NAME
Chart::Clicker - Powerful, extensible charting.
SYNOPSIS
use Chart::Clicker;
my $cc = Chart::Clicker->new;
my @values = (42, 25, 86, 23, 2, 19, 103, 12, 54, 9);
$cc->add_data('Sales', \@values);
# alternately, you can add data one bit at a time...
foreach my $v (@values) {
$cc->add_data('Sales', $v);
}
# Or, if you want to specify the keys you can use a hashref
my $data = { 12 => 123, 13 => 341, 14 => 1241 };
$cc->add_data('Sales', $data);
$cc->write_output('foo.png');
DESCRIPTION
Chart::Clicker aims to be a powerful, extensible charting package that
creates really pretty output. Charts can be saved in png, svg, pdf and
postscript format.
Clicker leverages the power of Graphics::Primitive to create snazzy
graphics without being tied to specific backend. You may want to begin
with Chart::Clicker::Tutorial.
For code examples see the examples repository on GitHub:
FEATURES
Renderers
Clicker supports the following renderers:
Line
StackedLine
Bar
StackedBar
Area
StackedArea
Bubble
CandleStick
Point
Pie
PolarArea
ADDING DATA
The synopsis shows the simple way to add data.
my @values = (42, 25, 86, 23, 2, 19, 103, 12, 54, 9);
foreach my $v (@values) {
$cc->add_data('Sales', $v);
}
This is a convenience method provided to make simple cases much simpler.
Adding multiple Series to a chart is as easy as changing the name
argument of "add_data". Each unique first argument will result in a
separate series. See the docs for "add_data" to learn more.
If you'd like to use the more advanced features of Clicker you'll need
to shake off this simple method and build Series & DataSets explicitly.
use Chart::Clicker::Data::Series;
use Chart::Clicker::Data::DataSet;
...
my $series = Chart::Clicker::Data::Series->new(
keys => [ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ],
values => [ 42, 25, 86, 23, 2, 19, 103, 12, 54, 9 ],
);
my $ds = Chart::Clicker::Data::DataSet->new(series => [ $series ]);
$cc->add_to_datasets($ds);
This used to be the only way to add data, but repeated requests to make
the common case easier resulted in the inclusion of "add_data".
COOKBOOK
Check the cookbook at
CONTEXTS
The normal use case for a chart is a couple of datasets on the same
axes. Sometimes you want to chart one or more datasets on different
axes. A common need for this is when you are comparing two datasets of
vastly different scale such as the number of employees in an office
(1-10) to monthly revenues (10s of thousands). On a normal chart the
number of employees would show up as a flat line at the bottom of the
chart.
To correct this, Clicker has contexts. A context is a pair of axes, a
renderer and a name. The name is the 'key' by which you will refer to
the context.
my $context = Chart::Clicker::Context->new( name => 'sales' );
$clicker->add_to_contexts($context);
$dataset->context('sales');
$clicker->add_to_datasets($dataset);
New contexts provide a fresh domain and range axis and default to a Line
renderer.
Caveat: Clicker expects that the default context (identified by the
string "default") will always be present. It is from this context that
some of Clicker's internals draw their values. You should use the
default context unless you need more than one, in which case you should
use "default" as the base context.
FORMATS & OUTPUT
Clicker supports PNG, SVG, PDF and PostScript output. To change your
output type, specificy it when you create your Clicker object:
my $cc = Chart::Clicker->new(format => 'pdf', ...);
# ...
$cc->write_output('chart.pdf');
If you are looking to get a scalar of the output for use with HTTP or
similar things, you can use:
# ... make your chart
$cc->draw;
my $image_data = $cc->data;
If you happen to be using Catalyst then take a look at
Catalyst::View::Graphics::Primitive.
