README

NAME
    Chart::Clicker - Powerful, extensible charting.

SYNOPSIS
      use Chart::Clicker;

      my $cc = Chart::Clicker->new;

      my @values = (42, 25, 86, 23, 2, 19, 103, 12, 54, 9);
      $cc->add_data('Sales', \@values);

      # alternately, you can add data one bit at a time...
      foreach my $v (@values) {
        $cc->add_data('Sales', $v);
      }

      # Or, if you want to specify the keys you can use a hashref
      my $data = { 12 => 123, 13 => 341, 14 => 1241 };
      $cc->add_data('Sales', $data);

      $cc->write_output('foo.png');

DESCRIPTION
    Chart::Clicker aims to be a powerful, extensible charting package that
    creates really pretty output. Charts can be saved in png, svg, pdf and
    postscript format.

    Clicker leverages the power of Graphics::Primitive to create snazzy
    graphics without being tied to specific backend. You may want to begin
    with Chart::Clicker::Tutorial.

    For code examples see the examples repository on GitHub:
    <http://github.com/gphat/chart-clicker-examples/>

FEATURES
  Renderers
    Clicker supports the following renderers:

    Line
    StackedLine
    Bar
    StackedBar
    Area
    StackedArea
    Bubble
    CandleStick
    Point
    Pie
    PolarArea

ADDING DATA
    The synopsis shows the simple way to add data.

      my @values = (42, 25, 86, 23, 2, 19, 103, 12, 54, 9);
      foreach my $v (@values) {
        $cc->add_data('Sales', $v);
      }

    This is a convenience method provided to make simple cases much simpler.
    Adding multiple Series to a chart is as easy as changing the name
    argument of "add_data". Each unique first argument will result in a
    separate series. See the docs for "add_data" to learn more.

    If you'd like to use the more advanced features of Clicker you'll need
    to shake off this simple method and build Series & DataSets explicitly.

      use Chart::Clicker::Data::Series;
      use Chart::Clicker::Data::DataSet;

      ...

      my $series = Chart::Clicker::Data::Series->new(
        keys    => [ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ],
        values  => [ 42, 25, 86, 23, 2, 19, 103, 12, 54, 9 ],
      );

      my $ds = Chart::Clicker::Data::DataSet->new(series => [ $series ]);
 
      $cc->add_to_datasets($ds);

    This used to be the only way to add data, but repeated requests to make
    the common case easier resulted in the inclusion of "add_data".

COOKBOOK
    Check the cookbook at <http://www.onemogin.com/clicker/cookbook>

CONTEXTS
    The normal use case for a chart is a couple of datasets on the same
    axes. Sometimes you want to chart one or more datasets on different
    axes. A common need for this is when you are comparing two datasets of
    vastly different scale such as the number of employees in an office
    (1-10) to monthly revenues (10s of thousands). On a normal chart the
    number of employees would show up as a flat line at the bottom of the
    chart.

    To correct this, Clicker has contexts. A context is a pair of axes, a
    renderer and a name. The name is the 'key' by which you will refer to
    the context.

      my $context = Chart::Clicker::Context->new( name => 'sales' );
      $clicker->add_to_contexts($context);
  
      $dataset->context('sales');
  
      $clicker->add_to_datasets($dataset);

    New contexts provide a fresh domain and range axis and default to a Line
    renderer.

    Caveat: Clicker expects that the default context (identified by the
    string "default") will always be present. It is from this context that
    some of Clicker's internals draw their values. You should use the
    default context unless you need more than one, in which case you should
    use "default" as the base context.

FORMATS & OUTPUT
    Clicker supports PNG, SVG, PDF and PostScript output. To change your
    output type, specificy it when you create your Clicker object:

      my $cc = Chart::Clicker->new(format => 'pdf', ...);
      # ...
      $cc->write_output('chart.pdf');

    If you are looking to get a scalar of the output for use with HTTP or
    similar things, you can use:

      # ... make your chart
      $cc->draw;
      my $image_data = $cc->data;

    If you happen to be using Catalyst then take a look at
    Catalyst::View::Graphics::Primitive.

