Category Axis, Value Axis Tick Label Position not assigned properly

I think I found an issue with setting axis tick label position. The resulting XML shows the tickLblPos as “nextTo” instead of “low”. (This is a stacked column chart with positive and negative values, so the category axis labels need to be beneath the plot area, not alongside/next to the axis line.)

      <c:catAx>
        <c:axId val="-2068027336"/>
        <c:scaling>
          <c:orientation val="minMax"/>
        </c:scaling>
        <c:delete val="0"/>
        <c:axPos val="b"/>
        <c:majorTickMark val="out"/>
        <c:minorTickMark val="none"/>
        <c:tickLblPos val="nextTo"/>

I’m formatting the chart with this method:

def format_chart(t, chart):
    """
        applies some default formatting to the chart
        t is a DimTable object which is not currently used
        , but we may leverage that in thefuture to do conditional formatting.
    """
    plot = chart.plots[0]
    # by default, a chart with single series will vary color per category. 
    #plot.vary_by_categories = False 
    plot.has_data_labels = True
    set_label_position(t, chart)
    if t.custom_properties['showNegativeLabelsAsPositive']:
        override_negative_value_labels(t, chart)

    set_label_font_format(plot.data_labels, False, 14, MSO_THEME_COLOR_INDEX.TEXT_1)
    set_series_overlap(t, chart)

    category_axis = chart.category_axis
    set_axis_line_format(category_axis, False, MSO_THEME_COLOR_INDEX.BACKGROUND_2)
    set_label_font_format(category_axis.tick_labels, False, 14, MSO_THEME_COLOR_INDEX.TEXT_1)
    if t.custom_properties['categoryAxisLabelPosition']:
        category_axis.tick_labels.position = t.custom_properties['categoryAxisLabelPosition']

    value_axis = chart.value_axis
    set_axis_line_format(value_axis, True, MSO_THEME_COLOR_INDEX.BACKGROUND_2)
    set_label_font_format(value_axis.tick_labels, False, 14, MSO_THEME_COLOR_INDEX.BACKGROUND_2)
    value_axis.visible = not t.custom_properties['hideValueAxis']

the t.custom_properties is a defaultdict(bool) and assigned in another class, using the enumeration:

   self.Tables[4].custom_properties['categoryAxisLabelPosition'] = XL_TICK_LABEL_POSITION.LOW

If I manually edit that node in the XML to “low” instead of “nextTo”, then the axis tick labels appear correctly.

I believe this also affects the value_axis, though I did not test it as thoroughly in that regard.

I am able to do this with a workaround function:

def set_axis_tick_label_position(xpath, position, chart):
    """
    Workaround function to assign tick label position to category or value axis.
    xpath: an x-path specification for the axis' tick labels
    position: an XL_TICK_LABEL_POSITION 
    chart: a chart object

    This function accesses the element specified by xpath and assigns the appropriate attribute value based 
    on the XL_TICK_LABEL_POSITION
    
    We should be able to assign directly, but for at least some charts, the output XML has "nextTo" (default) instead of the specified position

        chart.category_axis.tick_labels.position = t.custom_properties['categoryAxisLabelPosition']
        

    """
    ele = chart._chartSpace.xpath(xpath)[0]
    val = "nextTo" # default
    if position == XL_TICK_LABEL_POSITION.LOW:
        val = "low"
    if position == XL_TICK_LABEL_POSITION.HIGH:
        val = "high"
    if position == XL_TICK_LABEL_POSITION.NONE:
        val = "none"
    ele.set("val", val)

[scanny]

The line:

category_axis.tick_labels.position = XL_TICK_LABEL_POSITION.LOW

should be:

category_axis.tick_label_position = XL_TICK_LABEL_POSITION.LOW

[scanny]

Yes, that’s one of the disadvantages of a dynamic language I suppose, that happens from time to time 😃