The technical structure of a think-cell style file is described in the following section. It provides an overview of the file, its content and its hiearchy, and brief explanations for logical subsections, showing what style settings can be defined for think-cell elements. It is followed by a description on how to work with style files in general and their specific structure in File Structure. The detailed explanation of each element is given below, starting with Defining colors, line styles and markers.
- D1
- Hierarchy of XML elements
- D2
- File Structure
- D3
- Defining colors, line styles and markers
- D4
- Using colors, lines and markers in schemes
- D5
- Customizing charts
- D6
- Customizing text properties
- D7
- Customizing labels
- D8
- Customizing lines
- D9
- Customizing Harvey ball and checkbox
D1 Hierarchy of XML elements
The following elements are used to define colors, lines, and markers respectively. They are made available in the floating toolbar of applicable think-cell elements in PowerPoint and can be referenced in further definitions in the style file. They are described in Defining colors, line styles and markers.
- fillLst
- noFill
- solidFill
- schemeClr
- srgbClr
- sdrgbClr
- scrgbClr
- prstClr
- patFill
- fgClr + bgClr
- lnLst
- noLine
- ln
- prstDash
- markerLst
- noMarker
- marker
- symbol
The following elements define the default line and grid line style used throughout think-cell. They are described in Customizing lines.
- lnfillDefault
- solidfillRef
- lnRef
- lnfillGridline
- solidfillRef
- lnRef
The following elements define the lists of styles for shapes, fill, line, and marker schemes respectively. They are made available in the floating toolbar for applicable think-cell elements and can be referenced in further definitions in the style file. They are described in Using colors, lines and markers in schemes.
- shapestyleLst
- shapestyle
- fillref
- lnfill
- shapestyle
- fillschemeLst
- fillscheme
- fillRef
- lnfillSegment
- solidfillRef
- lnRef
- lnfillSegmentMekko
- solidfillRef
- lnRef
- fillscheme
- lnfillmarkerSchemeLst
- lnfillmarkerScheme
- lnfillmarker
- solidfillRef
- lnRef
- markerRef
- lnfillmarker
- lnfillmarkerScheme
- fillmarkerSchemeLst
- fillmarkerscheme
- fillmarker
- solidfillRef
- markerRef
- fillmarker
- fillmarkerscheme
The following elements can be used to define a default fill scheme for all charts and specific charts. They are described in Customizing charts.
- fillSchemeRefDefault
- fillSchemeRefDefaultStacked
- fillSchemeRefDefaultWaterfall
- fillSchemeRefDefaultClustered
- fillSchemeRefDefaultMekko
- fillSchemeRefDefaultArea
- fillSchemeRefDefaultPie
- fillSchemeRefDefaultBubble
- lnfillmarkerSchemeRefDefault
- lnfillmarkerSchemeRefDefaultCombination
- fillmarkerSchemeRefDefault
The following element sets the default text style for think-cell text fields. It is described in Customizing text properties.
- defPPr
The following elements define the style properties of different labels. They are described in Customizing labels.
- label
- lnfillLeaderLine
- lnRef
- shapestyleRefBubble
- sumLabelPosition
- lnfillLeaderLine
The following elements define the properties of lines for axes and legends. They are described in Customizing lines.
- chart
- lnfillAxis
- solidfillRef
- lnRef
- lnfillAxisCategory
- solidfillRef
- lnRef
- lnfillAxis
- legend
- lnfill
- solidFillRef
- lnRef
- lnfill
The following elements define the style and behavior of Harvey balls and checkboxes. They are described in Customizing Harvey ball and checkbox.
- harveyball
- fillRefCompleted + fillRefBackground
- lnfill
- checkbox
- fillRef
- lnfill
- choices
- glyph
- solidfillRef
- font
- t
- pic
- Relationship
- glyph
D2 File Structure
think-cell style files are XML files conforming to the schema
http://schemas.think-cell.com/26043/tcstyle.xsd
Note: Only style files that successfully validate against the XML schema are supported. It is possible that a style file that is technically not fully valid, e.g., by omitting some elements, still loads in a given version of think-cell, but that may not hold true in future releases.
D2.1 subsect:elementstyle
The style element is the root element of a style file. The mandatory attribute
name sets the name that is shown in the 
More menu as the currently active
style. The attributes xmlns, xmlns:xsi and xsi:schemaLocation should not be changed
from the example when creating a new style file. An optional attribute basedOn may
reference a legacy base style. The corresponding .tcbasestyle file must be
present in the installation directory to load a style file with the attribute
basedOn.
