ChartDirector 6.0 (Perl Edition)

Compact Line Chart




This example extends the Simple Line Chart example by decorating the chart using a number of chart formatting features.

In this example, random data is used. They are generated using a ChartDirector utility class RanTable. RanTable simulates a database table with the cells filled with random numbers. The columns of the table can be retrieved as arrays using RanTable.getCol.

Source Code Listing

[Standalone Version] perldemo\compactline.pl
#!/usr/bin/perl

# In the sample code, the ChartDirector for Perl module is assumed to be in "../lib"
use File::Basename;
use lib (dirname($0)."/../lib") =~ /(.*)/;

use perlchartdir;

#
#    We use a random number generator to simulate the data from 9:30am to 4:30pm with one data point
#    every 4 minutes. The total number of points during that period is 106.  (7 hours x 15
#    points/hour + 1)
#
my $noOfPoints = 106;

# Assume we have not reached the end of the day yet, and only 85 points are available. Create a
# random table object of 1 col x 85 rows, using 9 as seed.
my $rantable = new RanTable(9, 1, 85);

# Set the 1st column to start with 1800 and with random delta from -5 to 5.
$rantable->setCol(0, 1800, -5, 5);

# Get the data as the 1st column of the random table
my $data = $rantable->getCol(0);

# The x-axis labels for the chart
my $labels = ["-", "10am", "-", " ", "-", "12am", "-", " ", "-", "2pm", "-", " ", "-", "4pm", "-"];

#
#    Now we obtain the data into arrays, we can start to draw the chart using ChartDirector
#

# Create a XYChart object of size 180 x 180 pixels with a blue background (0x9c9cce)
my $c = new XYChart(180, 180, 0x9c9cce);

# Add titles to the top and bottom of the chart using 7.5pt Arial font. The text is white 0xffffff
# on a deep blue 0x31319C background.
$c->addTitle2($perlchartdir::Top, "STAR TECH INDEX  2003-01-28", "arial.ttf", 7.5, 0xffffff,
    0x31319c);
$c->addTitle2($perlchartdir::Bottom, "LATEST  STI:1809.41 (+14.51)", "arial.ttf", 7.5, 0xffffff,
    0x31319c);

# Set the plotarea at (31, 21) and of size 145 x 124 pixels, with a pale yellow (0xffffc8)
# background.
$c->setPlotArea(31, 21, 145, 124, 0xffffc8);

# Add custom text at (176, 21) (top right corner of plotarea) using 11pt Times Bold Italic font/red
# (0xc09090) color
$c->addText(176, 21, "Chart Demo", "timesbi.ttf", 11, 0xc09090)->setAlignment(
    $perlchartdir::TopRight);

# Use 7.5pt Arial as the y axis label font
$c->yAxis()->setLabelStyle("", 7.5);

# Set the labels on the x axis by spreading the labels evenly between the first point (index = 0)
# and the last point (index = noOfPoints - 1)
$c->xAxis()->setLinearScale(0, $noOfPoints - 1, $labels);

# Use 7.5pt Arial as the x axis label font
$c->xAxis()->setLabelStyle("", 7.5);

# Add a deep blue (0x000080) line layer to the chart
$c->addLineLayer($data, 0x000080);

# Output the chart
$c->makeChart("compactline.png")

[CGI Version] perldemo_cgi\compactline.pl
#!/usr/bin/perl

# In the sample code, the ChartDirector for Perl module is assumed to be in "../lib"
use File::Basename;
use lib (dirname($0)."/../lib") =~ /(.*)/;

use perlchartdir;

#
#    We use a random number generator to simulate the data from 9:30am to 4:30pm with one data point
#    every 4 minutes. The total number of points during that period is 106.  (7 hours x 15
#    points/hour + 1)
#
my $noOfPoints = 106;

# Assume we have not reached the end of the day yet, and only 85 points are available. Create a
# random table object of 1 col x 85 rows, using 9 as seed.
my $rantable = new RanTable(9, 1, 85);

# Set the 1st column to start with 1800 and with random delta from -5 to 5.
$rantable->setCol(0, 1800, -5, 5);

# Get the data as the 1st column of the random table
my $data = $rantable->getCol(0);

# The x-axis labels for the chart
my $labels = ["-", "10am", "-", " ", "-", "12am", "-", " ", "-", "2pm", "-", " ", "-", "4pm", "-"];

#
#    Now we obtain the data into arrays, we can start to draw the chart using ChartDirector
#

# Create a XYChart object of size 180 x 180 pixels with a blue background (0x9c9cce)
my $c = new XYChart(180, 180, 0x9c9cce);

# Add titles to the top and bottom of the chart using 7.5pt Arial font. The text is white 0xffffff
# on a deep blue 0x31319C background.
$c->addTitle2($perlchartdir::Top, "STAR TECH INDEX  2003-01-28", "arial.ttf", 7.5, 0xffffff,
    0x31319c);
$c->addTitle2($perlchartdir::Bottom, "LATEST  STI:1809.41 (+14.51)", "arial.ttf", 7.5, 0xffffff,
    0x31319c);

# Set the plotarea at (31, 21) and of size 145 x 124 pixels, with a pale yellow (0xffffc8)
# background.
$c->setPlotArea(31, 21, 145, 124, 0xffffc8);

# Add custom text at (176, 21) (top right corner of plotarea) using 11pt Times Bold Italic font/red
# (0xc09090) color
$c->addText(176, 21, "Chart Demo", "timesbi.ttf", 11, 0xc09090)->setAlignment(
    $perlchartdir::TopRight);

# Use 7.5pt Arial as the y axis label font
$c->yAxis()->setLabelStyle("", 7.5);

# Set the labels on the x axis by spreading the labels evenly between the first point (index = 0)
# and the last point (index = noOfPoints - 1)
$c->xAxis()->setLinearScale(0, $noOfPoints - 1, $labels);

# Use 7.5pt Arial as the x axis label font
$c->xAxis()->setLabelStyle("", 7.5);

# Add a deep blue (0x000080) line layer to the chart
$c->addLineLayer($data, 0x000080);

# Output the chart
binmode(STDOUT);
print "Content-type: image/png\n\n";
print $c->makeChart2($perlchartdir::PNG);