# Cartesian Axes

Axes that follow a cartesian grid are known as 'Cartesian Axes'. Cartesian axes are used for line, bar, and bubble charts. Four cartesian axes are included in Chart.js by default.

* [linear](./linear.md)
* [logarithmic](./logarithmic.md)
* [category](./category.md)
* [time](./time.md)
* [timeseries](./timeseries.md)

## Visual Components

A cartesian axis is composed of visual components that can be individually configured. These components are:

* [border](#border)
* [grid lines](#grid-lines)
* [tick](#ticks-and-tick-marks)
* [tick mark](#ticks-and-tick-marks)
* [title](#title)

### Border

The axis border is drawn at the edge of the axis, beside the chart area. In the image below, it is drawn in red.

```js chart-editor
// <block:setup:1>
const labels = Utils.months({count: 7});
const data = {
  labels: labels,
  datasets: [{
    label: 'My First dataset',
    backgroundColor: 'rgba(54, 162, 235, 0.5)',
    borderColor: 'rgb(54, 162, 235)',
    borderWidth: 1,
    data: [10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 0, 5],
  }]
};
// </block:setup>

// <block:config:0>
const config = {
  type: 'line',
  data,
  options: {
    scales: {
      x: {
        grid: {
          borderColor: 'red'
        }
      }
    }
  }
};
// </block:config>

module.exports = {
  actions: [],
  config: config,
};
```

### Grid lines

The grid lines for an axis are drawn on the chart area. In the image below, they are red.

```js chart-editor
// <block:setup:1>
const labels = Utils.months({count: 7});
const data = {
  labels: labels,
  datasets: [{
    label: 'My First dataset',
    backgroundColor: 'rgba(54, 162, 235, 0.5)',
    borderColor: 'rgb(54, 162, 235)',
    borderWidth: 1,
    data: [10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 0, 5],
  }]
};
// </block:setup>

// <block:config:0>
const config = {
  type: 'line',
  data,
  options: {
    scales: {
      x: {
        grid: {
          color: 'red',
          borderColor: 'grey',
          tickColor: 'grey'
        }
      }
    }
  }
};
// </block:config>

module.exports = {
  actions: [],
  config: config,
};
```

### Ticks and Tick Marks

Ticks represent data values on the axis that appear as labels. The tick mark is the extension of the grid line from the axis border to the label.
In this example, the tick mark is drawn in red while the tick label is drawn in blue.

```js chart-editor
// <block:setup:1>
const labels = Utils.months({count: 7});
const data = {
  labels: labels,
  datasets: [{
    label: 'My First dataset',
    backgroundColor: 'rgba(54, 162, 235, 0.5)',
    borderColor: 'rgb(54, 162, 235)',
    borderWidth: 1,
    data: [10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 0, 5],
  }]
};
// </block:setup>

// <block:config:0>
const config = {
  type: 'line',
  data,
  options: {
    scales: {
      x: {
        grid: {
          tickColor: 'red'
        },
        ticks: {
          color: 'blue',
        }
      }
    }
  }
};
// </block:config>

module.exports = {
  actions: [],
  config: config,
};
```

### Title

The title component of the axis is used to label the data. In the example below, it is shown in red.

```js chart-editor
// <block:setup:1>
const labels = Utils.months({count: 7});
const data = {
  labels: labels,
  datasets: [{
    label: 'My First dataset',
    backgroundColor: 'rgba(54, 162, 235, 0.5)',
    borderColor: 'rgb(54, 162, 235)',
    borderWidth: 1,
    data: [10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 0, 5],
  }]
};
// </block:setup>

// <block:config:0>
const config = {
  type: 'line',
  data,
  options: {
    scales: {
      x: {
        title: {
          color: 'red',
          display: true,
          text: 'Month'
        }
      }
    }
  }
};
// </block:config>

module.exports = {
  actions: [],
  config: config,
};
```

## Common Configuration

:::tip Note
These are only the common options supported by all cartesian axes. Please see the specific axis documentation for all the available options for that axis.
:::

!!!include(axes/cartesian/_common.md)!!!

!!!include(axes/_common.md)!!!

### Axis Position

An axis can either be positioned at the edge of the chart, at the center of the chart area, or dynamically with respect to a data value.

To position the axis at the edge of the chart, set the `position` option to one of: `'top'`, `'left'`, `'bottom'`, `'right'`.
To position the axis at the center of the chart area, set the `position` option to `'center'`. In this mode, either the `axis` option must be specified or the axis ID has to start with the letter 'x' or 'y'. This is so chart.js knows what kind of axis (horizontal or vertical) it is.
To position the axis with respect to a data value, set the `position` option to an object such as:

```javascript
{
    x: -20
}
```

This will position the axis at a value of -20 on the axis with ID "x". For cartesian axes, only 1 axis may be specified.

