Not long ago adding a graph or chart to a web page or app requires a fair amount of planning information and instead is time consuming even for the most experienced people. However with the tools available today it is possible for almost anyone to add graphs and charts to web pages. With just a little bit of HTML, powerful graphs and charts can be added to web pages and / or applications.
Why use Graphs and Charts
The web is about making information available. Today's users often chase and demand that information be presented to them clearly and quickly. If your website has a message to convey, currently presented as a statistics table, there is a good chance you will benefit from using graphing and charting functionality. With a mathematical table most people find it difficult to see the meaning quickly, but if those figures are presented as a picture (i.e. a graph) almost everyone will quickly find the point. The other thing that introduces your knowledge about photos is both color and adds a touch of technology. People tend to rely more on information when presented in a fun, clear, and high quality way.
An easy way to make a graph
Now there are many graphing packages and charts on the market that make it quick and easy for you to build with high quality graphical images. The time saved in implementing the 'out of the box' solution is so great that even the most experienced professionals use these packages. In addition many graphing packages have a very low cost.
Before choosing a package there are a few things to consider. For example you just want to present a graphical image to your visitor or you would like a certain level of interaction. e.g. to make certain areas of the graph click or display pop-up data when a mouse passes a certain area. Another consideration is the source of your data. Is stored on a website, file or elsewhere. Ideally you would want a graph package that can download data directly from the source itself.
What Graphing Packages are available
At the time of writing there are many graphical solutions on the market that fall into the following technical categories: -
- Java Applet Graphing Solutions
This type of software, in addition to standard image capabilities, also provides interactive features such as a click-and-click link location and automatic mouse displays. These solutions can be installed on any web server without any server side configuration or setup.
- Java Servlet Graphing Solutions
These solutions are a powerful server side function. Although perhaps not for beginners they benefit greatly from the ‘web application’ developer.
- Flash Graphing Solutions
Flash Nature provides highly sophisticated graphical capabilities that have led to some of the most graphical looking solutions. Unfortunately technology can only work if the user has inserted a flash into his browser. Although very widespread there is still a large percentage of browsers that can view flash content.
- PHP Graphing Solutions
These are probably the easiest and most effective solutions. With these solutions it is possible for a complete novice to add graph functionality to its web page and applications. But make no mistake and they are very powerful giving excellent photo effects. Many web servers today can use this software without any additional configuration.
- ASP.NET Graphing Solutions
And these solutions provide excellent image effects. At the time of writing the number of web servers able to use these packages is much smaller than in other categories.
Creating a graph
With the right software package the process of adding a graph to a web page involves more than the following: -
1) Inserting a small piece of HTML into your webpage. (code is usually provided and all you have to do is ‘copy and paste’)
2) To set certain values in the configuration file (e.g. to sort objects such as graph colors and headings etc.)
3) To set certain values that tell the graph where it can get data
Although this is straight forward sometimes it can be a problem. The great advantage of using a good professional package is that help is at hand. If you get stuck in any category and just ask for help from a software provider, a good one will always be happy to help. Contrary to popular belief, good software companies respond to requests for technical assistance in a timely and efficient manner
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