Re: [birt-dev] better graphics

[Henning von Bargen <H.vonBargen@xxxxxxx>]

This is all nice, but who is willing to add and *maintain* all this functionality?

We still need the existing chart library, because existing reports rely on it.

So if anyone wants to add new functionality, it should be added to the existing chart library, with a commitment to maintain it.

Instead of implementing a jack of all trades chart library, I think it is much more purposeful to create a show-case of reports and their output, demonstrating what can be achieved with a little bit of programming and creativity and how it is done.
 
Remember that the team of active committers is small.

Other chart libraries can and should be developed as separate plugins, maybe even commercial.

Regarding the SVG world map and the heat map examples: This can be done with BIRT already, albeit cumbersome:
- For the heat map, the background color can be set in the cell's onCreate event.
- The world map can be created by generating an SVG with any tool and adding the SVG as a dynamic image.

Other usages for SVG:
- In our reports, we are generating SVGs for rotated text (the RotatedTextItem creates bitmaps).
- An existing solution for control charts using JFreeChart was added to a report
- Once SVG also works for background images (it is now converted to a bitmap by BIRT), it can be used for watermarks or company paper.

Henning

Patrick Cornaz wrote:

PPS : heat maps would be nice too: