NAME

VS::Chart - Simple module to create beautifully looking charts

SYNOPSIS

 use VS::Chart;

 my $chart = VS::Chart->new;

 .. Add data to $chart here ...
 $chart->add(@row);

 $chart->render( type => "line", as => "png", to => "my_chart.png" );

PHILOSOPHY

• Simple interface

• Defaults should look great

• DWIW

• Extendable implementation

DESCRIPTION

This module produces charts from data. Such charts might be line, pie and boxes. Currently only linecharts are implemented. The renderer uses Cairo Graphics (http://www.cairographics/), a graphics library for creating vector graphics, to produce crisp and correct output. Currently we limit output support to PNG, PDF and SVG altho Cairo may support more.

INTERFACE

CLASS METHODS

new ( %ATTRIBUTES, [ no_defaults => 1 ] )

Creates a new chart definition and sets any attributes passed in %ATTRIBUTES. If no_defaults is specified the chart will not be populated with default values when rendered.

supported_types

Returns a list of supported renderers.

INSTANCE METHODS

set ( %ATTRIBUTES )

Sets a number of attributes. It is possible to set an attribute for a specific dataset by prepending the key with <column<gt>:. Columns starts at 0.

get ( ATTRIBUTE )

Get the value of an attribute.

has ( ATTRIBUTE )

Check if an attribute exists.

add ( @ROW )

Adds the data in @ROW to the chart. If the first element is a Date::Simple object the first column will be marked as the index column provider and sorted accordingly when rendered.

render ( type => TYPE, to => PATH | CODE, [ as => FORMAT ] )

Renders the chart using the renderer specified by TYPE and saves the output as PATH. By default the FORMAT is png but pdf or svg may be used instead.

If the format is png it's possible to pass a CODE reference instead of a path in to. This will be called with the reference itself as the first argument and data as second. It may be called several times during rendering.

dataset ( COLUMN )

Returns the VS::Chart::Dataset-instance representing the data for the given column. Return undef if no such column has been added yet via add.

rows

Returns the number of rows of data added to the chart.

BUGS AND LIMITATIONS

Please report any bugs or feature requests to bug-vs-chart@rt.cpan.org, or through the web interface at http://rt.cpan.org.

SUPPORT

Commercial support is available from Versed Solutions. Contact author for details.

AUTHOR

Claes Jakobsson, Versed Solutions <claesjac@cpan.org>

LICENCE AND COPYRIGHT

Copyright (c) 2007-2008, Versed Solutions <info@versed.se>. All rights reserved.

This software is released under the MIT license cited below.

The "MIT" License

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.