windowsforms-11977-controls-and-libraries-chart-control-end-user-features-tooltip-and-crosshair-cursor-tooltip.md
This document defines a tooltip, explains how to use it and lists its main features. Note that the tooltip is available for all diagram types.
If you wish to use an alternative tool to interact with chart data, you can use a crosshair cursor instead. See the Crosshair Cursor topic to learn more.
This topic consists of the following sections.
A tooltip is a small pop-up rectangle that shows information for a hovered series and series points.
A tooltip can contain a beak that points to a series point, directing your attention to this hovered element.
To display a beak, do the following:
For more information on the tooltip controller for Windows Forms, see the Hints and Tooltips section.
By default, a tooltip displays series point arguments and values, but it is possible to specify custom content as well.
See the Format Tooltip Data section to learn more.
Enable tooltips
Show tooltips for series
A ToolTipOptions object contains properties that allow you to customize the displayed data format in a tooltip, as well as specify the tooltip position on a chart.
By default, a tooltip displays an argument and value for each series point.
Use the SeriesBase.ToolTipPointPattern and SeriesBase.ToolTipSeriesPattern properties to change the default text displayed within a tooltip, as well as to format series point values.
You can also specify a pattern using the Pattern Editor (the editor is invoked by clicking the ellipsis button of the specific property in the Properties window).
A full list of available placeholders is detailed below.
| Pattern | Description |
|---|---|
| {A} | Displays a series point argument. |
| {V} | Displays series point values. |
| {VP} | Displays series point values as percentages (for a Pie series and Full-Stacked series). |
| {S} | Displays the name of the series. |
| {G} | Displays the name of a stacked group. |
| {W} | Displays the weight (for a Bubble series). |
| {V1} | Displays the first value (for range series). |
| {V2} | Displays the second value (for range series). |
| {VD} | Displays the duration between the first and second data point values (for range series). |
| {HV} | Displays the high value (for a Financial series). |
| {LV} | Displays the low value (for a Financial series). |
| {OV} | Displays the open value (for a Financial series). |
| {CV} | Displays the close value (for a Financial series). |
| {HINT} | Displays a hint for a series point. |
The image below shows the {S}: {A} - {V} pattern specified for the series points.
Note
The tooltip series pattern only allows you to specify a string in addition to the {S} default placeholder.
The Format Specifiers topic explains which standard and custom formats can be used together with placeholders to format a series point’s numeric and date-time values within a tooltip.
View Example: How to show and customize chart tooltips
A tooltip has three modes that define its position on a chart.
The following image shows the last tooltip mode with the CrosshairFreePosition.DockCorner property set to TopRight.
You can gain access to the above tooltip modes via the ToolTipOptions.ToolTipPosition property.
To do this at design time, click the ellipse button in the Properties window.
This invokes the Choose Tool Tip Position dialog.
In the ToolTipFreePosition and ToolTipRelativePosition modes, you can specify tooltip position by utilizing the ToolTipPositionWithOffset.OffsetX and ToolTipPositionWithOffset.OffsetY properties.
For additional information on chart interaction, refer to the End-User Capabilities section.
See Also