Overview
The ChartBeans chart model describes all of the details of the chart. This includes colors, labels, value delimiters, fonts, borders, tip formats, etc. The ChartBeans engine understands XML definitions, and XML is what you will need to populate the chart model definition file that we referenced in the action sequence. Fortunately, this is not a completely manual process.
Important Note Regarding Feature Set Support
It is important to understand that the feature set described by the chart model is a SUPERSET of all supported rendering chart engines. So not every attribute will be honored by every rendering engine. The Javadoc for the renderers are a great place to look for the supported subset for the engine you are attempting to use. Also, check out the chartEngine attribute, which allows you to quickly switch between renderers to test attribute support.
Generating a Chart Model XML Definition
A variety of full-featured chart model definitions are attached to this documentation. You may use these definitions as templates to get started on creating your own custom detailed charts, or use the #ChartBeans Model Generator Utility to create a model with the latest set of features.
Sample Template Models
- bar chart
- line chart
- horizontal bar chart
- pie chart
- area chart
- dial chart
Once you have your model definition, you will want to refer to the ChartBeans chart model Javadoc, to investigate each attribute and decide which attributes to keep, modify or delete.
Key Attributes
While you can hunt through the Javadoc to read about the chart model, many of the elements and attributes of the model are named intuitively enough to deduce their meaning. Included here are some key attributes and their valid values that will speed your progress in getting the chart you are looking for.
Switching the Rendering Engine
At the start of this doc, we mentioned there are two renderer implementations for ChartBeans, JFreeChart and OpenFlashChart. You can easily switch between the two renderers using the chartEngine attribute of the chartModel element. This is convenient especially when you want to quickly (and visually) determine which attributes are supported by which renderer.
Element |
Attribute |
Description |
|---|---|---|
chartModel |
chartEngine |
Valid values are: JFreeChart, OpenFlashChart.Optional |
If you do not specify the chartEngine attribute, the system default renderer is used reference doc explaining the default config in chartbeans_config.xml.