Hi all,can anyone help me with the steps to allow labels outside ofa linechart. I tried using SmartLabels - properties: AllowOutsideOfPLotArea = true but it does not help. I also tried setting the chart series Label property Position = Outside but then I get error: Invalid value Outside for the custom attribute Oitside.Also any information on how SmartLabels work will be very much appreciated.Thanks,Maria

The Custom Attribute for Label Position does not allow an enumeration for Outside to be supplied on a line chart. If you view the possible options from the drop-down, it is not in the list. Setting the Smartlabels AllowOutsideOfPlotArea = True is the right thing to do. This feature does not force the labels to be outside of the plot area, but under certain circumstances it does allow them to be drawn outside of the plot area. Keep in mind that the plot area is not the entire chart, it is just the area that is bound by the X and Y axis. By setting the SmartLabel property I was able to get a few labels to be drawn partially outside of the plot area. -SeanProgram Manager, SQL Server Reporting Services This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. http://blogs.msdn.com/seanboon http://www.twitter.com/ssrs

Hi Sean,Thanks for the input -I did manage to get some labels but only those which values are equal to the max scale value..the rest are not displayed. So I started searching for a workaround. I found that the chart area has a property called ValueAxes (collection). So I enabled the scalebreakstyle hoping that it will do the job to display that there are values above the max scale i.e. values that out of range. I made the scale break line red dotted and 2pt and I enabled it. However I can not manage to display it and make it work. Can you please advise me on that.Even though I can not display the out of scale data labels if I can manage to show that such exists will be good.Thank youMaria

Hi again :),I managed to achieve my goal but with having min and max scale values set to auto. Then I enabled the breakscalestyle property and set the data labels visible only when greater than certain value. Then the labels appear ok.However, when I set the min and max values to fixed values or to parameters the labels disappear. Have you got any idea why?Also the scale break is done automatically by RS2008 i.e. according to the values it decides at what values to place the break. Is there a way for a developer to lets say I need a break at value = X ?If I can get the labels appearing when max and min values are parameters and even further control the scale break then the result will be very satisfying.Thank you in advance,Maria

Hi Maria,Right now it's not possible to control where the scale breaks occurr in the chart. It is an automatic algorithm. If you could send us an RDL file based on an in-line SQL Statement in the report (meaning we don't need access to the database) and post it up on a file share service like SkyDrive, I will pull it down and take a look with the team to see if there are more things we can do to get the desired effect you are looking for.-SeanProgram Manager, SQL Server Reporting Services This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. http://blogs.msdn.com/seanboon http://www.twitter.com/ssrs

Thank you Sean,I uploaded a test version of the report here: http://cid-d1dd0d635be21083.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/.Public?uc=1&isFromRichUpload=1.This almost does what I need except that if I make the max scale value equal to an integer or parameter it stops displaying the labels. The max scale needs to be a certain value lets say 1000 so that the user browsing the report knows that this is the maximum value (as per requirement). However if I limit it the "out of scale" labels disappear.Any approach on how to handle this out of scale situation will be very much appreciated (color does not work as it will be a gray scale pallete)Thank youMaria

Maria, Did you ever figure out why your labels were disappearing? I've been beating my head against the screen for hours trying to figure out why this is happening to me. Thanks, Joe

Hi Joe,it is not possible as Sean pointed : "Smartlabels AllowOutsideOfPlotArea = True This feature does not force the labels to be outside of the plot area, but under certain circumstances it does allow them to be drawn outside of the plot area." Which means that some may appear outside while others not - in my case this was something very random so i just gave up the idea.Do you need to show all data labels or just the ones for the last value in the caregory axis. If it is the second case I have found a work around.Let me know if i can help further.Maria

At this moment you can't force the "SmartLabel" usage, however it's high on my wish list as well. Although I managed to implement a workaround by doing the following: - Insert a “dummy” series in your chart and: o Add a maximum value (according to the axis value) or a null value o Set the “Category axis” to “Secondary” o Make sure that the “Fill” color is set to “no color” - Insert the appropriate expression for the label using the “Data Point/AxisLabel” When rendering your chart, you will see that the normal category labels will be shown at the X-axis, the “smart label” will be displayed at the other side of the chart (on top in case of e.g. vertical bar charts). Hope this helps, Frank van ZuilenFrank van Zuilen