Adding graphs and pie charts

Graphs and pie charts enable users to view a graphical representation of data. Graphs and charts derive their look and feel (appearance of the display colors and fonts) from the theme.

For information about the theme and detailed instructions on how to modify one, see "About Centralized Themes."

For displaying graphs of data, the Presentation Framework uses the jbchartx.jar file from Visual JChart. Since the tool may change in a future version, you should perform your own evaluation of which charting tool to use. The Presentation Framework integrates with FusionCharts to generate charts.

Why fusionCharts

There are various advantages to integrating with FusionCharts for generating charts. Some of these are:
  • Renders animated and interactive charts, as opposed to static images rendered by traditional charting components.
  • Uses XML data interface that makes it cross-browser and cross-platform compatible. You can use it with any scripting language and database.
  • Has a small size that makes it suitable for dynamic and interactive charting, even on narrow bandwidth connections.
  • Enables you to dynamically change chart types and data on the client, without invoking any server requests.