Style files created for earlier versions of think-cell continue to work unchanged. If you want to use additional elements that are only supported in the current release, you need to update the build number in the attributes xmlns and xsi:schemaLocation to the one shown in the following example.
Example:
<style name="Example style name"
xmlns="http://schemas.think-cell.com/26504/tcstyle"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:schemaLocation=
"http://schemas.think-cell.com/26504/tcstyle
http://schemas.think-cell.com/26504/tcstyle.xsd">
...
</style>
At this time you may also need to make changes to other elements to make sure the style file adheres to the format described here.
D2.2 noStyle
If a style file only contains this element, loading it will remove the current style information from the slide master.
Example:
<noStyle
xmlns="http://schemas.think-cell.com/26504/tcstyle"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:schemaLocation=
"http://schemas.think-cell.com/26504/tcstyle
http://schemas.think-cell.com/26504/tcstyle.xsd"/>
D3 Defining colors, line styles and markers
D3.1 Colors
A fill based on one of PowerPoint’s built-in scheme colors. The attribute val specifies the color using the values bg1, tx1, accent1, accent2, accent3, accent4, accent5, accent6, dk1, lt1, dk2, lt2, hlink, folHlink, bg2 or tx2. When using schemeClr, the name attribute of the parent solidFill element will typically be set to the same value as the val attribute. Then, think-cell will use the name that appears in PowerPoint’s scheme colors dialog, depending on the version of PowerPoint and the user interface language.
Example:
A fill based on a color defined using values for the red, green and blue components. The attribute val contains six hexadecimal characters for the three components.
Example:
A fill based on a color defined using values for the red, green and blue components. The attributes r, g and b each contain numbers between 0 and 255.
Example:
A fill based on a color defined using values for the red, green and blue components. The attributes r, g and b each contain percentage values between 0% and 100%. The percentage values may use integers or decimal numbers with 2 decimal places and a dot as the separator.
Example:
A fill based on the preset colors defined in the Office Open XML standard. The attribute val specifies the color name and must be one of the names from AliceBlue to YellowGreen enumerated in
or in subsection 20.1.10.47 of the Office Open XML standard.
Example:
D3.2 Fills
A fill based on a single color. The color can be specified using either one of the child elements schemeClr, srgbClr, or prstClr. The attribute name contains the name shown in the color list.
Example:
A patterned fill based on a pattern and two colors. The colors can be specified using the child elements fgClr and bgClr describing the foreground and background color of the pattern respectively. The pattern itself can be specified declaring the attribute prst and referencing a pattern described in Office Open XML. The attribute name contains the name shown in the color list.
Example:
<pattFill name="Outlined diamond" prst="openDmnd">
<fgClr>
<prstClr val="black"/>
</fgClr>
<bgClr>
<prstClr val="white"/>
</bgClr>
</pattFill>
Describes the foreground color of a pattern fill. The color can be specified using either one of the child elements schemeClr, srgbClr, or prstClr.
Example:
Describes the background color of a pattern fill. See fgClr.
D3.3 Choices in the fill color control
A list of fills, described by multiple instances of the elements noFill, solidFill, or pattFill. The fills defined in this list are shown in the color control of the floating toolbar (see Color and fill).
Example:
When the user chooses this special fill from the color control, e.g., for a segment, the segment has no fill color. The attribute name contains the default name used in the color control, which cannot be changed.
A horizontal line in the color, fill, line, or marker list shown in the floating toolbar.
Example:
D3.4 Lines
A line with certain weight based on a line type. The attribute w describes the weight of the line. The value for this attribute is noted in EMU (English Metric Unit). 12700 EMU are equivalent to a line weight of 1 pt. The attribute name contains a name used to reference this line style. The line type can be specified using the child element prstDash.
Example:
A line style based on the pre-set line styles defined in the Office Open XML standard. The attribute val specifies the line type using the values solid, dash, lgDash, dashDot, lgDashDot, lgDashDotDot, sysDot, sysDashDotDot, which correspond to the Office Open XML standard:
Example:
D3.5 Choices in the line style control
A list of lines described by one optional instance of the element noLine and at least one instances of the element ln. The lines defined in this list are shown in the line style control of the floating toolbar (see Line style). Furthermore, any line style referenced using lnRef for use in line charts (see Line chart), Universal connectors (see Universal connectors) and waterfall connectors (see Waterfall chart), outlines etc. must be defined here.
Example:
To describe each entry in the list, the w attribute of the ln element is converted to points, e.g., 3175 EMU to 1/4pt, and displayed together with a visual representation of the dash type.
