BarChart

BarChart[{y1,y2,,yn}]

makes a bar chart with bar lengths y1, y2, .

BarChart[{,wi[yi,],,wj[yj,],}]

makes a bar chart with bar features defined by the symbolic wrappers wk.

BarChart[{data1,data2,}]

makes a bar chart from multiple datasets datai.

Details and Options

  • BarChart is also known as a bar graph or column graph.
  • A bar chart shows the values in a dataset as equal-width rectangular bars with lengths corresponding to the values. By default, the bars are vertical, but horizontal bars can also be used. Bar charts are typically used when the data is relatively small.
  • Data elements for BarChart can be given in the following forms:
  • yia pure bar value
    Quantity[yi,unit]bar value with a unit
    wi[yi,]a bar with value yi and wrapper wi
    formi->mia bar form with metadata mi
    Around[xi,ei]value xi with uncertainty ei
  • Data not given in these forms is taken to be missing, and typically yields a gap in the bar chart.
  • Datasets for BarChart can be given in the following forms:
  • {e1,e2,}list of elements with or without wrappers
    <|k1e1,k2e2,|>association of keys and lengths
    TimeSeries[],EventSeries[],TemporalData[]time series, event series, and temporal data
    WeightedData[],EventData[]augmented datasets
    w[{e1,e2,},]wrapper applied to a whole dataset
    w[{data1,data2,},]wrapper applied to all datasets
  • The following wrappers can be used for chart elements:
  • Annotation[e,label]provide an annotation
    Button[e,action]define an action to execute when the element is clicked
    Callout[e,label]display the element with a callout
    EventHandler[e,]define a general event handler for the element
    Hyperlink[e,uri]make the element act as a hyperlink
    Labeled[e,]display the element with labeling
    Legended[e,]include features of the element in a chart legend
    Mouseover[e,over]make the element show a mouseover form
    PopupWindow[e,cont]attach a popup window to the element
    StatusArea[e,label]display in the status area when the element is moused over
    Style[e,opts]show the element using the specified styles
    Tooltip[e,label]attach an arbitrary tooltip to the element
  • In BarChart, Labeled, Callout and Placed allow the following positions:
  • Topinside the top edge of the bar
    Bottominside the bottom edge of the bar
    Aboveoutside the top edge of the bar
    Belowoutside the bottom edge of the bar
    Centercentered in the bar
    Leftinside the left edge of the bar
    Rightinside the right edge of the bar
    Beforeoutside the left edge of the bar
    Afteroutside the right edge of the bar
    Axison the axis
    "Outside"outside the bar
    {{bx,by},{lx,ly}}scaled position {lx,ly} in the label at scaled position {bx,by} in the bar
  • BarChart has the same options as Graphics, with the following additions and changes:
  • AspectRatio 1/GoldenRatioratio of height to width
    Axes Truewhether to draw axes
    BarOrigin Bottomorigin placement for bars
    BarSpacing Automaticfractional spacing between bars
    ChartBaseStyle Automaticoverall style for bars
    ChartElementFunction Automatichow to generate raw graphics for bars
    ChartElements Automaticgraphics to use in each of the bars
    ChartLabels Nonelabels for data elements and datasets
    ChartLayout Automaticoverall layout to use
    ChartLegends Nonelegends for data elements and datasets
    ChartStyle Automaticstyle for bars
    ColorFunction Automatichow to color bars
    ColorFunctionScaling Truewhether to normalize arguments to ColorFunction
    IntervalMarkers Automatichow to render uncertainties
    IntervalMarkersStyle Automaticstyle for uncertainty elements
    Joined Falsewhether to join bars
    LabelingFunction Automatichow to label bars
    LabelingSize Automaticmaximum size of callouts and labels
    LegendAppearanceAutomaticoverall appearance of legends
    PerformanceGoal $PerformanceGoalaspects of performance to try to optimize
    PlotTheme $PlotThemeoverall theme for the chart
    ScalingFunctions Nonehow to scale individual coordinates
    TargetUnitsAutomaticunits to display in the chart
  • Possible settings for ChartLayout that show multiple datasets in a single display panel include:
  • "Grouped"separate the data for each dataset
    "Stacked"accumulate the data for each dataset
    "Stepped"accumulate and separate the data for each dataset
    "Percentile"accumulate and normalize the data for each dataset
    "Overlapped"overlap the data for each dataset
  • Possible settings for ChartLayout that show individual datasets in different panels include:
  • "Column"use separate charts in a column of panels
    "Row"use separate charts in a row of panels
    {"Column",k},{"Row",k}use k columns or rows
    {"Column",UpTo[k]},{"Row",UpTo[k]}use at most k columns or rows
  • The arguments supplied to ChartElementFunction are the bar region {{xmin,xmax},{ymin,ymax}}, the data value yi, and metadata {m1,m2,} from each level in a nested list of datasets.
  • A list of built-in settings for ChartElementFunction can be obtained from ChartElementData["BarChart"].
  • The argument supplied to ColorFunction is yi.
  • Style and other specifications from options and other constructs in BarChart are effectively applied in the order ChartStyle, ColorFunction, Style and other wrappers, ChartElements, and ChartElementFunction, with later specifications overriding earlier ones.

