diff -r 4183f1e179b5 ga-samples/Ensemble/src/ensemble/samples/charts/bar/AdvancedBarChartSample.java
--- a/ga-samples/Ensemble/src/ensemble/samples/charts/bar/AdvancedBarChartSample.java	Mon Jul 09 13:15:39 2012 -0700
+++ b/ga-samples/Ensemble/src/ensemble/samples/charts/bar/AdvancedBarChartSample.java	Fri Jul 13 12:15:19 2012 -0700
@@ -121,12 +121,19 @@
             }
         };
         EventHandler<ActionEvent> addSeries = new EventHandler<ActionEvent>() {
+            final String[] years = {"2007", "2008", "2009"};
             @Override public void handle(ActionEvent actionEvent) {
                 XYChart.Series<String,Number> series = new XYChart.Series<String,Number>();
                 series.setName("Data Series 1");
                 CategoryAxis cAxis = ((CategoryAxis)bc.getXAxis());
-                for (String category : cAxis.getCategories()) {
-                    series.getData().add(new XYChart.Data<String,Number>(category, Math.random()*3800));
+                if (!cAxis.getCategories().isEmpty()) {
+                    for (String category : cAxis.getCategories()) {
+                        series.getData().add(new XYChart.Data<String,Number>(category, Math.random()*3800));
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    for (String cat : years) {
+                        series.getData().add(new XYChart.Data<String,Number>(cat, Math.random()*3800));
+                    }
                 }
                 bc.getData().add(series);
             }