#### Formatting the bars

To format the bars in a bar or bench chart, follow the steps below:

1. Right-click any bar in a bar/bench chart, and then select Format 2D Bar or Format 3D Bar from the shortcut menu to bring out the Format Bar dialog.
2. In the General tab, specify the general setting of the bars as required.

   In the Size and Layout boxes, set the size and layout of the bars. Check Vary Colors by Value to specify whether or not to change the bar color by value. If the chart is a clustered 2-D chart which contains the data series (Z axis data), you can further specify the gap between the bars. For a 2-D chart, you can check the Use Depth option and specify the depth and direction as required to add a 3-dimensional effect to the bars.

   Note: If the chart is a combo chart composed by bars and areas/lines, when you set the depth properties for the bars, they will be applied to the areas/lines as well, and vice versa.

3. In the Fill and Border tabs, you can set the fill and border modes for the bars (for details, see Formatting the platform). Click the Pattern List button in the Fill tab to specify the patterns that will apply to the bars according to your requirements.
4. In the Data Label tab, specify whether or not to show data labels for every bar, and if to show, the position of the label related to the bar. In the Font and Effects boxes, set the font formats and effects of the labels.

   Note: For 3-D charts, the Show Data Label checkbox is grayed out. However, you can still see the data labels by moving the mouse pointer over the bars when viewing the report result in view mode or in JReport Web.

5. When done, click OK to accept the changes and close the dialog.

See also Format Bar dialog for detailed explanation about options in the dialog.