Setting Data

This chapter covers the topic of setting data to various kinds of Charts.

Video Tutorials

If you are interested in detailed video tutorials (📹 | 🖥️), have a look at the downloads. These videos are made by the developer of the library and explain setting data e.g. for the LineChart in detail. Source code is also provided.

LineChart

If you want to add values (data) to the chart, it has to be done via the

    public void setData(ChartData data) { ... }

method. The baseclass ChartData (ChartData) class encapsulates all data and information that is needed for the chart during rendering. For each type of chart, a different subclass of ChartData (e.g. LineData) exists that should be used for setting data for the chart. In the constructor, you can hand over an List<? extends IDataSet> as the values to display. Below is an example with the class LineData (extends ChartData), which is used for adding data to a LineChart:

    /** List constructor */
    public LineData(List<ILineDataSet> sets) { ... }

    /** Constructor with one or multiple ILineDataSet objects */
    public LineData(ILineDataSet...) { ... }

So, what is a DataSet and why do you need it? That is actually pretty simple. One DataSet object represents a group of entries (e.g. class Entry) inside the chart that belong together. It is designed to logically separate different groups of values in the chart. For each type of chart, a differnt object that extends DataSet (e.g. LineDataSet) exists that allows specific styling.

As an example, you might want to display the quarterly revenue of two different companies over one year in a LineChart. In that case, it would be recommended to create two different LineDataSet objects, each containing four values (one for each quarter).

Of course, it is also possible to provide just one LineDataSet object containing all 8 values for the two companys.

So how to setup a LineDataSet object?

    public LineDataSet(List<Entry> entries, String label) { ... }

When looking at the constructor (different constructors are available), it is visible that the LineDataSet needs an List of type Entry and a String used to describe the LineDataSet and as a label used for the Legend. Furthermore this label can be used to find the LineDataSet amongst other LineDataSet objects in the LineData object.

The List of type Entry encapsulates all values of the chart. A Entry object is an additional wrapper around an entry in the chart with a x- and y-value:

    public Entry(float x, float y) { ... }

Putting it all together (example of two companies with quarterly revenue over one year):

At first, create the lists of type Entry that will hold your values:

    List<Entry> valsComp1 = new ArrayList<Entry>();
    List<Entry> valsComp2 = new ArrayList<Entry>();

Then, fill the lists with Entry objects. Make sure the entry objects contain the correct indices to the x-axis. (of course, a loop can be used here, in that case, the counter variable of the loop could be the index on the x-axis).

    Entry c1e1 = new Entry(0f, 100000f); // 0 == quarter 1
    valsComp1.add(c1e1);
    Entry c1e2 = new Entry(1f, 140000f); // 1 == quarter 2 ...
    valsComp1.add(c1e2);
    // and so on ...

    Entry c2e1 = new Entry(0f, 130000f); // 0 == quarter 1
    valsComp2.add(c2e1);
    Entry c2e2 = new Entry(1f, 115000f); // 1 == quarter 2 ...
    valsComp2.add(c2e2);
    //...

Now that we have our lists of Entry objects, the LineDataSet objects can be created:

    LineDataSet setComp1 = new LineDataSet(valsComp1, "Company 1");
    setComp1.setAxisDependency(AxisDependency.LEFT);
    LineDataSet setComp2 = new LineDataSet(valsComp2, "Company 2");
    setComp2.setAxisDependency(AxisDependency.LEFT);

By calling setAxisDependency(...), the axis the DataSet should be plotted against is specified.
Last but not least, we create a list of IDataSets and build our ChartData object:

    // use the interface ILineDataSet
    List<ILineDataSet> dataSets = new ArrayList<ILineDataSet>();
    dataSets.add(setComp1);
    dataSets.add(setComp2);

    LineData data = new LineData(dataSets);
    mLineChart.setData(data);
    mLineChart.invalidate(); // refresh

After calling invalidate() the chart is refreshed and the provided data is drawn.

If we want to add more descriptive values to the XAxis (instead of numbers ranging from 0 to 3 for the different quarters), we can do so by using the ValueFormatter class. This class allows custom styling of values drawn on the XAxis (and more). In this example, the formatter could look like this:

// the labels that should be drawn on the XAxis
final String[] quarters = new String[] { "Q1", "Q2", "Q3", "Q4" };

ValueFormatter formatter = new ValueFormatter() {

    @Override
    public String getAxisLabel(float value, AxisBase axis) {
        return quarters[(int) value];
    }
};

XAxis xAxis = mLineChart.getXAxis();
xAxis.setGranularity(1f); // minimum axis-step (interval) is 1
xAxis.setValueFormatter(formatter);

Detailed information concerning formatting values can be found here.

If additional styling is applied, the LineChart resulting from this example should look similar to the one below:

Setting data for normal BarChart, ScatterChart, BubbleChart and CandleStickChart works similar to the LineChart. A special case is the BarChart with multiple (grouped) bars, which will be explained below.

The order of entries

Please be aware that this library does not officially support drawing LineChart data from an Entry list not sorted by the x-position of the entries in ascending manner. Adding entries in an unsorted way may result in correct drawing, but may also lead to unexpected behaviour. A List of Entry objects can be sorted manually or using the EntryXComparator:

List<Entry> entries = ...;
Collections.sort(entries, new EntryXComparator());

The reason why this is required is because the library uses binary search algorithms for better performance only working on sorted lists.

BarChart

The way data can be set for a BarChart is very similar to the LineChart. The major difference are the data objects that need to be used for setting the data (e.g. BarEntry instead of Entry). In addition to that, the BarChart has different styling options.

