The issue of when to
use hardcoded values versus style references for overriding appearance
features is complex and basically boils down to what you are trying
to achieve with GTL. Here are some recommendations that are based
on common use cases:
-
You are creating a graph for a
specific purpose and probably will not use the code again.
Recommendation: Develop
your template code with one style in mind and use hardcoded overrides
to make desired changes. One possibility is to use the JOURNAL style
as a starting point. It has a gray-scale color scheme. If you want
to introduce colors for certain parts the graph, there will not be
much conflict with blacks and grays coming from the style. You really
do not care what the graph looks like with another style.
-
You are creating a reusable graph
template (without hardcoded variable names) that can be used with
different sets of data in different circumstances.
Recommendation: If
style overrides are needed, use style-reference overrides, not hardcoded
overrides. This allows your graph's appearance to change appropriately
when you (or someone else) uses a different style.
-
You want all of your templates
to produce output with the same look-and-feel, possibly a corporate
theme.
Recommendation: Spend
time developing a new style that produces the desired "look-and-feel"
rather than making a lot of similar appearance changes every time
you create a new graph template to enforce consistency. Be sure to
coordinate the colors and fonts for the graphical style elements with
tabular style elements.
See Managing the Graph Appearance with Styles for more information.