Examples

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Basic Examples  (4)

Generate a bar chart for a list of heights:

Chart several datasets:

Use categorical labels:

Categorical legends:

Set the style for bars:

Pictorial bars:

Scope  (41)

Data and Layouts  (15)

Items in a dataset are grouped together:

Datasets do not need to have the same number of items:

Nonreal data is taken to be missing and typically yields a gap in the bar chart:

The data may include units:

Specify the units to use:

The time stamps in TimeSeries, EventSeries, and TemporalData are ignored:

The values in associations are taken as the heights of the bars:

Use the keys as labels:

Use the keys as callouts:

Use the keys as legends:

Associations can be nested:

The weights in WeightedData are ignored:

The censoring and truncation information in EventData is ignored:

Use different layouts to display multiple datasets:

Stacked layouts are more compact in the horizontal direction:

Use Joined to indicate connections between data points:

Use a column of charts instead:

Use multiple rows or columns:

Control the origin of bars:

Adjust the spacing between bars and groups of bars:

Plot data with uncertainty:

Wrappers  (5)

Use wrappers on individual data, datasets, or collections of datasets:

Wrappers can be nested:

Override the default tooltips:

Use any object in the tooltip:

Use PopupWindow to provide additional drilldown information:

Button can be used to trigger any action:

Styling and Appearance  (8)

Use an explicit list of styles for the bars:

Use any gradient or indexed color schemes from ColorData:

Use color schemes designed for charting:

ChartBaseStyle can be used to set an initial style for all chart elements:

Style can be used to override styles:

Use any graphic for pictorial bars:

Use built-in programmatically generated bars:

For detailed settings use Palettes ChartElementSchemes:

Use a theme with detailed frame ticks and grid lines:

Use a theme with a high-contrast color scheme and edge-fading rectangles:

Labeling and Legending  (13)

Use Labeled to add a label to a bar:

Use symbolic positions for label placement:

Provide categorical labels for the columns of data:

For rows of data:

For both:

Use Placed to control the positioning of labels, using the same positions as for Labeled:

Use Callout to add a label to a bar:

Change the appearance of the callout:

Automatically position callouts:

Use callouts with stacked bars:

Provide value labels for bars by using LabelingFunction:

Use Placed to control placement and formatting:

Use Callout to create callouts:

Add categorical legend entries for the columns of data:

For rows of data:

Use Legended to add additional legend entries:

Use Placed to affect the positioning of legends:

Options  (133)

AspectRatio  (3)

By default, BarChart uses a fixed ratio of height to width for the chart:

The ratio is not affected when the bars are horizontal:

Make the height the same as the width with AspectRatio1:

AspectRatioFull adjusts the height and width to tightly fit inside other constructs:

Axes  (3)

By default, axes are drawn:

Use AxesFalse to turn off axes:

Use AxesOrigin to specify where the axes intersect:

AxesLabel  (4)

No axes labels are drawn by default:

Place a label on the axis:

Specify axes labels:

Use units as labels:

AxesOrigin  (2)

The position of the axes is determined automatically:

Specify an explicit origin for the axes:

AxesStyle  (4)

Change the style for the axes:

Specify the style of each axis:

Use different styles for the ticks and the axes:

