize chart and assign data
                IChartShape chart = worksheet.Charts.Add();
                chart.DataRange = worksheet["A1:F4"];
                chart.ChartType = ExcelChartType.Stock_HighLowClose;
 
                //Apply chart elements
                //Set Chart Title
                chart.ChartTitle = "High-Low-Close Chart";
 
                //Set Legend
                chart.HasLegend = true;
                chart.Legend.Position = ExcelLegendPosition.Bottom;
 
                //Set Datalabels
                IChartSerie serie1 = chart.Series[0];
                IChartSerie serie2 = chart.Series[1];
                IChartSerie serie3 = chart.Series[2];
 
                serie1.DataPoints.DefaultDataPoint.DataLabels.IsValue = true;
                serie1.DataPoints.DefaultDataPoint.DataLabels.IsSeriesName = true;
                serie1.SerieFormat.MarkerStyle = ExcelChartMarkerType.Circle;
                serie1.SerieFormat.MarkerBackgroundColorIndex = ExcelKnownColors.LightGreen;
 
                serie2.DataPoints.DefaultDataPoint.DataLabels.IsValue = true;
                serie2.DataPoints.DefaultDataPoint.DataLabels.IsSeriesName = true;
                serie2.SerieFormat.MarkerStyle = ExcelChartMarkerType.Circle;
                serie2.SerieFormat.MarkerBackgroundColorIndex = ExcelKnownColors.Red;
 
                serie3.DataPoints.DefaultDataPoint.DataLabels.IsValue = true;
                serie3.DataPoints.DefaultDataPoint.DataLabels.IsSeriesName = true;
                serie3.SerieFormat.MarkerStyle = ExcelChartMarkerType.Circle;
                serie3.SerieFormat.MarkerBackgroundColorIndex = ExcelKnownColors.Light_yellow;
 
                //Positioning the chart in the worksheet
                chart.TopRow = 8;
                chart.LeftColumn = 1;
                chart.BottomRow = 23;
                chart.RightColumn = 8;
 
                //Saving the workbook
                Stream stream = File.Create("Output.xlsx");
                workbook.SaveAs(stream);
            }
        }
    }
}

VB.NET

Imports Syncfusion.XlsIO
Imports System.Reflection
Imports System.IO
 
Namespace ChartSample
 
    Class Program
 
        Public Shared Sub Main(ByVal args As String())
            Using excelEngine As ExcelEngine = New ExcelEngine()
                Dim application As IApplication = excelEngine.Excel
                application.DefaultVersion = ExcelVersion.Excel2016
 
                'Open existing workbook with data entered
                Dim assembly As Assembly = GetType(Program).GetTypeInfo().Assembly
                Dim fileStream As Stream = assembly.GetManifestResourceStream("ChartSample.InputTemplate.xlsx")
                Dim workbook As IWorkbook = application.Workbooks.Open(fileStream)
                Dim worksheet As IWorksheet = workbook.Worksheets(0)
 
                'Initialize chart and assign data
                Dim chart As IChartShape = worksheet.Charts.Add
                chart.DataRange = worksheet("A1:F4")
                chart.ChartType = ExcelChartType.Stock_HighLowClose
                
                'Apply chart elements
                'Set Chart Title
                chart.ChartTitle = "High-Low-Close Chart"
                'Set Legend
                chart.HasLegend = True
                chart.Legend.Position = ExcelLegendPosition.Bottom
 
                'Set data labels
                Dim serie1 As IChartSerie = chart.Series(0)
                Dim serie2 As IChartSerie = chart.Series(1)
                Dim serie3 As IChartSerie = chart.Series(2)
 
                serie1.DataPoints.DefaultDataPoint.DataLabels.IsValue = True
                serie1.DataPoints.DefaultDataPoint.DataLabels.IsSeriesName = True
                serie1.SerieFormat.MarkerStyle = ExcelChartMarkerType.Circle
                serie1.SerieFormat.MarkerBackgroundColorIndex = ExcelKnownColors.LightGreen
 
                serie2.DataPoints.DefaultDataPoint.DataLabels.IsValue = True
                serie2.DataPoints.DefaultDataPoint.DataLabels.IsSeriesName = True
                serie2.SerieFormat.MarkerStyle = ExcelChartMarkerType.Circle
                serie2.SerieFormat.MarkerBackgroundColorIndex = ExcelKnownColors.Red
 
                serie3.DataPoints.DefaultDataPoint.DataLabels.IsValue = True
                serie3.DataPoints.DefaultDataPoint.DataLabels.IsSeriesName = True
                serie3.SerieFormat.MarkerStyle = ExcelChartMarkerType.Circle
                serie3.SerieFormat.MarkerBackgroundColorIndex = ExcelKnownColors.Light_yellow
 
                'Positioning chart in the worksheet
                chart.TopRow = 8
                chart.LeftColumn = 1
                chart.BottomRow = 23
                chart.RightColumn = 8
 
                'Saving the workbook
                Dim stream As Stream = File.Create("Output.xlsx")
                workbook.SaveAs(stream)
            End Using
        End Sub
    End Class
End Namespace

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