How to create Excel contour chart in C#, VB.NET?

This article explains how to create a contour chart in Excel using XlsIO.

What is a contour chart?

Contour charts represent the 2-D top view of surface charts. The color bands represent specific range of values and the lines connect the interpolated points of equal value.

                Contour chart created using XlsIO

To create a contour chart in Excel using XlsIO, you need to do the following steps.

Steps to create contour chart

1. Initialize chart

Create a chart object by calling the worksheet.Charts.Add method.

2. Assign data and select chart type

1. To plot the series values in column and categories in row, set chart’s IsSeriesInRows property to false.
2. Set a range of data from the worksheet to chart’s DataRange property before specifying the chart type.
3. Specify the chart type to ExcelChartType.Surface_Contour enum value.

Note: For creating a contour chart, the series count must be greater than or equal to 2. The series should be set before selecting the chart type.

3. Apply basic chart elements

Add the basic elements like chart title, data labels and legend.

• ChartTitle of chart object.
• Set TRUE to chart’s HasLegend property, to show the legend.

Additional applicable properties of contour chart in Excel

To modify the depth axis of contour chart, use the PrimarySerieAxis  (Depth Axis) property.

Download Complete Sample

Download input file with data

To know more about creating charts with various settings using XlsIO, please refer the documentation.

The following C#/ VB.NET complete code snippet shows the creation of contour chart using XlsIO.

C#

VB