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Charts and Graphs - Bluff in Charts and Graphs 6.2

Same filename and directory in other branches
  1. 6 help/bluff.html
  2. 7 help/bluff.html

Library pages

For definitive info about Bluff library please see it's home page and it's reference page.

Installation

Since version 3.6.1 Bluff is dual licensed - MIT and GPL - so it's included with Charts and Graphs:

  • bluff-min.js
  • js-class.js

Unfortunately, to implement IE support Bluff needs excanvas.js from Google and excanvas.js is licensed under the Apache License so excanvas.js can't be distributed with Charts and Graphs code.
If you want IE support, please grab the excanvas_r3.zip file available at http://code.google.com/p/explorercanvas/downloads/list.
From this zipped file take excanvas.js or excanvas.compiled.js and place it at the DV_MODULE_PATH/apis/charts_graphs_bluff/bluff directory. Please remember to rename excanvas.compiled.js file to excanvas.js if you choose to use excanvas.compiled.js.

Usage

The quickest code to get something graphed using bluff:

<?php
function charts_graphs_test() {
  $canvas = charts_graphs_get_graph('bluff');

  $canvas->title = "Bluff Chart";
  $canvas->type = "line"; // a chart type supported by the charting engine. See further in the doc for the list.
  $canvas->y_legend = "Y Legend";
  $canvas->colour = '#D54C78';
  $canvas->theme = 'keynote';
  $canvas->series = array(
    'Some Value' => array(9,6,7,9,5,7,6,9,7),
    'Page Views' => array(6,7,9,5,7,6,9,7,3),
  );
  $canvas->x_labels = array('one', 'two', 'three', 'four', 'five', 'six', 'seven', 'eight', 'nine');

  $out = $canvas->get_chart();

  return $out;
}

Arbitrary parameters

Bluff implementation for Charts and Graphs supports the parameters general parameter. With it the user can set any parameter in Bluff as everything set in it will be passed to Bluff and will override any default setting or setting through the standard settings supported by Charts and Graphs.

The parameters option is an array where each key is the property name and each value is the value for the same property.

For function call, the key is the function name and the value should be an array. The contents of this array are the parameters to be sent to the function.

This way the user has complete control on what is being included on the charting call.

With great power comes great responsability.

As the ultimate control feature the parameters option intends to be, the values are passed absolutely unchanged as defined by the user. There is no urlencoding, quotes inclusion or any other safety net. The values should be set in a safe and complete manner.

Example

Property - setting bar width and spacing:

<php
$canvas->parameters['no_data_message'] = '"No data"';

will result in

g.no_data_message = "No data";

being included in the chart definition. Observe that the double quotes were included in the value passed to parameters.

Function - setting bar width and spacing:

<php
$canvas->parameters['set_margins'] = array(12);

will result in

g.set_margins(12);

being included in the chart definition.

Graph types supported

Bluff supports all main and all standardized graph types, except the donut graph type. It also supports the following graph types:

mini_bar
Bar graph suitable for small graphs.
mini_pie
Pie graph suitable for small graphs.
mini_side_bar
Side bar graph suitable for small graphs.

Special parameters

Charts and Graphs supports the following special parameters for Bluff:

orientation
the optional parameter orientation will cause Bluff to automatically pick data orientation when set to 'auto' which is the default value. When set to 'rows' Bluff will map rows as data series. When set to 'columns' Bluff will map columns as data series.

Unsupported properties

The Bluff charting library doesn't support the y_legend property.

Examples

The examples below will only work if you have the Bluff submodule configured correctly.

File

help/bluff.html
View source 
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Charts and Graphs - Bluff</title>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
  </head>
  <body>
    <h3>Library pages</h3>
    <p>For definitive info about Bluff library please see it's
      <a href="http://bluff.jcoglan.com">home page</a> and it's
      <a href="http://bluff.jcoglan.com/api.html">reference page</a>.</p>
    <h3>Installation</h3>
    <p>Since version 3.6.1 Bluff is dual licensed - MIT and GPL - so it's 
      included with Charts and Graphs:</p>
    <ul>
      <li>bluff-min.js</li>
      <li>js-class.js</li>
    </ul>
    <p>Unfortunately, to implement IE support Bluff needs excanvas.js from 
      Google and excanvas.js is licensed under the Apache License so excanvas.js 
      can't be distributed with Charts and Graphs code.<br />
      If you want IE support, please grab the excanvas_r3.zip file available at
      http://code.google.com/p/explorercanvas/downloads/list.<br />
      From this zipped file take excanvas.js or excanvas.compiled.js and place 
      it at the DV_MODULE_PATH/apis/charts_graphs_bluff/bluff directory. Please 
      remember to rename excanvas.compiled.js file to excanvas.js if you choose 
      to use excanvas.compiled.js.</p>
    <h3>Usage</h3>
    <p>The quickest code to get something graphed using bluff:</p>
    <pre>
&lt;?php
function charts_graphs_test() {
  $canvas = charts_graphs_get_graph('bluff');