When the user chooses this special line style from the line style control, the line has no fill color. The attribute name contains the name used in the line style control. This element may appear only once within the list of lines.
Example:
D3.6 Markers
A marker with a certain shape. The attribute name contains the name shown in the marker style list. The marker shape can be specified using the child element symbol.
Example:
A marker shape based on the preset marker shapes defined in the Office Open XML standard. The attribute val specifies the marker type using the values circle, triangle, diamond, square, star, x, hollowCircle, hollowTriangle, hollowDiamond, hollowSquare, dash, dot, plus.
Example:
D3.7 Choices in the marker control
A list of markers described by one optional instance of the element noMarker and at least one instance of the element marker. The markers defined in this list are shown in the marker control of the floating toolbar (see Marker shape).
Example:
When the user chooses this special marker style from the marker style control, the marker has no fill color. The attribute name contains the default name used in the marker style control, which cannot be changed.
D4 Using colors, lines and markers in schemes
D4.1 Choices in the label scheme control
A list of shape styles that can be referenced for defining default behavior of think-cell shapes. Individual shape styles are defined using the shapestyle chlild element. Currently, only the bubble of difference arrows may be using such a reference (see Customizing labels), thus the list can only hold one single item.
Example:
A shape style. Must contain one fillref child element to define the background color of the shape, may contain additionally one lnfill child element and its subsequent child elements to describe the outline of the shape.
Example:
<shapestyle name="Bubble">
<fillRef name="bg1"/>
<lnfill>
<lnRef name="Solid 0.75 pt" />
<solidfillRef name="Dark Gray" />
</lnfill>
</shapestyle>
D4.2 Choices in the color scheme control
A list of think-cell color schemes that will be used in the color scheme control of the floating toolbar (see Color scheme). Individual fill schemes are defined using the fillScheme child element.
Example:
A color scheme consisting of a sequence of fills. It is defined by referencing fills using the child element fillRef. The attribute name contains the name that is used in the color scheme control. The attribute fillRefOtherSeries specifies which color to use for the Other Series (see Other Series).
If the optional boolean attribute reverse is set to 1, the list of fills will be applied in reverse order, starting with the first fill for the bottom-most series, the second fill for the series above, and so on. If the optional boolean attribute dontRememberAsDefault is set to 1, the scheme will not be remembered as the new default for new charts of the same type in the current presentation.
Example:
<fillScheme name="Company fill scheme"
fillRefOtherSeries="Orange"
reverse="0">
<fillRef name="White"/>
...
</fillScheme>
A reference to a fill defined in the fillLst element. The attribute name must match the value of the same attribute in the fill definition.
Example:
D4.3 Choices in the line scheme control
A list of think-cell line schemes that will be used in the line scheme control of the floating toolbar. Individual line schemes are defined using the lnfillmarkerScheme child element.
Example:
<lnfillmarkerSchemeLst>
<lnfillmarkerScheme name="Company line scheme">
...
</lnfillmarkerSchemeLst>
A line scheme consisting of a sequence of combined line styles. It is defined by describing line styles using the child element lnfillmarker, which references a line, a color, and a marker. The attribute name contains the name that is used in the line scheme control.
Example:
<lnfillmarkerScheme name="Company line scheme">
<lnfillmarker>
<lnRef name="Solid 18"/>
<solidfillRef name="accent1"/>
<markerRef name="No Marker"/>
</lnfillmarker>
...
</lnfillmarkerScheme>
A combined line style for line charts (see Line chart) described by the child elements lnRef, solidfillRef, and optionally markerRef referencing a line, a fill color, and a marker respectively.
Example:
<lnfillmarker>
<lnRef name="Solid 18"/>
<solidfillRef name="accent1"/>
<markerRef name="No Marker"/>
</lnfillmarker>
A reference to a line defined in the lnLst element. The attribute name must match the value of the same attribute in the line definition. lnRef as a child element of lnfillmarker may not reference the noLine line type.
Example:
A reference to a fill color defined in the fillLst element. The attribute name must match the value of the same attribute in the fill definition.
Example:
A reference to a marker defined in the markerLst element. The attribute name must match the value of the same attribute in the marker definition.
Example:
D4.4 Choices in the marker scheme control
A list of think-cell marker schemes that will be used in the marker scheme control of the floating toolbar (see Marker scheme). Individual marker schemes are defined using the fillmarkerScheme child element.
Example:
A marker scheme consisting of a sequence of markers. It is defined by referencing markers using the child element fillmarker. The attribute name contains the name that is used in the color scheme control.
Example:
A combined marker style consisting of a marker reference using the child element markerRef and an optional fill color reference using the child element solidfillRef. If markerRef references noMarker, solidfillRef will be ignored.
