MonthName Chart Problem

I'm having a problem printing the name of the month on a monthly chart.

The data that I am attempting to chart includes a data point, a year (int, eg. 2006), and a month (int 1-12). A parameter is used to specify which months are included in the data. In some cases, we chart calendar years, in others we chart the previous 12 or 24 months. Each chart can include up to 4 years data. Each year is charted as a separate dynamic series. The data arrives sorted by year then month ascending.

When I chart calendar years, there's no problem. The data arrives sorted, and starts with January and continues through December.

The problem arises when I try to chart the Last 12 months. In this case, the data arrives sorted by year, then month - from June 2005 (6 / 2005) to May 2006 (5/2006). From June to December, the month names are printed correctly. However, from January to May, only numbers are printed.

The dataset code for the chart portion of the report follows below. I've honestly tried everything I can think of, including decoding and passing the full month name to the chart for labels. Your expert advice is very much appreciated.

Thanks!

Dataset Code:

<DataSetName>main</DataSetName>
<SeriesGroupings>
<SeriesGrouping>
<DynamicSeries>
<Grouping Name="Years">
<GroupExpressions>
<GroupExpression>=Fields!YEAR.Value</GroupExpression></GroupExpressions>
</Grouping>
<Sorting>
<SortBy>
<SortExpression>=Fields!YEAR.Value</SortExpression> <- Contains Year int
<Direction>Ascending</Direction>
</SortBy>
<SortBy>
<SortExpression>=Fields!TIME_DIMENSION.Value</SortExpression> <- Contains Month int
<Direction>Ascending</Direction>
</SortBy>
</Sorting>
<Label>=Fields!YEAR.Value</Label>
</DynamicSeries>
</SeriesGrouping>
<SeriesGrouping>
<StaticSeries>
<StaticMember>
<Label>=Fields!METRIC_NM.Value</Label>
</StaticMember>
</StaticSeries>
</SeriesGrouping>
</SeriesGroupings>
...
<CategoryGroupings>
<CategoryGrouping>
<DynamicCategories>
<Grouping Name="Months">
<GroupExpressions>
<GroupExpression>=Fields!TIME_DIMENSION.Value</GroupExpression>
</GroupExpressions>
</Grouping>
<Sorting>
<SortBy>
<SortExpression>=Fields!TIME_DIMENSION.Value</SortExpression>
<Direction>Ascending</Direction>
</SortBy>
</Sorting>
<Label>=MonthName(Fields!TIME_DIMENSION.Value)</Label> <-The inconsistent month label
</DynamicCategories>
</CategoryGrouping>
</CategoryGroupings>
...
<ChartData>
<ChartSeries>
<DataPoints>
<DataPoint>
<DataValues>
<DataValue>
<Value>=Fields!TIME_DIMENSION.Value</Value>
</DataValue>
<DataValue>
<Value>=Fields!METRIC_SUMMARY_VALUE.Value</Value>
</DataValue>
</DataValues>
<DataLabel>
<Style>
<Format>#,##0.00</Format>
</Style>
<Value>=Fields!METRIC_SUMMARY_VALUE.Value</Value>
</DataLabel>
<Style>
...
</DataPoint>
</DataPoints>
</ChartSeries>
</ChartData>

...
</Chart>

I think this comes from the fact that you have a series grouping based on the year. You effectively have the first series for the months in the past year and the second series for the months of the current year:

2005: Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec (8) (9) (10) (11) (12)
2006: Jan Feb Mar Apr May

I bet you see the labels as shown in the "2005" line, right?

You can try removing the series grouping, and instead add two category groupings. The first category grouping is based on year, the second category grouping is based on the month.

-- Robert

|||

Thanks. You are of course entirely correct.

Eureka it works! The chart is alive. It's ALIVE!