How do I correctly update my chart values? (In real time)

Question

I recently encountered a tool called LiveChart and decided to test it out.

Unfortunately I've been having some problems figuring out how to update the chart values in real time. I'm pretty sure there's a clean and correct way of doing it, but I can't seam to find it.

I would like to be able to update the values through a private void or button.

In my code I'm testing it out with a ToolStripMenu.

[CODE]:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using LiveCharts;
using LiveCharts.WinForms;
using LiveCharts.Wpf;
using PokeShowdown_AccStats_T.Properties;
using LiveCharts.Defaults;

namespace PokeShowdown_AccStats_T
{
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {
        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();

            //int val1 = int.Parse(Settings.Default.Value1);

            var value1 = new ObservableValue(3);
            var value2 = new ObservableValue(7);
            var value3 = new ObservableValue(10);
            var value4 = new ObservableValue(2);

            //value1.Value = 5;

            cartesianChart1.Series.Add(new LineSeries 
            {
                Values = new ChartValues<ObservableValue> { value1, value2, value3, value4 },
                StrokeThickness = 4,
                StrokeDashArray = new System.Windows.Media.DoubleCollection(20),
                Stroke = new System.Windows.Media.SolidColorBrush(System.Windows.Media.Color.FromRgb(107, 185, 69)),
                Fill = System.Windows.Media.Brushes.Transparent,
                LineSmoothness = 0,
                PointGeometry = null
            });



            cartesianChart1.Background = new System.Windows.Media.SolidColorBrush(System.Windows.Media.Color.FromRgb(34, 46, 49));

            cartesianChart1.AxisX.Add(new Axis
            {
                IsMerged = true,
                Separator = new Separator
                {
                    StrokeThickness = 1,
                    StrokeDashArray = new System.Windows.Media.DoubleCollection(2),
                    Stroke = new System.Windows.Media.SolidColorBrush(System.Windows.Media.Color.FromRgb(64, 79, 86))
                }
            });
            cartesianChart1.AxisY.Add(new Axis
            {
                IsMerged = true,
                Separator = new Separator
                {
                    StrokeThickness = 1.5,
                    StrokeDashArray = new System.Windows.Media.DoubleCollection(4),
                    Stroke = new System.Windows.Media.SolidColorBrush(System.Windows.Media.Color.FromRgb(64, 79, 86))
                }
            });
        }

        private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {

        }

        private void changeValue1ToolStripMenuItem_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            Settings.Default.Value1 = "10";
            Settings.Default.Save();
            this.Text = Settings.Default.Value1;

        }

        private void changeValue1To3ToolStripMenuItem_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            Settings.Default.Value1 = "3";
            Settings.Default.Save();
            this.Text = Settings.Default.Value1;

        }
    }
}

Answer 1

Live-Charts tries to keep it simple. The logic is to use a generic collection with the type you need to plot, and then as easy as adding/removing or updating any element in this collection then your chart will be updated.

To answer your question, you normally need to:

public partial class Form1 : Form
{
    private ObservableValue value1;

    public Form1()
    {
        InitializeComponent();

        //int val1 = int.Parse(Settings.Default.Value1);

        value1 = new ObservableValue(3);
        //...

        cartesianChart1.Series.Add(new LineSeries 
        {
            Values = new ChartValues<ObservableValue> { value1, ... },
        });
    }

    private void changeValue1ToolStripMenuItem_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        value1.Value = 10;
        Settings.Default.Value1 = "10";
        Settings.Default.Save();
        this.Text = Settings.Default.Value1;

    }
}

Then the library will handle animations and the update

Answer 2

Note: The question is about LiveCharts. But this answer is posted based on MSChart. To see the answer about LiveCharts see other answer.

Chart supports data-binding. Use data-binding and update data source then refresh chart. For example:

DataTable table = new DataTable();
Random random = new Random();
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    table.Columns.Add("X", typeof(int));
    table.Columns.Add("Y", typeof(int));
    for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
        table.Rows.Add(i+1, random.Next(100));
    chart1.Series[0].ChartType = 
        System.Windows.Forms.DataVisualization.Charting.SeriesChartType.Column;
    chart1.Series[0].XValueMember = "X";
    chart1.Series[0].YValueMembers = "Y";
    chart1.DataSource = table;
    chart1.ChartAreas[0].AxisX.Interval = 1;
    chart1.ChartAreas[0].AxisX.Minimum = 0;
    chart1.ChartAreas[0].AxisX.Maximum = 10;
    chart1.ChartAreas[0].AxisY.Interval = 10;
    chart1.ChartAreas[0].AxisY.Minimum = 0;
    chart1.ChartAreas[0].AxisY.Maximum = 100;
    chart1.DataBind();
    var timer = new Timer() { Interval= 300};
    timer.Tick += timer_Tick;
    timer.Start();
}
void timer_Tick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
        table.Rows[i][1]= random.Next(100);
    chart1.DataBind();
}