Often we have situations where the category values on the graph have long character strings.  This is often the case when graphing survey responses to questions.  The questions may be sentences, sometimes moderately long.

With SAS 9.4, GTL and SG now support the ability to display tick values split over multiple lines.  Here is an example of a simple survey dataset.

The bar chart made with this data using SAS 9.4 looks like this.  Click on the graph for a higher resolution image.

SAS 9.4 SGPLOT code

proc sgplot data=survey;
  title 'What value did you gain from this event?';
  vbar question / response=response nostatlabel dataskin=gloss datalabel;
  xaxis display=(nolabel) valueattrs=(size=7);
  yaxis display=(nolabel) valueattrs=(size=7) grid;
  run

For SAS 9.4 SGPLOT, we have changed the default tick fit policy for the x axis.  Now the new fit policy is SPLITROTATE.  The x axis will try to split the long tick values.  If they cannot fit in the available spacing, then the tick values will be drawn rotated like before.  This creates a much nicer graph that is readable.  Personally, I do not like the diagonal rotated tick values.

While this works by default for the x axis, for the y axis, there is based on the default width available to draw the tick values on the Y axis.  With GTL, splitting has to be specifically requested.  Then, GTL uses 40% of the graph width to split the tick values.  Here is the graph and the GTL code.

SAS 9.4 GTL Code:

proc template;
  define statgraph Survey_GTL;
    begingraph;
      entrytitle 'What value did you gain from this event?';
      layout overlay / xaxisopts=(display=(ticks tickvalues))
             yaxisopts=(reverse=true display=(ticks tickvalues)
             discreteopts=(tickvaluefitpolicy=split));
        barchart category=question response=response / orient=horizontal
             fillattrs=graphdata2 dataskin=gloss barlabel=true;
      endlayout;
    endgraph;
  end;
run

Note, we have to specify the TickValueFitPolicy=fit when using GTL.  The y axis ticks are wrapped in 40% of the width of the graph.

Now, you may want to have the tick values wrap in a tighter zone, leaving more width for the data area.  In this case, you can provide the split characters explicitly in the strings.  Here we have used the '^' as the split character, inserted into the string where we want the split.

Now, we can use an explicit directive to the y axis to split the tick values on the provided split character.  Here is the graph and the GTL code.  Click on the graph for a high resolution image.

proc template;
  define statgraph Survey_GTL_2;
    begingraph;
      entrytitle 'What value did you gain from this event?';
      layout overlay / xaxisopts=(display=(ticks tickvalues))
             yaxisopts=(reverse=true display=(ticks tickvalues)
             discreteopts=(tickvaluefitpolicy=splitalways
             tickvaluesplitchar='^'));
        barchart category=question response=response / orient=horizontal
             fillattrs=graphdata3 dataskin=gloss barlabel=true;
      endlayout;
    endgraph;
  end;
run;

Note the use of the TickValueSplitPolicy of SPLITALWAYS, and TickValueSplitChar='^'.  With these new policies and options, you can control the splitting of the categorical tick values.  Split characters are normally dropped where the string is split.  However, if needed, you can cause the split character to be retained in the displayed string.

Full SAS 9.4 program: Survey