Question

I’m attempting to create graph axis labels — the physical text. I know how to get the labels and print them using GDI, but my algorithm doesn’t do a great job of printing with fractional steps.

To print the labels, I currently get the first label and then add a step to each label that follows:

public static void PrintLabels(double start, double end, double step);
{
    double current = start;

    while (current <= end)
    {
        gfx.DrawString(current.ToString(),...); 
        current += step;
    }
}

Is there a number.ToString("something") that will print out decimals if they are there, otherwise just the whole part? I would first check if either start, end, or step contains a fractional part, then if yes, print all labels with a decimal.

Answer 1

See the custom format strings here :http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/0c899ak8.aspx
I think I understand your question… does

   current.ToString("#0.#");

give you the behavior you are asking for? I often use "#,##0.####" for similar labels.
Also, see this question: Formatting numbers with significant figures in C#