Select the nearest point in a Silverlight Toolkit chart

Question

I have a LineSeries chart. By series.IsSelectionEnabled = true; when I move the mouse over the points, I can select that node. But how can I do it when the mouse is not exactly over the point but when it's near it (above or under)? Thanks.

PS: One more thing. How can I change the color of the column when the mouse is over it so the user can tell which one of the columns he/she is going to select.

Answer 1

I have created the example of the chart with the single LineSeries . You can click anywhere at the plot and the nearest point will be selected.

XAML (Change the ItemsSource property and other properties to yours):

    <Charting:Chart MouseLeftButtonDown="Chart_MouseLeftButtonDown">
        <Charting:Chart.Series>
            <Charting:LineSeries IsSelectionEnabled="True" ItemsSource="..." ... />
        </Charting:Chart.Series>
    </Charting:Chart>

Code-behind:

    private void Chart_MouseLeftButtonDown(object sender, MouseButtonEventArgs e)
    {
        var chart = sender as Chart;
        //In my example the line series is the first item of the chart series
        var line = (LineSeries)chart.Series[0];

        //Find the nearest point on the LineSeries
        var newPoint = e.GetPosition(line);
        var selectIndex = this.FindNearestPointIndex(line.Points, newPoint);

        if (selectIndex != null)
        {
            //Select a real item from the items source
            var source = line.ItemsSource as IList;
            line.SelectedItem = source[selectIndex.Value];
        }
    }

    private int? FindNearestPointIndex(PointCollection points, Point newPoint)
    {
        if (points == null || !points.Any())
            return null;

        //c^2 = a^2+b^2
        Func<Point, Point, double> getLength = (p1, p2) => Math.Sqrt(Math.Pow(p1.X - p2.X, 2) + Math.Pow(p1.Y - p2.Y, 2));

        //Create the collection of points with more information
        var items = points.Select((p,i) => new { Point = p, Length = getLength(p, newPoint), Index = i });
        var minLength = items.Min(item => item.Length);

        //Uncomment if it is necessary to have some kind of sensitive area
        //if (minLength > 50)
        //    return null;

        //The index of the point with min distance to the new point
        return items.First(item => item.Length == minLength).Index;
    }

As I said this chart will select the nearest point even if you click at a great distance away from any chart point. If it isn't intended behavior, you can uncomment these lines and set any number in pixels:

//Uncomment if it is necessary to have some kind of sensitive area
if (minLength > 50)
    return null;

I have written comments, but if something isn't clear you can ask and I will explain.