Example:
D5 Customizing charts
D5.1 fillSchemeRefDefault
A reference to a fill scheme that is used as the default color scheme for all chart types. If one or several of the elements
fillSchemeRefDefaultStacked,
fillSchemeRefDefaultWaterfall,
fillSchemeRefDefaultClustered,
fillSchemeRefDefaultMekko,
fillSchemeRefDefaultArea,
fillSchemeRefDefaultPie,
fillSchemeRefDefaultBubble
are used, they override the default scheme set here for the corresponding specific chart type. If all of these elements are used, the fillSchemeRefDefault may be omitted.
Example:
D5.2 fillSchemeRefDefaultStacked
The default color scheme for stacked charts.
Example:
D5.3 fillSchemeRefDefaultWaterfall
The default color scheme for waterfall charts.
Example:
D5.4 fillSchemeRefDefaultClustered
The default color scheme for clustered charts.
Example:
D5.5 fillSchemeRefDefaultMekko
The default color scheme for mekko charts.
Example:
D5.6 fillSchemeRefDefaultArea
The default color scheme for area charts.
Example:
D5.7 fillSchemeRefDefaultPie
The default color scheme for pie charts.
Example:
D5.8 fillSchemeRefDefaultBubble
The default color scheme for bubble charts.
Example:
D5.9 lnfillmarkerSchemeRefDefault
The default color scheme for line charts.
Example:
D5.10 lnfillmarkerSchemeRefDefaultCombination
The default color scheme for combination charts.
Example:
D5.11 fillmarkerSchemeRefDefault
The default marker scheme for scatter charts.
Example:
D6 Customizing text properties
The default paragraph properties for text in labels and text boxes. Properties for new labels and textboxes are taken from one of the text style levels of the body text placeholder. The appropriate text style level is chosen heuristically, which works fine in most cases. This behavior is selected by not using the defPPr element. If an inappropriate text style level is chosen, you can use the attribute lvl with numbers from 0 to 8 to explicitly specify the text style level. The numbering starts with 0, which corresponds to the first text style level. Therefore, 1 refers to the second level and so forth. From the paragraph properties of the specified text style level think-cell uses the font color for text in labels and text boxes.
Example:
D7 Customizing labels
The element label contains elements customizing properties of labels. The following elements are child elements of label. Note that shapestyleRefBubble is a mandatory child element, whereas the other elements are optional.
The line style used for the line between a segment label and the segment when the label is not placed inside the segment. If solidfillRef is not specified, instead of using the color from lnfillDefault, think-cell uses the color matching the automatically set label font color.
Example:
A reference to a shape defined in the shapestyleLst. The attribute name must match the value of the same attribute in the shape style definition. It defines the style of labels used in difference arrow.
Example:
The position of total labels. The attribute val can have the following values (the positions are described for upright column charts and change correspondingly for rotated or flipped charts):
- accordingToSign
- Places total labels above the column for positive total values and below the column for negative total values. This is the default if the element is not present.
- awayFromBaseline
- Places total labels away from the baseline, i.e., the label is never placed between the column and the baseline.
The setting applies to floating columns in waterfall charts. Otherwise, both methods result in identical labels positions and sumLabelPosition is not relevant.
Example:
D8 Customizing lines
D8.1 lnfillDefault
The default line type used throughout think-cell. Using a lnRef element to reference one of the lines in the lnLst element the dash type and weight is defined. One of the solid colors in the fillLst element is referenced using solidfillRef to set the color.
Example:
If either the lnRef or the solidfillRef element is missing from one of the line style definitions below, the respective value from lnfillDefault is used.
The grid line style. It follows the same schema and rules as lnfillDefault above.
D8.2 Segment outlines
The outlines of segments are defined on the fill scheme level, i.e., every scheme from the color scheme control can also set a line style for segment outlines. The following elements are therefore child elements of a fillScheme element.
The default outline style for this color scheme.
The outline style for Mekko charts using the parent element’s color scheme. If omitted, the line style from lnfillSegment is used.
Here, noLine is used for segment outlines. However, as this is often not appropriate for Mekko charts, these use a thin solid line with the standard foreground color.
<fillScheme name="PowerPoint Theme" ...>
<lnfillSegment>
<noLine/>
</lnfillSegment>
<lnfillSegmentMekko>
<lnRef name="Solid 0.25 pt" />
<solidfillRef name="tx1" />
</lnfillSegmentMekko>
<fillRef name="accent1"/>
...
