compact-chart

v1.0.5

Published

4 months ago

An easy-to-use charting library designed for extremely quick and easy visualization.

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mireo

ChartJs vue-chartjs

Compact Chart

Visualize your data under a minute, in any Javascript framework

About

compact-chart is an easy-to-use charting library designed for extremely quick and easy visualization of your analytics. Developed as a HTML Custom Element, it's fully encapsulated and works across all modern browsers, regardless of the chosen JavaScript framework.

On top of that, for convenience reasons, compact-chart accepts both fixture and Promise as a data source. Combined with well-defined preset designs and features, compact-chart is an excellent solution for anyone in need of a quick, effortless, and cross-framework charting library.

How to use it

The easiest option is to download the latest release and include it in your app. Alternatively, check out the building from source section.

Demo

You may find lot of step-by-step examples here.

HTML

Download the latest release link directly from unpkg:

<script src="./compact-chart.umd.min.js"></script>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="./compact-chart.css">

This will register the compact-chart custom element. compact-chart is now ready to be used in your HTML and controlled with JavaScript, just like one would do with a built-in HTML tag such as <button>:

<compact-chart></compact-chart>

Finally, set configuration format with chart data to draw:

document.querySelector("compact-chart").format = { ... };

Refer to Examples section for integration source codes.

Examples

Plain HTML Example with data fixture

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Compact Chart Plain HTML Example</title>

    <!-- Import compact-chart custom component and the corresponding CSS -->
    <script src="./compact-chart.umd.min.js"></script>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="./compact-chart.css">

    <style type="text/css">
        compact-chart {
            display: block;
            width: 400px;
            height: 400px;
        }
    </style>
</head>

<body>
        <!-- Use Web Components in your HTML like regular built-in elements. -->
    <compact-chart></compact-chart>

    <script>
        <!-- Set configuration format dynamically -->
        document.querySelector("compact-chart").format = {
            type: "bar-chart",
            category_axis_column: 0,
            data: {
            "cols": [
                {"name": "x-val"},
                {"name": "y-val"}
            ],
            "data": [
                [1, 1.6],
                [2, 2.2],
                [3, 2.7],
                [4, 3.2],
                [5, 3.5]
            ]
            }
        };
    </script>
</body>
</html>

Note: Custom Elements are display: inline by default. Unless you prefer such behavior, make sure you set the appropriate display value.

Integration with Vue.js

Vue.js - within a global component

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Compact Chart VueJS Global Component Example</title>
    <script src="https://unpkg.com/vue"></script>

    <!-- Import compact-chart Web Component and CSS -->
    <script src="./compact-chart.umd.min.js"></script>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="./compact-chart.css">

    <style type="text/css">
        compact-chart {
            display: block;
            width: 400px;
            height: 400px;
        }
    </style>
</head>

<body>

    <div id='app'>
        <!-- Use Web Components in like regular built-in elements or components -->
        <compact-chart ref="sample-chart"></compact-chart>
    </div>

    <script>
        var app = new Vue({
            el: '#app',
            data: {},
            mounted() {
                // set configuration format dynamically

                this.$refs["sample-chart"].format = {
                    type: "bar-chart",
                    category_axis_column: 0,
                    data: {
                        "cols": [
                            {"name": "x-val"}, {"name": "y-val"}
                        ],
                        "data": [
                            [1, 1.6],
                            [2, 2.2],
                            [3, 2.7],
                            [4, 3.2],
                            [5, 3.5]
                            ]
                        }
                };
            }
        });
    </script>
</body>
</html>

Vue.js - within a single-file component:

<template>
    <div>
        <!-- Use Web Components in like regular built-in elements or components -->
        <compact-chart ref="sample-chart"></compact-chart>
    </div>
</template>

<script>

// import compact-chart Web Component and CSS
import CompactChart from "./compact-chart.umd.min.js";
import "./compact-chart.css";

export default {
    mounted() {
        // set configuration format dynamically
        this.$refs["sample-chart"].format = {...}
    }
}
</script>

Other frameworks

For other frameworks, please refer to official guidelines for including Custom Elements.