Use different styles for the labels and the axes:

BarOrigin  (1)

Change the bar origin:

BarSpacing  (5)

Use automatically determined spacing between bars:

Use no spacing:

Use symbolic presets:

Use explicit spacing between bars:

Use explicit spacing between bars and groups of bars:

ChartBaseStyle  (5)

Use ChartBaseStyle to style bars:

ChartBaseStyle combines with ChartStyle:

ChartStyle may override settings for ChartBaseStyle:

ChartBaseStyle combines with Style:

Style may override settings for ChartBaseStyle:

ChartBaseStyle combines with ColorFunction:

ColorFunction may override settings for ChartBaseStyle:

ChartElementFunction  (6)

Get a list of built-in settings for ChartElementFunction:

For detailed settings, use Palettes ChartElementSchemes:

This ChartElementFunction is appropriate to show the global scale:

Write a custom ChartElementFunction:

Use metadata passed on from the input, in this case charting the data:

Built-in element functions may have options; use Palettes ChartElementSchemes to set them:

ChartElements  (9)

Create a pictorial chart based on any Graphics object:

Graphics3D:

Image:

Use a stretched version of the graphic:

Use explicit sizes for width and height:

Without AspectRatio->Full, the original aspect ratio is preserved:

Using All for width or height causes that direction to stretch to the full size of the bar:

Use a different graphic for each column of data:

Use a different graphic for each row of data:

Graphics are used cyclically:

Styles are inherited from styles set through ChartStyle etc.:

Explicit styles set in the graphic will override other style settings:

The orientation of the pictorial graphic is unaffected by BarOrigin:

Create true 3D shaded bars:

ChartLabels  (10)

By default, labels are placed in the axis:

Labeled wrappers in data will place additional labels:

Use Placed to control label placement:

Symbolic positions outside the bar:

Coordinate-based placement relative to a bar:

Place all labels at the upper-right corner and vary the coordinates within the label:

Use the third argument to Placed to control formatting:

Use a hyperlink label:

Rotate the labels:

By default, labels are associated with columns of data:

Associate labels with rows or datasets:

Label both rows and columns:

Use Placed to affect placements:

Use Callout to connect the labels to the bars:

Place multiple labels:

ChartLayout  (5)

ChartLayout is grouped by default:

Use stepped bars:

Use stacked bars:

The stacked layout can effectively display many datasets:

Show changes for different categories by setting Joined->True:

Place individual charts in a column:

Use a row instead of a column:

Use multiple columns or rows:

Prefer full columns or rows:

ChartLegends  (8)

Generate a legend based on chart style:

Use Legended to add additional legend entries:

Use Legended to specify individual legend entries:

Legended adds additional legend entries:

Generate a legend for datasets:

Unused legend labels are dropped:

Legends can be applied to several dimensions:

Use Placed to control the placement of legends:

ChartStyle  (8)

Use ChartStyle to style bars:

Give a list of styles:

Use the "Gradients" color scheme from ColorData:

Use the "Indexed" color scheme from ColorData:

Use indexed colors optimized for charting:

Styles are used cyclically:

Style each column of data:

Style each row of data:

Style both rows and columns of data:

With both row and column styles, the last style may override earlier ones:

Style overrides settings for ChartStyle:

ColorFunction overrides settings for ChartStyle:

ChartElements may override settings for ChartStyle:

ColorFunction  (3)

Color by bar height:

Use ColorFunctionScaling->False to get unscaled height values:

ColorFunction overrides styles in ChartStyle:

Use ColorFunction to combine different style effects:

ColorFunctionScaling  (2)

By default, scaled height values are used:

Use ColorFunctionScaling->False to get unscaled height values:

Frame  (4)

BarChart does not use a frame by default:

Use FrameTrue to turn on the frame:

Draw a frame on the left and right edges:

Draw a frame on the left and top edges:

FrameLabel  (3)

Place a label along the bottom of a chart:

Frame labels are placed on the bottom and left frame edges by default:

Place labels on each of the edges in the frame:

FrameStyle  (2)

Specify the style of the frame:

Specify style for each frame edge:

FrameTicks  (8)

Frame ticks are placed automatically by default:

Use All to include tick labels on all edges:

Place tick marks at specified positions:

