This page summarize some of the basic concepts of pCharts graphics.


pChart is composed of classes, to add the objects definition in you codes, you must add some includes in your projects headers. In PHP, adding external files is pretty easy using the include() function. Sometimes, you may prefer the require_once() function.

All your scripts will start by the following lines :

 /* Include all the classes */
 include("class/pDraw.class.php");
 include("class/pImage.class.php");
 include("class/pData.class.php");

Note that if you need to use sessions, they must be initiated before this line to avoid messages like :

Cannot send session cookie - headers already sent by [..]

There are many ways to populate your dataset. The easiest way is to use the addPoints method of the pData class. With this method you can add values one by one or directly provide an array containing the data that you want to chart.

 /* Create your dataset object */
 $myData = new pData();

 /* Add data in your dataset */
 $myData->addPoints(array(VOID,3,4,3,5));

In this example we are providing 5 values, the 4^th one is missing and replaced by the VOID keyword.


Next step is to create your drawing object. The following will create a 700x230px picture :

 /* Create a pChart object and associate your dataset */
 $myPicture = new pImage(700,230,$myData);

Before calling any scaling or charting function, you must define the chart area boundaries.

 /* Define the boundaries of the graph area */
 $myPicture->setGraphArea(60,40,670,190);

The default font may look a bit "agressive", hopefully the web is full of free nice-looking TTF files. You can set a different font, all the function that are writting text will use it.

 /* Choose a nice font */
 $myPicture->setFontProperties(array("FontName"=>"fonts/Forgotte.ttf","FontSize"=>11));

Scale computing is mandatory before calling the charting functions. You can define which scaling mode to use (classical, add values) and the way you want to display and rotate the axis.

 /* Draw the scale, keep everything automatic */
 $myPicture->drawScale();

It‘s now time to choose which kind of chart you‘ll draw. We‘ll use a spline here :

 /* Draw the scale, keep everything automatic */
 $myPicture->drawSplineChart();

You can now finalize your graph and send it to the user browser :

 /* Build the PNG file and send it to the web browser */
 $myPicture->Stroke();

As you‘ll see, this is a very basic example of what pChart can do for you. When you‘ll make your own scripts, you‘ll see that the most difficult thing is to figure out how you want to represent your data. pChart can do a lot of things for you, we invite you to walk in this documentation to use the full potential of this library.

 /* Include all the classes */ 
 include("class/pDraw.class.php"); 
 include("class/pImage.class.php"); 
 include("class/pData.class.php");

 /* Create your dataset object */ 
 $myData = new pData(); 
 
 /* Add data in your dataset */ 
 $myData->addPoints(array(VOID,3,4,3,5));

 /* Create a pChart object and associate your dataset */ 
 $myPicture = new pImage(700,230,$myData);

 /* Choose a nice font */
 $myPicture->setFontProperties(array("FontName"=>"fonts/Forgotte.ttf","FontSize"=>11));

 /* Define the boundaries of the graph area */
 $myPicture->setGraphArea(60,40,670,190);

 /* Draw the scale, keep everything automatic */ 
 $myPicture->drawScale();

 /* Draw the scale, keep everything automatic */ 
 $myPicture->drawSplineChart();

 /* Build the PNG file and send it to the web browser */ 
 $myPicture->Render("basic.png");