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library to display graphs [message #1006673]

Fri, 01 February 2013 06:41

Eclipse User

Hi there,
I am looking for a library that can handle the display of graphs. I just need simple graphs with labeling and maybe a a "tooltip" if I hover over a certain point on the graph. I don't need diagrams or charts. Is Birt the right tool for me? And is there a difference between Birt and Birt designer?

I tried to figure it out myself, but I can't get it running.
First of all, I can't find the link with which I can download v4.2. Here http://wiki.eclipse.org/BIRT_Update_Site_URL only 3.7 is mentioned.

Also I can't find any good documentation on how to get startet. http://www.eclipse.org/articles/article.php?file=Article-BIRTChartEngine/index.html helps a little, but there is no complete example code. And when I try to put some of the basic classes of com.ibm.examples.chart.zip in my own project it doen't work either, because this:

chart.getPlot().setBackground(ColorDefinitionImpl.ORANGE());

causes this:

Access restriction: The method setBackground(Fill) from the type Block is not accessible due to restriction on required library E:\eclipse42\plugins\org.eclipse.birt.chart.engine_3.7.2.v20120213.jar

Actually I wanted to use JFreeChart, but I heard that the SWT-Connection is not beeing developed any further.
http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/message.php?msg_id=24569902

Re: library to display graphs [message #1006757 is a reply to message #1006673]

Fri, 01 February 2013 11:54

Eclipse User

You can use BIRT to do this and it is ideally suited for it. You can use the whole designer or just the chart engine. You will find the designer is much easier to use. To do this you need to download the allinone designer or use the update site. 4.2 is shown below:

http://download.eclipse.org/birt/update-site/4.2

You will also need to the runtime download, but how do you plan on deploying?

Jason

Re: library to display graphs [message #1006830 is a reply to message #1006757]

Sat, 02 February 2013 09:51

Eclipse User

Okay, that sounds good.
So I need it to display a couple of values that are calculated in the application. Its just a feature of my application, not the main aspect.
So .. when I heard designer, I think of some more or less static UI, which doesn't need to change during the runtime. Is this the case?

and...I also need what? I dont get your last sentence Razz

Edit: what are those reports actually? It apears to me, that with Birt I create a stand-alone-graph application rather than that it's a bib that I can include in my application.
Is there sth like:

Graph graph = new Graph (parent, BIRT.LINEGRAPH);
graph.setData(...)

?

[Updated on: Sat, 02 February 2013 11:04] by Moderator

Re: library to display graphs [message #1007408 is a reply to message #1006830]

Tue, 05 February 2013 13:44

Eclipse User

You can just use the chart engine api similar to what you posted in the example. The only reason I mentioned the designer is it is very simple to use and allows you to update your report anytime you want without having to change code. For example if you use the BIRT Chart api in your webapp you would code a pie chart and attach data to it. If you decide to change to a bar chart later, this will require a recompile. If you used a report, which is just an xml document that describes the data source and chart in your case, then this would just require swapping the xml report design file.

Jason

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