Formatting Numbers

You can specify the format for numbers in tick labels on a continuous axis or data value labels displaying a number. For example, you can specify that numbers displayed in the tick labels are shown in thousands.

How to Specify Number Formats

1. Select the continuous axis tick labels or the data value labels if they contain numbers.
2. Click the Format tab on the properties palette.
3. Select the number formatting options you want:

   Prefix. A character to display at the beginning of the number. For example, enter a dollar sign ($) if the numbers are salaries in U.S. dollars.

   Suffix. A character to display at the end of the number. For example, enter a percentage sign (%) if the numbers are percentages.

   Min. Integer Digits. Minimum number of digits to display in the integer part of a decimal representation. If the actual value does not contain the minimum number of digits, the integer part of the value will be padded with zeros.

   Max. Integer Digits. Maximum number of digits to display in the integer part of a decimal representation. If the actual value exceeds the maximum number of digits, the integer part of the value will be replaced with asterisks.

   Min. Decimal Digits. Minimum number of digits to display in the decimal part of a decimal or scientific representation. If the actual value does not contain the minimum number of digits, the decimal part of the value will be padded with zeros.

   Max. Decimal Digits. Maximum number of digits to display in the decimal part of a decimal or scientific representation. If the actual value exceeds the maximum number of digits, the decimal is rounded to the appropriate number of digits.

   Scientific. Whether to display numbers in scientific notation. Scientific notation is useful for very large or very small numbers. -auto- lets the application determine when scientific notation is appropriate.

   Scaling. A scale factor, which is a number by which the original value is divided. Use a scale factor when the numbers are large, but you don't want the label to extend too much to accommodate the number. If you change the number format of the tick labels, be sure to edit the axis title to indicate how the number should be interpreted. For example, assume your scale axis displays salaries and the labels are 30,000, 50,000, and 70,000. You might enter a scale factor of 1000 to display 30, 50, and 70. You should then edit the scale axis title to include the text in thousands.

   Parentheses for -ve. Whether parentheses should be displayed around negative values.

   Grouping. Whether to display a character between groups of digits. Your computer's current locale determines which character is used for digit grouping.