This shows the viewer toolbar, which you can use to copy the chart to the clipboard, print the current page (or all pages if you are viewing a report made up of several charts), or return to full-screen view if you zoom in.

To magnify part of the chart, drag a rectangle around it with the left mouse button. The area shown will be based on the top edge of the rectangle you enclose, keeping the correct aspect ratio.

When you have zoomed in, you can ‘walk’ around the chart using the arrow keys, or zoom out with the ‘-’ key. You will notice that the (x,y) co-ordinates in the status field at the lower right track the mouse, using the co-ordinate system appropriate to your chart. You can use this to check the exact value of any data point, or to help find a good location for a key or note. If you have added ‘data hints’ to your chart, these will be shown in the main status field in the lower centre of the window.

Right-mouse menu

This shows the standard right-mouse menu which all users can access from the chart viewer. In general, the menu simply duplicates the toolbar buttons, but you also have the extra options:

• Clipboard as Bitmap (sized as shown)
• Clipboard as Bitmap (custom size) – this will prompt for a scaling factor to translate from points (72 per inch) to pixels (notionally 96 per inch). If you enter 1 (the default) your graph will be clipboarded at 3/4 of the viewed size; to generate a bitmap suitable for a 300dpi printer, use 4.16 as the scale, and so on. You will need to run APL with a large MAXWS setting to generate images at higher resolutions.
• Direct PostScript – use this if you have a genuine PostScript printer attached to your PC, or would like to save the report on file in PostScript format. It will prompt for a file name – just enter ‘prn’ for a locally attached printer.
• EPS file – use this to save your report in ‘Encapsulated PostScript Format’ which will allow it to be included in any high-end DTP document by tools such as Adobe PageMaker. It is also supported by Microsoft Word, but you may need to install the appropriate import filter. Documents including EPS graphics may only be printed on PostScript printers.
• Windows Metafile – this will prompt for a file name and save the report as a standard Windows metafile, with a ‘placeable header’ so that it will be sized correctly when included in a document. This is a suitable format for all the normal Microsoft Office tools and will print well on any standard Windows printer.

Note that you can customise all these menu commands by changing the phrasebook file uk-en.apb and running psGetPhraseBook to replace the default prompts. This also allows you to remove unwanted elements by setting the prompt text to ‘~’.