Consider the following example of filling a BarChart with data:

List<BarEntry> entries = new ArrayList<>();
entries.add(new BarEntry(0f, 30f));
entries.add(new BarEntry(1f, 80f));
entries.add(new BarEntry(2f, 60f));
entries.add(new BarEntry(3f, 50f)); 
                                    // gap of 2f
entries.add(new BarEntry(5f, 70f));
entries.add(new BarEntry(6f, 60f));

BarDataSet set = new BarDataSet(entries, "BarDataSet");

In the above example, five BarEntry objects were created and added to a BarDataSet. Notice that there is a gap of “2” on the x-position between the fourth and fifth entry. In this example, this gap is used to explain how the positioning of bars in the BarChart works. The screenshot in the end of this tutorial will show the resulting BarChart for the given data. As a next step, a BarData object needs to be created:

BarData data = new BarData(set);
data.setBarWidth(0.9f); // set custom bar width
chart.setData(data);
chart.setFitBars(true); // make the x-axis fit exactly all bars
chart.invalidate(); // refresh

In the above snippet, a BarData object was created. When the BarEntry objects for the chart were created, we left a space of “1f” on the x-axis between (the centres) of each bar. By setting the bar-width to 0.9f, we effectively create a space of 0.1f between each bar. The setFitBars(true) call will tell the chart to adjust it’s range of x-axis values to exactly fit all bars, and no bars are cut off on the sides.

After creating the BarData object, we set it to the chart and refresh. The result should look close to the one shown below:

Grouped BarChart

Since release v3.0.0, MPAndroidChart supports drawing bars explicitly grouped (in this case the library will handle the x-position), or user defined, which means that the user can place the bars anywhere he wants by altering the x-position of the bar.

This section will focus on explicit grouped BarChart, which means that the library will handle the x-positions of the bars. Consider the following example setup:

YourData[] group1 = ...;
YourData[] group2 = ...;

List<BarEntry> entriesGroup1 = new ArrayList<>();
List<BarEntry> entriesGroup2 = new ArrayList<>();

// fill the lists
for(int i = 0; i < group1.length; i++) {
    entriesGroup1.add(new BarEntry(i, group1.getValue()));
    entriesGroup2.add(new BarEntry(i, group2.getValue()));
}

BarDataSet set1 = new BarDataSet(entriesGroup1, "Group 1");
BarDataSet set2 = new BarDataSet(entriesGroup2, "Group 2");

In this example case, we will have two groups of bars, each represented by an individual BarDataSet. In case of explicit (library handled) groups, the actual x-position of the entries does not matter. Grouping is performed based on the position of the BarEntry in the entries List.

float groupSpace = 0.06f;
float barSpace = 0.02f; // x2 dataset
float barWidth = 0.45f; // x2 dataset
// (0.02 + 0.45) * 2 + 0.06 = 1.00 -> interval per "group"

BarData data = new BarData(set1, set2);
data.setBarWidth(barWidth); // set the width of each bar
barChart.setData(data);
barChart.groupBars(1980f, groupSpace, barSpace); // perform the "explicit" grouping
barChart.invalidate(); // refresh

In the code snippet above, the BarDataSet objects are added to a BarChart. The groupBars(...) method performs the grouping of the two BarDataSet objects. The method takes the following parameters:

public void groupBars(float fromX, float groupSpace, float barSpace) { ... }

The fromX parameter determines where on the XAxis the grouped bars should start (in this case “1980”), the groupSpace determines the space left in between each group of bars, and the barSpace determines the space between individual bars of a group. Based on these parameters, the groupBars(...) method alters the position of each bar on the XAxis towards a grouped appearance, preserving the order of the individual BarEntry objects.

The “interval” (occupied space) each group has on the XAxis is also defined by the groupSpace and barSpace parameters, and the barWidth.

The result should look somewhat like this:

Of course a grouped BarChart can also be achieved without the use of the groupBars(...) method, by simply positioning the individual bars correctly on the XAxis manually.

In order to make sure the labels of the XAxis are centered above the groups like in the screenshot above, you can use the setCenterAxisLabels(...) method:

XAxis xAxis = chart.getXAxis();
xAxis.setCenterAxisLabels(true);

Stacked BarChart

The stacked BarChart setup is very similar to the normal BarChart, with the exception being the way the individual BarEntry objects are created. In case of stacked bars, a different constructor for the BarEntry has to be used:

public BarEntry(float x, float [] values) { ... }

This constructor allows to provide multiple values (array) for the y-axis, which represent the values of the “stack” of each bar, one value in the array being one part of the stack. Consider the following example:

BarEntry stackedEntry = new BarEntry(0f, new float[] { 10, 20, 30 });

This BarEntry has a x-axis position of 0f and consists of a stack of three values, having a “height” of “10”, “20” and “30” on the y-axis, the accumulated bar value / height is 60 (10+20+30).

PieChart

Unlike other chart types, the PieChart takes data in form of PieEntry objects. The constructor for these objects looks as follows:

public PieEntry(float value, String label) { ... }

The first parameter of the constructor is used for the actual “value” that should be drawn as a pie-slice in the PieChart. The second String parameter called “label” is used to provide additional description of the slice. Consider the following example PieChart setup:

List<PieEntry> entries = new ArrayList<>();

entries.add(new PieEntry(18.5f, "Green"));
entries.add(new PieEntry(26.7f, "Yellow"));
entries.add(new PieEntry(24.0f, "Red"));
entries.add(new PieEntry(30.8f, "Blue"));

PieDataSet set = new PieDataSet(entries, "Election Results");
PieData data = new PieData(set);
pieChart.setData(data);
pieChart.invalidate(); // refresh

The PieEntry objects to not hold a value for the x-position because the order of the PieEntry objects displayed in the chart is determined by their order in the entries list.

When adding some additional styling, the resulting PieChart with the data used above could look similar to this: