Pan & Zoom

The Pan & Zoom control provides all navigational control for the graphic. The smaller, darker gray box represents the part of the graph that is currently being displayed. The larger, lighter gray box represents the entire graph. To move around, just drag the dark gray box. To zoom in or out, stretch the dark gray box by dragging on a side or a corner. Note that making the box smaller will "zoom in" on the data.

Arrow Keys

Pressing the arrow keys on your keyboard also allow you to pan through the data. Note: Netscape has problems with this!

Show Data Button

The Show Data button will display all values in the graph that are currently visible in a pop-up window. Windows 95 users can right mouse in this window to copy the contents to the clipboard.

Repositioning Panels

To facilitate comparison, you can move any graph panel. Just position the mouse within a panel, but not on any data (i.e., not over a bar, dot, etc.), then click and drag to move the panel wherever you want. Note: Netscape has problems with this!

Drag-and-Drop Data

For even greater comparison, you can move data within any panel to any other panel. Just position the mouse over the data (i.e. on a bar, dot, or line), then click and drag the data to another panel. Panels can hold up to three variables. The Unemployment graph has this feature disabled, since it doesn't make sense everywhere!! Note: Netscape has problems with this feature!

Right Mouse for Metadata

You can use the right mouse button (Mac users, hold down "Option" key and click) to display relevant metadata. For instance, right-mousing on any bar or dot will display more information in a pop-up window. Also, note that the panel titles (CPI graph only) can also contain metadata.

Axis Control

Some of the sample applets (Unemployment graph does not) allow you to click on any panel's axis to control that axis' position and range (effectly pan and zoom). Just use the scrollbars on the Axis Control Window to pan and zoom. Also, there is a checkbox that will instantly change all panels to the same scale.

Highlight Month Control

On the timeseries graphs (CPI and Unemployment), the Highlight Month control will display a hash mark on any month. For example, to highlight every January, click on the first "J". Click on it again to remove the hash mark. The buttons are color coded with the hash marks.