How do I achieve a multi-series line chart in Crystal Reports? - charts

Question

This relates to my How do I achieve a pivot report in Crystal Reports for Visual Studio? The data is the same, but they want a line chart as well.
So, my data is {datetime}, {car-id}. The X -axis of the chart must show the hour of {datetime}, the Y axis the number of cars that entered the park at that hour, and I must have seven data series, lines, one for each day of the week. So, e.g. the x/y point on the green line shows that on Wednesday, at hour x, y cars entered the car park.
Common sense tells me that I can kludge this by transforming the data source so that each day has its own column in a table, a table like this:
DateTime
WeekDay
CarCount
Yet the Crystal line chart doesn't seem to support more than one column, so there must be a different and better way of doing this. The weekday is part of {datetime} after all.
How can I achieve this chart? I am a rank amateur at charting, and Crystal's idiosyncrasies really aggravate my lack of skills and experience in this area.

Answer 1

It's not obvious how to get multiple series to show up properly.
First, create a formula that will extract the day of week from the datetime: dayofweek({datetime}) and then create another that will extract just the hour: hour({datetime}).
From there, insert a chart from scratch and make the following settings in the Chart Expert
Select "Line" under the Type tab
Under the Data tab, select "On change of" and select your {#HourOfDay} formula first. This will create each hour as a point on the X-axis.
In that same spot, also insert the {#DayofWeek} formula. This will create a new line
for each day of the week. This is, in my opinion, the non-obvious part.
Finally, to pick your Y-axis values,
select {car-id} where it says "Show value(s)". It should default to
the count summary of that field.
(Note: in the screenshot below, you would just replace {Customer.Customer_Name} with {car-id}

Answer 2

I had this issue for 5 years and finally solved it. I have a XY chart with multiple series.
Everything needs to be in a formula.
The graph should be in the report header section of a subreport. The sub report generates the X Y data like this:
Series X Y
Ser1 2020 1
Ser1 2021 2
Ser2 2020 0
Ser2 2021 1
For me I have as series "Energy" ie 6, 9, 12 etc.
Then I have a date/time and a measurement.
On change of (Energy formula)
Show Values
#1 DateTime (convert this to int ie 2000.9 for 9/2000) - dont summerize
#2 Measurement (number) - dont' summerize
Then you can do the color highlighter to capture your series (6 is red etc).
The legend won't work - can't figure out that yet.