The User Interface
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Chapter 2. The User Interface

Main Application Interface

We will take a look at a simple example to get to know KChart. Along the way we will also discuss the user interface at length so you will learn about many details of the component.

When you start KChart as a standalone application you get the usual startup dialog where you can choose between different templates or load existing chart documents.



You can choose between various ways to startup KChart. At the top of the dialog you see three option pages. The first is for creating a new chart from various templates, the second for opening an existing chart with a file dialog and the last page lets you choose between recently opened charts.

For now we will start with the default template. Select the Create Document page, then select Charts in the left area and finally select Bar chart in the main template area. Normally this template should already be selected when you launch KChart.

If you decide to start KChart with a selected template as defult you can also select this option at the bottom of the dialog.

Now click on the OK button to start with a bar chart.



As you can see, there is already some example data present. KChart offers the default toolbar for creating a new chart, saving, loading and printing the chart. The second toolbar offers icons for editing the data, configuring the chart or using a configuration wizard. You can also switch between different chart types with the rest of the icons. Note that some of these chart types also have subtypes.

The menu offers all standard entries, including shortcut and toolbar configuration and page layout for printing.

Note that data editing is not available if you use KChart from within KSpread because all data is provided by the spreadsheet. As a standalone application the Data Editor is an important part of the application.

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