RCHART for Php, User Guide

Copyright 2005, J4L Components (http://www.java4less.com)
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RChart , first steps.

• Introduction
• Installation
• Where to start
• Format of the parameters

Introduction

RChart for php is a script that will create more than 18 different types of charts and combinations of them:

• linechart
• barchart
• piechart
• bubblechart
• gaugechart
• radarchart
• columnchart
• OHLC
• Candlestick
• linechart 3D
• barchart 3D
• piechart 3D
• curves (3 different types)
• scatterchart
• eventchart
  
• ...

The product can also create image maps so you can add tips and html links to your charts. The image map feature also allows you to create drill-down charts.

Furthermore the charts support a large number of features:

• logarithmic scales.
• dates in scales.
• data population from databases
• Any number of axis
• Target zones
• Label definition language
• configuration of all fonts, lines and colors.
• images.
• second Y axis
• X axis on top
• exporting to png, jpg or png
• ...

The charts can be created in 2 ways:

• using parameters so you do not have to worry about the api of the classes.This option requires very little programming.
• using php code so you can access all classes and properties. This option can be used for advanced users and it is more flexible.

All examples in this tutorial contain the list of parameters used and the equivalent php code.

Installation

RChart for Php requires has the following requirements:

• A working PHP4 system
• GD library. It’s usually bundled into PHP.
• FreeType Library, if you want to use True Type fonts. Also bundled in recent PHP distributions.
• Support for specific image formats such as GIF or JPEG if you want to use them. Default is PNG. In recent PHP versions you will likely have at least PNG and JPEG

Installation:

• Configure your web server to allow some directory to allocate a PHP application (make sure you can acces this directory using an appropriate URL from your browser, make sure that files with .php extension are parsed through the PHP interpreter, etc. )
• Uncompress the provided distribution file into this directory. [ Advanced users: Alternatively you can place it outside the web server tree. Then you may copy demonstration files to the web accesible directory. In such case you should change the initial include_path setting or configure otherwise the PHP include path to the distribution “inc” directory, as it contains all necessary program files. ]

Where to start

As starting point we recommend you not to create a chart from scratch but to take one of the examples we provide and start working by modifying them.

There is a file called getChart.php which will allow you to create charts without any programming. This file takes the chart parameters and creates the chart image. You can can pass the chart parameters in 2 ways:

• as part of the request (either GET or POST).
• as a separate file or URL.

For example:

http://www.server.com/getChart.php?DATAFILE=data.txt

will read the chart parameters from the file "data.txt". The parameters supported by getChart.php are:

• DATAFILE. Local file or url where the chart parameters are to be found.
• WIDTH, HEIGHT: size of the chart
• TYPE: type of image: png (default), gif or jpg.
• OUTPUT: type of output: image (default) or imagemap (use to create a html image map).
• MAPNAME: name of the image map to create (only used if OUTPUT=imagemap).

Tip: take one of our examples (barchart.txt) , copy it to your server and try it:

http://www.server.com/getChart.php?DATAFILE=http://www.server.com/barchart.txt

Format of the parameters

There are some parameters that have a special format:

• Colors: valid values are:
  
  RED
  WHITE
  GREEN
  BLUE
  YELLOW
  GRAY
  DARKGRAY
  BLACK
  LIME
  OLIVE
  MAROON
  NAVY
  PURPLE
  TELA
  FUCHSIA
  AQUA
  ALICEBLUE
  ANTIQUEWHITE
  AQUAMARINE
  AZURE
  BEIGE
  BLUEVIOLET
  BROWN
  BORLYWOOD
  CORAL
  CYAN
  DARKGOLDENROD
  DARKGREEN
  DARKOLIVEGREEN
  DARKORANGE
  DARKORCHID
  DARKSALMON
  DARKTURQUOISE
  DARKVIOLET
  DEEPPINK
  DEEPSKYBLUE
  FORESTGREEN
  GOLD
  GOLDENROD
  GREENYELLOW
  HOTPINK
  INDIANRED
  IVORY
  LAVENDER
  LAWNGREEN
  LIGHTBLUE
  LIGHTCORAL
  LIGHTCYAN
  LIGHTGRAY
  LIGHTPINK
  LIGHTSALMON
  LIGHTSKYBLUE
  LIGHTYELLO
  LIMEGREEN
  MAGENTA
  MEDIUMBLUE
  MEDIUMPURPLE
  MIDNIGHTBLUE
  ORANGE
  ORANGERED
  ORCHID
  PALEGREEN
  PALETURQUOISE
  PALEVIOLETRED
  PINK
  PLUM
  PURPLE
  SALMON
  SEAGREEN
  SIENNA
  SKYBLUE
  SPRINGGREEN
  TURQUOISE
  VIOLET
  YELLOWGREEN
  
  You can also use the comma separated RGB value of a color as parameter. For example #FF00FF is red (RGB format).

  You can define transparent colors in the following way (PHP 4 >= 4.3.2 only ):

  <color number>|<transparency>
  
  where <transparency> is a value between 127 (full transparent) and 0(opaque). You can use 60 for semi-transparent colors.
  
  for example:
  
  #FF0000|60
  

• Line styles have the format <width>|<color>|<style>. Style can be LINE, DASHED or DOTS. Example: "1|RED|LINE"
• Fonts have the format <font name>|<size>. If you use one of the built-in fonts: Default-1, Default-2 to Default-5, you do not have to specify the size. You can also use TTF fonts, the files must be located in the "c:/windows/fonts" or "./fonts" directory. Examples:
  FONT=Default-1
  FONT=arial|10
  FONT=/myfonts/arial.ttf|10
  
• Fill style: there are several options:
  • <color>: for plain color filling.
  • <color>|<transparentcy>: for transparent color filling. <transparency> is a value between 127(full transparent) and 0(opaque).
    
  • <colorFrom>:<colorTo>:<orientation>: for gradient filling. <orientation> can be VERTICAL or HORIZONTAL. The fill style of following bar has been defined with "RED:ORANGE:HORIZONTAL".
    
    
    
    as you can see the color changes from the <colorFrom> to the <colorTo>. Gradients can be used for bars only, not for areacharts.
    
    
  • <imageFile>. For pattern filling. The following area chart uses a pattern filling defined as "pattern1.gif"
    
    
• List of values. List of values a separated by "|" , only certain parameters like FiIll styles use another separator.