</fillScheme>
D8.3 Lines in charts
The element chart contains elements customizing lines in charts. The following elements are child elements of the element chart.
The default chart axis line style.
The category axis line style. Can be used to set a thicker baseline weight. If omitted, lnfillAxis is used.
The default line style used for difference arrows.
The line style used for CAGR arrows.
The line style used for total difference arrows.
The line style used for level difference arrows.
The line style used for extension lines of level difference arrows.
The line style used for connector lines.
The line style used for waterfall connector lines. If specified, the style overrides lnfillConnector. In addition to child elements lnRef and solidfillRef, lnfillConnectorWaterfall also supports a child element of <noLine /> to specify that waterfall connectors should not be visible, which is not possibly for lnfillConnector.
The line style used for value lines.
The line style used for trendlines.
The line style used for partitions.
The line style used for error bars.
The line style used for the Mekko chart ridge.
D8.4 Lines in the legend
The following element is a child element of the element legend.
The outline of the think-cell shape. When this element is not used, the shape has no outline. If the element is used, but only specifies the line style or the color, the property left unspecified is set by lnfillDefault as usual.
Example:
<legend>
<lnfill>
<lnRef name="Solid 0.75 pt" />
<solidfillRef name="Dark Gray" />
</lnfill>
</legend>
D9 Customizing Harvey ball and checkbox
D9.1 harveyball
A combined style for the Harvey ball consisting of the child elements fillRefCompleted, fillRefBackground, and lnfill to describe the color of the completion state and, the background color and the outline of the Harvey ball respectively. The required attribute sz defines the default font size of the Harvey ball in one hundredth of a point.
Example:
<harveyball sz="1400">
<fillRefCompleted name="Black"/>
<fillRefBackground name="Light Orange"/>
<lnfill>
<lnRef name="Solid 0.5 pt"/>
<solidfillRef name="accent1"/>
</lnfill>
</harveyball>
D9.2 fillRefCompleted
See fillRef.
D9.3 fillRefBackground
See fillRef.
D9.4 checkbox
A combined style for the Checkbox consisting of the child element fillRef to describe the background color of the Checkbox, the child element lnfill to describe the Checkbox’s outline and the list of symbols, characters and pictures in the child element choices. The required attribute sz defines the default font size of the Checkbox in one hundredth of a point. The size of each glyph has to be defined separately.
Example:
<checkbox sz="1400">
<fillRef name="No Fill"/>
<lnfill>
<noLine/>
</lnfill>
<choices>
<glyph hotkeys="VO1" sz="1867">
<solidfillRef name="Green"/>
<t>v</t>
</glyph>
<glyph hotkeys="X2" sz="1867">
<solidfillRef name="Pink"/>
<font typeface="Arial Unicode MS"/>
<t>✗</t>
</glyph>
<glyph hotkeys="Q3" sz="1867">
<font typeface="Arial Unicode MS"/>
<t>?</t>
</glyph>
<pic hotkeys="R4">
<Relationship Target="traffic_light_horizontal_red.emf"/>
</pic>
<glyph hotkeys=" 0" sz="1867">
<t> </t>
</glyph>
</choices>
</checkbox>
D9.5 choices
A list of choices to be used in a checkbox. The list can contain any number of the elements glyph for characters and symbols and pic for pictures.
D9.6 glyph
A glyph (character or symbol) that is used as one of the choices of a checkbox. The attribute hotkeys describes a list of hotkey characters that select the glyph. The child elements solidFillRef describes the color of the character or symbol, font its font and t the character or symbol itself. The required attribute sz defines the default font size of the character in one hundredth of a point, independent from the checkbox’s total size.
Example:
<glyph hotkeys="qQ3" sz="1867">
<solidfillRef name="Blue"/>
<font typeface="Arial Unicode MS"/>
<t>?</t>
</glyph>
D9.7 t
A character or symbol used in a glyph (itself used in a checkbox). The contents of this element can be a verbatim character (a), a Unicode symbol or a numeric character reference to a Unicode code point. The numeric reference can be given using decimal numbers (✗) or hexadecimal numbers (✗).
D9.8 pic
A picture that is used as one of the choices of a checkbox. The file name of an EMF file with the picture is given as the attribute Target of the child element Relationship. The attribute hotkeys describes a list of hotkey characters that select the picture.
Example:
To create an EMF file of any shape in PowerPoint:
- 1.
- Right-click the shape or selection of shapes.
- 2.
- Choose Save as Picture.
- 3.
- Make sure to save as type Enhanced Windows Metafile (*.emf).
Of course, you can also use a suitable graphics editor to create an EMF file.