### Scale Bounds

The `bounds` property controls the scale boundary strategy (bypassed by `min`/`max` options).

* `'data'`: makes sure data are fully visible, labels outside are removed
* `'ticks'`: makes sure ticks are fully visible, data outside are truncated

### Tick Configuration

:::tip Note
These are only the common tick options supported by all cartesian axes. Please see specific axis documentation for all of the available options for that axis.
:::

!!!include(axes/cartesian/_common_ticks.md)!!!

!!!include(axes/_common_ticks.md)!!!

### Tick Alignment

The alignment of ticks is primarily controlled using two settings on the tick configuration object: `align` and `crossAlign`. The `align` setting configures how labels align with the tick mark along the axis direction (i.e. horizontal for a horizontal axis and vertical for a vertical axis). The `crossAlign` setting configures how labels align with the tick mark in the perpendicular direction (i.e. vertical for a horizontal axis and horizontal for a vertical axis). In the example below, the `crossAlign` setting is used to left align the labels on the Y axis.

```js chart-editor
// <block:setup:1>
const labels = Utils.months({count: 7});
const data = {
  labels: labels,
  datasets: [{
    label: 'My First dataset',
    backgroundColor: [
      'rgba(255, 99, 132, 0.2)',
      'rgba(255, 159, 64, 0.2)',
      'rgba(255, 205, 86, 0.2)',
      'rgba(75, 192, 192, 0.2)',
      'rgba(54, 162, 235, 0.2)',
      'rgba(153, 102, 255, 0.2)',
      'rgba(201, 203, 207, 0.2)'
    ],
    borderColor: [
      'rgb(255, 99, 132)',
      'rgb(255, 159, 64)',
      'rgb(255, 205, 86)',
      'rgb(75, 192, 192)',
      'rgb(54, 162, 235)',
      'rgb(153, 102, 255)',
      'rgb(201, 203, 207)'
    ],
    borderWidth: 1,
    data: [65, 59, 80, 81, 56, 55, 40],
  }]
};
// </block:setup>

// <block:config:0>
const config = {
  type: 'bar',
  data,
  options: {
    indexAxis: 'y',
    scales: {
      y: {
        ticks: {
          crossAlign: 'far',
        }
      }
    }
  }
};
// </block:config>

module.exports = {
  actions: [],
  config: config,
};
```

:::tip Note
The `crossAlign` setting is only effective when these preconditions are met:

* tick rotation is `0`
* axis position is `'top'`, '`left'`, `'bottom'` or `'right'`
:::

### Axis ID

The properties `dataset.xAxisID` or `dataset.yAxisID` have to match to `scales` property. This is especially needed if multi-axes charts are used.

```javascript
const myChart = new Chart(ctx, {
    type: 'line',
    data: {
        datasets: [{
            // This dataset appears on the first axis
            yAxisID: 'first-y-axis'
        }, {
            // This dataset appears on the second axis
            yAxisID: 'second-y-axis'
        }]
    },
    options: {
        scales: {
            'first-y-axis': {
                type: 'linear'
            },
            'second-y-axis': {
                type: 'linear'
            }
        }
    }
});
```

## Creating Multiple Axes

With cartesian axes, it is possible to create multiple X and Y axes. To do so, you can add multiple configuration objects to the `xAxes` and `yAxes` properties. When adding new axes, it is important to ensure that you specify the type of the new axes as default types are **not** used in this case.

In the example below, we are creating two Y axes. We then use the `yAxisID` property to map the datasets to their correct axes.

```javascript
const myChart = new Chart(ctx, {
    type: 'line',
    data: {
        datasets: [{
            data: [20, 50, 100, 75, 25, 0],
            label: 'Left dataset',

            // This binds the dataset to the left y axis
            yAxisID: 'left-y-axis'
        }, {
            data: [0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 1.5, 0],
            label: 'Right dataset',

            // This binds the dataset to the right y axis
            yAxisID: 'right-y-axis'
        }],
        labels: ['Jan', 'Feb', 'Mar', 'Apr', 'May', 'Jun']
    },
    options: {
        scales: {
            'left-y-axis': {
                type: 'linear',
                position: 'left'
            },
            'right-y-axis': {
                type: 'linear',
                position: 'right'
            }
        }
    }
});
```