This tutorial assumes you have already downloaded and installed at least Version 6.0 of the graphing package.
The latest release can be downloaded here

It is also assumed that you have a basic understanding of how to add a graph to a web page. If not then please see the following page:-
Adding Graphs to Web Pages

This tutorial shows how to create a dynamic data interface script. The script can be written in any server side language and designed to connect to virtually any data source.

For the purposes of this tutorial we will be using PHP and connecting to MySQL database. At runtime the graphing software will make a URL call to the interface script which in turn will return the data.

Directory Structure

In this tutorial you will be create a web page and a couple of configuration files. For the purposes of this tutorial you should create a directory /graphtest/ directory under your web root directory.

This tutorial also assumes that you installed the graphing software directly under the web root
(e.g. /webRootFilePath/jpowered/graph/ )

Step 1 - Create a test MySQL Database

For the purpose of this tutorial the following MySQL database should be created.-

CREATE DATABASE graphtestdb; USE graphtestdb; CREATE TABLE sales (month INT PRIMARY KEY, productx REAL, producty REAL, productz REAL);

Now add the following data to the 'sales' table:-

INSERT INTO sales VALUES(1,345,100,800); INSERT INTO sales VALUES(2,445,200,740); INSERT INTO sales VALUES(3,945,300,680); INSERT INTO sales VALUES(4,1145,400,697); INSERT INTO sales VALUES(5,780,450,524); INSERT INTO sales VALUES(6,640,700,100);

Step 2 - Create a Custom Data Interface Script

Create a file named dataInterface.php which contains the following:-

<?php $dataLines = array(); // connect to the database $dbLink = mysql_connect("localhost:3306", [USER], [PASSWORD]); if (!$dbLink) { print "Could not connect: ".mysql_error(); exit(0); } if (!mysql_select_db("graphtestdb", $dbLink)) { print "Could not select database: ".mysql_error(); exit(0); } // Contstruct the data lines for ProductX, ProductY and Product Z $sql = "SELECT productx,producty,productz FROM sales ORDER BY month "; $result = mysql_query($sql, $dbLink); $dataNum = 1; while ( $row = mysql_fetch_array($result,MYSQL_ASSOC) ) { $dataLines[] = "data".$dataNum."series1: ".$row["productx"]; $dataLines[] = "data".$dataNum."series2: ".$row["producty"]; $dataLines[] = "data".$dataNum."series3: ".$row["productz"]; $dataNum++; } // release the result set and close the databse connection mysql_free_result($result); mysql_close($dbLink); // output the data to the graphing software for ($i=0;$i<count($dataLines);$i++) { print $dataLines[$i]."\n"; } // all finished so exit exit(0); ?>

Replace [USER] and [PASSWORD] with valid logon details for your MySQL server.

Place the file on your web server in a directory /graphtest/ under your web root directory

Note: The above assumes that your MySQL server is running on the same machine as your Web Server. If this is not the case then you will need to replace "localhost:3306" with the correct route to your MySQL server.

Step 3 - Create the config file

Create a file named 'config.txt' and add the following contents to it. This file should then be placed in the /graphtest/ directory.

width: 600 height: 400 quality: very high backgroundcolor: white grid: true axis: true 3d: true ndecplaces: 0 thousandseparator: , barspacing: 5 barwidth: 70 displaybarvalues: true gradientfill: true series1: #BB0000|Product X|left|8|triangle|true|solid| series2: #0000BB|Product Y|left|8|box|true|solid| series3: #FF8800|Product Z|left|8|diamond|true|solid| gridbgcolor: #FFFFCC axiscolor: dark grey floorcolor: light gray gridcolor: grey gridstyle: dotted ylables: true yfont: arial yfontsize: 11 yfontbold: bold yfontitalic: false ylabelcolor: black ylabelpre: $ ylabelpost: titletext: Product Sales by Month titlefont: arial titlefontsize: 14 titlefontbold: bold titlefontitalic: false titlecolor: #8080B0 titleposition: -1,55 xtitletext: Month xtitlefont: arial xtitlefontsize: 11 xtitlefontbold: bold xtitlefontitalic: false xtitlecolor: #8080B0 xtitleposition: 255,-1 ytitletext: Value ytitlefont: arial ytitlefontsize: 11 ytitlefontbold: bold ytitlefontitalic: false ytitlecolor: #8080B0 ytitleposition: -1,230 xlabels: January|February|March|April|May|June| xlabelorientation: Up angle xlabeloffset: 0 xlabelcolor: #8080B0 xlabelfont: arial xlabelfontsize: 10 xlabelfontbold: false xlabelfontitalic: false legend: true legendstyle: horizontal legendbgcolor: #EEEEEE legendbordercolor: #CCCCFF legendtextcolor: #8080B0 legendtitle: legendfont: arial legendfontsize: 11 legendfontbold: false legendfontitalic: false legendposition: -1,64 // for a full explanation of these parameters see:- // http://www.jpowered.com/php-scripts/adv-graph-chart/documentation/configurationOptions.htm

Notes: This config.txt file contains the parameters which determine certain aspects of the graph like colors and fonts. For the function and options of each parameter see the following page:-
Graph Parameters »

Step 4 - Create a web page and add the Graph to it

Add this HTML code to your page (replacing [www.YourDomain.com] with the actual domain of your web site and [URL FilePath] with the url of the web directory where your page resides)

<html> <head> <title>Graph Test</title> </head> <body> <img src="http://[www.YourDomain.com]/jpowered/graph/stacked-vertical-cylinder-graph.php? data=[URL FilePath]/graphtest/dataInterface.php& config=[URL FilePath]/graphtest/config.txt" width=600 height=400> </body> </html>


Save the web page and load it up to your web server placing it in the /graphtest/ directory.

Final Step - View the page in a browser

Open your web browser and view the page. You should see a Stacked Vertical Cylinder Graph with 6 bars plotted.