Draw frame tick marks at the specified positions with specific labels:

Specify the lengths for tick marks as a fraction of the graphics size:

Use different sizes in the positive and negative directions for each tick mark:

Specify a style for each frame tick:

Construct a function that places frame ticks at the midpoint and extremes of the frame edge:

FrameTicksStyle  (3)

By default, the frame ticks and frame tick labels use the same styles as the frame:

Specify an overall style for the ticks, including the labels:

Use different style for each frame edge:

ImageSize  (7)

Use named sizes such as Tiny, Small, Medium and Large:

Specify the width of the plot:

Specify the height of the plot:

Allow the width and height to be up to a certain size:

Specify the width and height for a graphic, padding with space if necessary:

Setting AspectRatioFull will fill the available space:

Use maximum sizes for the width and height:

Use ImageSizeFull to fill the available space in an object:

Specify the image size as a fraction of the available space:

IntervalMarkers  (2)

By default, uncertainties are capped:

Use "Bars" to denote uncertainties without caps:

IntervalMarkersStyle  (2)

Interval markers contrast with the bars by default:

Use multiple datasets:

Specify the style for uncertainties:

Joined  (3)

By default, bars are not joined:

Join the centers of the tops of the bars:

Join the corners of the bars:

Join stacked bars:

LabelingFunction  (8)

Use automatic labeling by values through Tooltip and StatusArea:

Do no labeling:

Use symbolic positions to control label placement:

Symbolic positions outside the bar:

Coordinate-based placement relative to a bar:

Use Callout to place labels automatically:

Use symbolic positions to place Callout labels:

Control the formatting of labels:

Use the given chart labels as arguments to the labeling function:

Place complete labels as tooltips:

LabelingSize  (4)

Textual labels are shown at their actual sizes:

Image labels are automatically resized:

Specify a maximum size for textual labels:

Specify a maximum size for image labels:

Show image labels at their natural sizes:

PerformanceGoal  (3)

Generate a bar chart with interactive highlighting:

Emphasize performance by disabling interactive behaviors:

Typically, less memory is required for non-interactive charts:

PlotTheme  (2)

Use a theme with simple ticks and grid lines in a high-contrast color scheme:

Change the color scheme:

ScalingFunctions  (4)

By default, plots have linear scales in each direction:

Use a log scale in the direction:

Use a scale defined by a function and its inverse:

Positions in Ticks and GridLines are automatically scaled:

Applications  (11)

Create a bar chart of the frequency of characters in the Declaration of Independence:

Apply labels at multiple levels:

Click the color selector and see the bar chart of updated color components:

Click the bars to hear the name of the country and its GDP per capita:

Create a progressive bar chart:

Create a progressive column graph:

Create a Gantt chart of employees' holidays in January:

Mouse over the bars and grid lines for the number of days:

Use images of textures from ExampleData as pictorial bars:

Color the textures:

Create a bar chart with textured bars:

Acoustically compare the percentage price change of a list of companies:

Click a dataset in the bar chart to hear an acoustic representation of the values:

Compare price trends for a portfolio of companies:

Create a labeling function:

Mouse over the bars to get price information:

Compare common length measures in centimeters:

Properties & Relations  (6)

Use BarChart3D to get a 3D rendering of bar charts:

BarChart is a special case of RectangleChart:

Use PieChart and PieChart3D to visualize a list of data as sectors:

Use ListPlot and ListLinePlot to produce line graphs:

Use Histogram to automatically compute binning and draw histograms:

Use PairedBarChart to create bilateral bar charts:

Neat Examples  (3)

Chartwork with stacked bars:

Chartwork with stacked bars:

Chartwork with percentile bars:

Wolfram Research (2008), BarChart, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/BarChart.html (updated 2021).

Text

Wolfram Research (2008), BarChart, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/BarChart.html (updated 2021).

CMS

Wolfram Language. 2008. "BarChart." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2021. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/BarChart.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (2008). BarChart. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/BarChart.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2022_barchart, author="Wolfram Research", title="{BarChart}", year="2021", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/BarChart.html}", note=[Accessed: 31-May-2023 ]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2022_barchart, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={BarChart}, year={2021}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/BarChart.html}, note=[Accessed: 31-May-2023 ]}