  $canvas->title = "Bluff Chart";
  $canvas->type = "line"; // a chart type supported by the charting engine. See further in the doc for the list.
  $canvas->y_legend = "Y Legend";
  $canvas->colour = '#D54C78';
  $canvas->theme = 'keynote';
  $canvas->series = array(
    'Some Value' => array(9,6,7,9,5,7,6,9,7),
    'Page Views' => array(6,7,9,5,7,6,9,7,3),
  );
  $canvas->x_labels = array('one', 'two', 'three', 'four', 'five', 'six', 'seven', 'eight', 'nine');

  $out = $canvas->get_chart();

  return $out;
}
</pre>
      <h4>Arbitrary parameters</h4>
      <p>Bluff implementation for Charts and Graphs supports the
        <i>parameters</i> general parameter. With it the user can set any
        parameter in Bluff as everything set in it will be passed to
        Bluff and will override any default setting or setting
        through the standard settings supported by Charts and Graphs.</p>
      <p>The <i>parameters</i> option is an array where each key is the
        property name and each value is the value for the same property.</p>
      <p>For function call, the key is the function name and the value should be
        an array. The contents of this array are the parameters to be sent to
        the function.</p>
      <p>This way the user has complete control on what is being included on the
        charting call.</p>
      <i>With great power comes great responsability.</i>
      <p>As the ultimate control feature the <i>parameters</i> option intends to
        be, the values are passed absolutely unchanged as defined by the user.
        There is no urlencoding, quotes inclusion or any other safety net. The
        values should be set in a safe and complete manner.</p>
      <h5>Example</h5>
      <p>Property - setting bar width and spacing:</p>
      <pre>
&lt;php
$canvas->parameters['no_data_message'] = '"No data"';
</pre>
      <p>will result in</p>
      <pre>
g.no_data_message = "No data";
</pre>
      <p>being included in the chart definition. Observe that the double quotes
        were included in the value passed to parameters.</p>
      <p>Function - setting bar width and spacing:</p>
      <pre>
&lt;php
$canvas->parameters['set_margins'] = array(12);
</pre>
      <p>will result in</p>
      <pre>
g.set_margins(12);
</pre>
      <p>being included in the chart definition.</p>
    <h3>Graph types supported</h3>
    <p>Bluff supports all <a href="general_reference#type">main</a> and all
      <a href="general_reference#other_standardized_types">standardized graph</a>
      types, except the donut graph type. It also supports the following graph
      types:</p>
    <dl>
      <dt>mini_bar</dt>
        <dd>Bar graph suitable for small graphs.</dd>
      <dt>mini_pie</dt>
        <dd>Pie graph suitable for small graphs.</dd>
      <dt>mini_side_bar</dt>
        <dd>Side bar graph suitable for small graphs.</dd>
    </dl>
    <h3>Special parameters</h3>
      <p>Charts and Graphs supports the following special parameters for Bluff:</p>
      <dl>
        <dt>orientation</dt>
          <dd>the optional parameter <b>orientation</b> will cause Bluff to 
            automatically pick data orientation when set to 'auto' which is the 
            default value. When set to 'rows' Bluff will map rows as data 
            series. When set to 'columns' Bluff will map columns as data 
            series.</dd>
      </dl>
    <h3>Unsupported properties</h3>
      <p>The Bluff charting library doesn't support the
        <a href="general_reference#y_legend">y_legend</a> property.</p>
    <h3>Examples</h3>
    <p>The examples below will only work if you have the Bluff submodule
      configured correctly.</p>
    <ul>
      <li><a href="/charts_graphs/test/bluff/line/Bluff - Line example">Line example</a></li>
      <li><a href="/charts_graphs/test/bluff/bar/Bluff - Bar example">Bar example</a></li>
      <li><a href="/charts_graphs/test/bluff/pie/Bluff - Pie example">Pie example</a></li>
    </ul>
  </body>
</html>