ATTRIBUTES
  contexts
    Set/Get the contexts for this chart.

  datasets
    Get/Set the datasets for this chart.

  format
    Get the format for this Chart. Required in the constructor. Must be on
    of Png, Pdf, Ps or Svg.

  legend
    Set/Get the legend that will be used with this chart.

  legend_position
    The position the legend will be added. Should be one of north, south,
    east, west or center as required by Layout::Manager::Compass.

  grid_over
    Flag controlling if the grid is rendered over the data. Defaults to 0.
    You probably want to set the grid's background color to an alpha of 0 if
    you enable this flag.

  title
    Set/Get the title component for this chart. This is a
    Graphics::Primitive::TextBox, not a string. To set the title of a chart
    you should access the TextBox's "text" method.

      $cc->title->text('A Title!');
      $cc->title->font->size(20);
      # etc, etc

    If the title has text then it is added to the chart in the position
    specified by "title_position".

    You should consult the documentation for Graphics::Primitive::TextBox
    for things like padding and text rotation. If you are adding it to the
    top and want some padding between it and the plot, you can:

      $cc->title->padding->bottom(5);

  title_position
    The position the title will be added. Should be one of north, south,
    east, west or center as required by Layout::Manager::Compass.

    Note that if no angle is set for the title then it will be changed to
    -1.5707 if the title position is east or west.

METHODS
  new
    Creates a new Chart::Clicker object. If no format, width and height are
    specified then defaults of Png, 500 and 300 are chosen, respectively.

  add_data ($name, $data)
    Convenience method for adding data to the chart. Can be called one of
    three ways.

    scalar
        Passing a name and a scalar will "add" the scalar data to that
        series' data.

          $cc->add_data('Sales', 1234);
          $cc->add_data('Sales', 1235);

        This will result in a Series names 'Sales' with two values.

    arrayref
        Passing a name and an arrayref works much the same as the scalar
        method discussed above, but appends the supplied arrayref to the
        existing one. It may be mixed with the scalar method.

          $cc->add_data('Sales', \@some_sales);
          $cc->add_data('Sales', \@some_more_sales);
          # This works still!
          $cc->add_data('Sales', 1234);

    hashref
        This allows you to pass both keys and add in all at once, but it's
        an all-or-nothing thing. Subsequent calls with the same name will
        overwrite previous calls.

          $cc->add_data('Sales', { 2009 => 1234, 2010 => 1235 });
          # Overwrites last call!
          $cc->add_data('Sales', { 2011 => 1234, 2012 => 1235 });

  add_to_contexts
    Add the specified context to the chart.

  add_to_datasets
    Add the specified dataset (or arrayref of datasets) to the chart.

  add_to_markers
    Add the specified marker to the chart.

  color_allocator
    Set/Get the color_allocator for this chart.

  data
    Returns the data for this chart as a scalar. Suitable for 'streaming' to
    a client.

  draw
    Draw this chart.

  get_datasets_for_context
    Returns an arrayref containing all datasets for the given context. Used
    by renderers to get a list of datasets to chart.

  inside_width
    Get the width available in this container after taking away space for
    insets and borders.

  inside_height
    Get the height available in this container after taking away space for
    insets and borders.

  marker_overlay
    Set/Get the marker overlay object that will be used if this chart has
    markers. This is lazily constructed to save time.

  set_renderer ($renderer_object, [ $context ]);
    Sets the renderer on the specified context. If no context is provided
    then 'default' is assumed.

  write
    This method is passed through to the underlying driver. It is only
    necessary that you call this if you manually called "draw" beforehand.
    You likely want to use "write_output".

  write_output ($path)
    Write the chart output to the specified location. Output is written in
    the format provided to the constructor (which defaults to Png).
    Internally calls "draw" for you. If you use this method, do not call
    "draw" first!

      $c->write_output('/path/to/the.png');

AUTHOR
    Cory G Watson <gphat@cpan.org>

CONTRIBUTORS
    Many thanks to the individuals who have contributed various bits:

    Ash Berlin

    Brian Cassidy

    Guillermo Roditi

    Torsten Schoenfeld

    Yuval Kogman

SOURCE
    Chart::Clicker is on github:

      http://github.com/gphat/chart-clicker/tree/master

LICENSE
    You can redistribute and/or modify this code under the same terms as
    Perl itself.