How to create Excel 3D surface chart in C#, VB.NET?
This article explains how to create a 3D surface chart in Excel using .NET XIsIO.
What is a 3D surface chart?
3-D Surface chart shows a 3-D view of the data, which can be imagined as a rubber sheet stretched over a 3-D Column chart. It is typically used to show relationship between large amount of data that may otherwise be difficult to see. Color bands in a surface chart indicate the difference between values.
3D surface chart created using XlsIO
To create a 3D surface chart in Excel using XlsIO, you need to do the following steps.
Steps to create 3D surface chart
- Initialize chart
Create a chart object by calling the worksheet.Charts.Add method.
//Create the chart
IChartShape chart = worksheet.Charts.Add();
- Assign data and select chart type
- To plot the series values in column and categories in row, set chart’s IsSeriesInRows property to false.
- Set a range of data from the worksheet to chart’s DataRange property before specifying the chart type.
- Specify the chart type to ExcelChartType.Surface_3D enum value.
//Set chart series in column for assigned data region
chart.IsSeriesInRows = false;
//Set region of Chart data
chart.DataRange = worksheet["A1:D7"];
//Set chart type to Surface_3D
chart.ChartType = ExcelChartType.Surface_3D;
For creating a 3D surface chart, the series count must be greater than or equal to 2. The series should be set before selecting the chart type.
- Apply basic chart elements
Add the basic elements like chart title, data labels and legend.
- ChartTitle of chart object.
- Set TRUE to chart’s HasLegend property, to show the legend.
//Apply chart elements
//Set Chart Title
chart.ChartTitle = "3D Surface Chart";
//Set Legend
chart.HasLegend = true;
chart.Legend.Position = ExcelLegendPosition.Bottom;
- Apply 3D chart elements
Add the 3D chart elements like Rotation, Elevation and Perspective.
- Rotation, Elevation and Perspective of chart object.
//Set Rotation and Elevation
chart.Rotation = 20;
chart.Elevation = 15;
chart.Perspective = 15;
Additional applicable properties of 3D surface chart in Excel
To modify the depth axis of 3D surface chart, use the PrimarySerieAxis (Depth Axis) property.
To know more about creating charts with various settings using XlsIO, please refer the documentation.
The following C#/ VB.NET complete code snippet shows the creation of 3D surface chart using XlsIO.
C#
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:D7"];
chart.ChartType = ExcelChartType.Surface_3D;
chart.IsSeriesInRows = false;
//Apply chart elements
//Set Chart Title
chart.ChartTitle = "3D Surface Chart";
//Set Legend
chart.HasLegend = true;
chart.Legend.Position = ExcelLegendPosition.Bottom;
//Set Rotation and Elevation
chart.Rotation = 20;
chart.Elevation = 15;
chart.Perspective = 15;
//Positioning the chart in the worksheet
chart.TopRow = 8;
chart.LeftColumn = 1;
chart.BottomRow = 23;
chart.RightColumn = 8;
//Saving and closing the workbook
Stream stream = File.Create("Output.xlsx");
workbook.SaveAs(stream);
}
}
}
}
VB
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:D7")
chart.ChartType = ExcelChartType.Surface_3D
chart.IsSeriesInRows = False
'Apply chart elements
'Set Chart Title
chart.ChartTitle = "3D Surface Chart"
'Set Legend
chart.HasLegend = True
chart.Legend.Position = ExcelLegendPosition.Bottom
'Set Rotation and Elevation
chart.Rotation = 20;
chart.Elevation = 15;
chart.Perspective = 15;
'Positioning chart in the worksheet
chart.TopRow = 8
chart.LeftColumn = 1
chart.BottomRow = 23
chart.RightColumn = 8
'Saving and closing the workbook
Dim stream As Stream = File.Create("Output.xlsx")
workbook.SaveAs(stream)
End Using
End Sub
End Class
End Namespace
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed learning about how to create Excel 3D surface chart in C#, VB.NET.
You can refer to our WinForms Excel feature tour page to know about its other groundbreaking feature representations and documentation, and how to quickly get started for configuration specifications.
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