Gnumeric can create graphs with data in a worksheet. To do this, you need a modern version of Guppi (>= 0.40.0 ) installed that has Gnumeric support built in.
With Guppi support, you should see a new icon that looks like a graph, next to the Sort Down button in the toolbar. That is the Graph button.
Gnumeric can make the following graph types:
Bar
Column
Line
Pie
Scatter
Bubble
Creating a basic graph is a relativly straight forward process.
Enter data into your spreadsheet.
Select the data you wish to include in the graph. This includes labels for rows and columns.
Click the Graph button.
Select the type of graph you wish to use.
Click Finish to use the default settings.
Press and hold on the spreadsheet to start to draw your graph. A box will form. Drag the box to the size you wish the graph to be and let go. The graph will be drawn.
In no way does graphing in Gnumeric stop with a simple graph. In the graphs you make, you can customize it. For example, you can say which cells define the ranges or labels. If a label for a field is in paraenthesis, it means that field is optional.
In the second step of the graphing assistant, you'll find you can customize the ranges which are taken into account for drawing the graph.
At the top of the window is a preview of the graph. Below that are your settings. When you change a setting, the sample graph will change automatically to reflect your customizations.
A graph is made up of plots. Currently, Gnumeric can only generate one graph from a spreadsheet. However, you can import an Excel spreadsheet to use multiple plots. You can customize the data ranges of each plot.
A Section 17.1.2.1.1 is made up of a group of series. A series is each item that is to be graphed.
You can customize the ranges for every series included in your graph.The Name field defines what the name of each series is. This is reflected in the legend. Per the Example 17-1, the name for the first series would be in.
The Name field takes a simple reference. The reference field needs what sheet and cell the information is stored on. For more information on references, please consult Section 6.3.
The Values field defines which data should be included in the graph. The Values field takes two arguements. The reference requires the sheet name and cell range the information is located on. For more information on references, please consult Section 6.3.
The Category Labels field sets what cells are used to derive the labels on the x-axis. The Category Labels takes a simple reference. The reference needs the sheet name and cell ranges that the information is on. For more information on references, please consult Section 6.3.
The graph layout can be customized using the third step of the graphing assistant.
At this time, only the legend position can be edited. This is done by selecting the Position radio buttons at the bottom of the window. The demo graph will be updated accordingly.