Can I display a message if MS Chart Control has no data?

Question

Is there a way to display a \"default\" message on a MS Chart Control if there is no data to chart?

I have a chart, with some controls that allow the user to pick variou

Answer 1

You should be able to add an annotation to the chart if there is no data.

TextAnnotation annotation = new TextAnnotation();
annotation.X = 50;
annotation.Y = 50;
annotation.Text = "No Data";
chart1.Annotations.Add(annotation);

Answer 2

I guess that you cast retrieved data to an Array and use it for chart binding, if so
you can use a label, show/hide it according array length, as there is no property to be displayed a certain text if chart has no data.

    if (arr.Length > 0)
    {
        lblEmptyMSG.Visible = false;
    }
    else
    {
        lblEmptyMSG.Visible = true;
    }

Answer 3

Building on Chris's response, here's a more complete example:

In the ASPX code, add the OnDataBound handler to the chart tag. This assumes you are using a SqlDataSource for the data source.

<asp:Chart ID="ChartExample" runat="server" 
    DataSourceID="SqlDataSourceExample" 
    OnDataBound="ChartExample_DataBound">

In the code-behind, the handler checks if the first series has any data, and if it doesn't, inserts the annotation in red.

protected void ChartExample_DataBound(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    // If there is no data in the series, show a text annotation
    if(ChartExample.Series[0].Points.Count == 0)
    {
        System.Web.UI.DataVisualization.Charting.TextAnnotation annotation = 
            new System.Web.UI.DataVisualization.Charting.TextAnnotation();
        annotation.Text = "No data for this period";
        annotation.X = 5;
        annotation.Y = 5;
        annotation.Font = new System.Drawing.Font("Arial", 12);
        annotation.ForeColor = System.Drawing.Color.Red;
        ChartExample.Annotations.Add(annotation);
    }
}