How can I position rotated x-axis labels on column chart using nvd3?

Question

I am building a bar chart using nvd3's multiBarChart and need to adjust the position of rotated x-axis labels:

var chart = nv.models.multiBarChart();
...
chart.rotateLabels(-90);

I would like the column labels to not overlap the chart and be centered under each bar. I could select the labels after plotting the chart and adjust them but is there an easier way?

Answer 1

The best way I have found to handle this is to perform the rotation of the x-axis tick labels yourself. Why? Because NVD3 is not handling the rotation and associated translations properly. Look at your image, and you'll see that the library allows the rotation to translate the labels out from directly under the columns they represent. It also begins to mishandle the axis.tickPadding() values, and so on.

The first thing that you need to do is to ensure that the chart has enough space for the translated labels, like so:

chart.margin({bottom: 60});

We can then translate and rotate the labels:

var xTicks = d3.select('.nv-x.nv-axis > g').selectAll('g');
xTicks
  .selectAll('text')
  .attr('transform', function(d,i,j) { return 'translate (-10, 25) rotate(-90 0,0)' }) ;

The labels now look like this:

Answer 2

For multiple graph, your can add "'#' + containerId + ' svg " in the d3.select like below:

//Rotate x-axis label
var xTicks = d3.select('#' + containerId + ' svg .nv-x.nv-axis > g').selectAll('g');
xTicks
    .selectAll('text')
    .attr('transform', function(d,i,j) { return 'translate (-15, 60) rotate(-90 0,0)' });

Anyways, Thanks for @River answer.

Answer 3

This worked for me. The main reason I'm submitting this is that changing the anchor is nicer than translating the position manually.

var xTicks = d3.select('.nv-x.nv-axis > g > g',_this.context.element).selectAll('g').selectAll('text');
xTicks.attr('transform', function() { return 'rotate(' + angle + ' 0,0)' }) ;
xTicks.attr('text-anchor',function() {
    var anchor;
    if(angle > 0){ anchor = 'start'; }
    else if(angle < 0){ anchor = 'end'; }
    else { anchor = 'middle'; }
    return anchor;
});

Answer 4

The following worked for me:

chart.axislist["xAxis"]["rotateLabels"]= -45

Answer 5

Whatever you text rotation is give start/middle/end

d3.select('.nv-x.nv-axis > g > g').selectAll('g.tick text').style('text-anchor', 'start');  //start/middle/end

Answer 6

There is a css alternative.

.nv-x .tick text {
    transform: rotate(-90deg) translateX(-15px) translateY(-7px);
}