ATTRIBUTES
contexts
Set/Get the contexts for this chart.
datasets
Get/Set the datasets for this chart.
format
Get the format for this Chart. Required in the constructor. Must be on
of Png, Pdf, Ps or Svg.
legend
Set/Get the legend that will be used with this chart.
legend_position
The position the legend will be added. Should be one of north, south,
east, west or center as required by Layout::Manager::Compass.
grid_over
Flag controlling if the grid is rendered over the data. Defaults to 0.
You probably want to set the grid's background color to an alpha of 0 if
you enable this flag.
title
Set/Get the title component for this chart. This is a
Graphics::Primitive::TextBox, not a string. To set the title of a chart
you should access the TextBox's "text" method.
$cc->title->text('A Title!');
$cc->title->font->size(20);
# etc, etc
If the title has text then it is added to the chart in the position
specified by "title_position".
You should consult the documentation for Graphics::Primitive::TextBox
for things like padding and text rotation. If you are adding it to the
top and want some padding between it and the plot, you can:
$cc->title->padding->bottom(5);
title_position
The position the title will be added. Should be one of north, south,
east, west or center as required by Layout::Manager::Compass.
Note that if no angle is set for the title then it will be changed to
-1.5707 if the title position is east or west.
METHODS
new
Creates a new Chart::Clicker object. If no format, width and height are
specified then defaults of Png, 500 and 300 are chosen, respectively.
add_data ($name, $data)
Convenience method for adding data to the chart. Can be called one of
three ways.
scalar
Passing a name and a scalar will "add" the scalar data to that
series' data.
$cc->add_data('Sales', 1234);
$cc->add_data('Sales', 1235);
This will result in a Series names 'Sales' with two values.
arrayref
Passing a name and an arrayref works much the same as the scalar
method discussed above, but appends the supplied arrayref to the
existing one. It may be mixed with the scalar method.
$cc->add_data('Sales', \@some_sales);
$cc->add_data('Sales', \@some_more_sales);
# This works still!
$cc->add_data('Sales', 1234);
hashref
This allows you to pass both keys and add in all at once, but it's
an all-or-nothing thing. Subsequent calls with the same name will
overwrite previous calls.
$cc->add_data('Sales', { 2009 => 1234, 2010 => 1235 });
# Overwrites last call!
$cc->add_data('Sales', { 2011 => 1234, 2012 => 1235 });
add_to_contexts
Add the specified context to the chart.
add_to_datasets
Add the specified dataset (or arrayref of datasets) to the chart.
add_to_markers
Add the specified marker to the chart.
color_allocator
Set/Get the color_allocator for this chart.
data
Returns the data for this chart as a scalar. Suitable for 'streaming' to
a client.
draw
Draw this chart.
get_datasets_for_context
Returns an arrayref containing all datasets for the given context. Used
by renderers to get a list of datasets to chart.
inside_width
Get the width available in this container after taking away space for
insets and borders.
inside_height
Get the height available in this container after taking away space for
insets and borders.
marker_overlay
Set/Get the marker overlay object that will be used if this chart has
markers. This is lazily constructed to save time.
set_renderer ($renderer_object, [ $context ]);
Sets the renderer on the specified context. If no context is provided
then 'default' is assumed.
write
This method is passed through to the underlying driver. It is only
necessary that you call this if you manually called "draw" beforehand.
You likely want to use "write_output".
write_output ($path)
Write the chart output to the specified location. Output is written in
the format provided to the constructor (which defaults to Png).
Internally calls "draw" for you. If you use this method, do not call
"draw" first!
$c->write_output('/path/to/the.png');
AUTHOR
Cory G Watson
CONTRIBUTORS
Many thanks to the individuals who have contributed various bits:
Ash Berlin
Brian Cassidy
Guillermo Roditi
Torsten Schoenfeld
Yuval Kogman
SOURCE
Chart::Clicker is on github:
http://github.com/gphat/chart-clicker/tree/master
LICENSE
You can redistribute and/or modify this code under the same terms as
Perl itself.