Configuration format structure

{
    "data": fixture data or Promise object
    "type": one of the built-in chart types (string)
    "category_axis_column": dataset column name or index used to denote the category axis values

    // ...chart specific options
}

Note: all listed options (data, type and category_axis_column) are mandatory.
type: one of the supported chart types
For supported chart types, refer to Supported chart types section.
data: fixture data object or a Promise object
Data is provided as a matrix-like (multidimensional) array of elements, each matrix column representing one visualization dataset. Data structure is described in Dataset Configuration chapter.
category_axis_column: dataset column name or index of category value
compact-chart enforces explicitly declaring which column should be used on a category axis - either by setting a dataset column index or a name.
For Cartesian charts, the category axis column represents the values on the x-axis (abscissa). The only exception is a horizontal bar chart, in which the category axis column represents the values on the y-axis (ordinate).
For pie, doughnut, and gauge charts, the category axis column represents the label values.
for all other chart configuration options, refer to Chart confgiguration structure section

Minimal configuration sample:

{
    "type": "bar-chart",
    "category_axis_column": 0,
    "data": {
        "cols": [
            {"name": "x-val"}, {"name": "y-val"}
        ],
        "data":
            [[1, 10],
            [2, 20]]
        }
    };
}

Dataset Structure

The expected data object should contain two properties - cols and data:

data - A matrix-like (multidimensional) array of elements, each matrix column representing one dataset you wish to display
cols - Array of objects representing names of corresponding matrix columns, structured as {name: "dataset name"}

 {
    "cols": [
        {"name": "x-val"},
        {"name": "y0-val"},
        {"name": "y1-val"}
    ],
    "data": [
        [1, 1, 6],
        [2, 2, 2],
        [3, 2, 7],
        [4, 3, 2],
        [5, 3, 5]
    ]
}

Pass data as a Promise

The data object can either be declared as a fixture or provided as a Promise object.

fetch('./resources/data.json').then(rv => rv.json())

document.querySelector("compact-chart").format = {
    type: "bar-chart",
    category_axis_column: 0,
    data: fetch('./resources/data.json').then(rv => rv.json())
};

Note: Depending on your data source, you might need to preprocess the data to conform to the expected data structure. To do so, simply attach then handler to your Promise data object:

fetch('./resources/data.json').then(rv => rv.json()).then(rv => my_preprocess_fn(rv))

Chart configuration options

compact-chart HTML custom element is built as a wrapper around Chart.js library.

For convenience and ease of use, it supports a subset of Chart.js available chart types and configuration options. Unlike the extensive set of Chart.js configuration options, the compact-chart configuration is maximally simplified. compact-chart merges the options object passed to the chart with the global configuration. For global, as well as defaults for each chart type, refer to the source code.

We recommend you use (and adjust) Chart.js or any other charting library for all more complex visualizations and interactivity.

Supported chart types

compact-chart supports the following chart types:

line and area
horizontal and vertical bar
doughnut and pie

Possible values for type option are:

"bar-chart" - vertical bar chart
"horizontal-bar-chart" - horizontal bar chart
"line-chart" - line chart, plotting data points on a line
"area-chart" - filled line chart
"pie-chart" - pie chart
"doughnut-chart" - doughnut chart
"gauge-chart" - gauge chart

Note that the type is a mandatory option - there is no default value set.

Color palette

color_palette defaults to high-contrasting-1.

compact-chart comes with several pre-made color palettes you can use for your charts.

Available palettes are:

grayscale
high-contrasting-1
high-contrasting-2
mid-contrasting
pastele-1
pastele-2

Alternatively, you can define a custom one by setting the property to an array of colors. When supplying colors to chart options, you can use several formats. You can specify the color as a string in hexadecimal, RGB, or HSL notations.

color_palette: ["orange", "red", "pink", "green"]

or specifically:

{
    type: "pie-chart",
    color_palette: ["orange", "red", "pink", "green"],
    category_axis_column: 0,
    data: {
        "cols": [ {"name": "expr$0"}, {"name": "expr$1"} ],
        "data": [ ["A", 1], ["B", 2], ["C", 3], ["D", 3] ]
        }
}

Localization

compact-chart uses the Intl.NumberFormat for language-sensitive formatting numbers on axes, labels, and tooltips.

The locale option is defined as a string that is Unicode BCP 47 locale identifier.

locale defaults to "en"

Big and small number formatting

Extremely big and small numbers are difficult to read and take up a lot of space on axes. Numbers in compact-chart are automatically prefixed according to BIPM specification - as multiples and submultiples of SI units, but ranging from 10-9 - 10–3 and 103 - 1024. Inbetween range is not prefixed. Omitted small and big number prefixes will be formatted as the largest denominator.

number_symbols default value:

[
    {v: 1e-9, s: "n"},
    {v: 1e-6, s: "μ"},
    {v: 1e-3, s: "m"},
    {v: 0},
    {v: 1e3 , s: "k"},
    {v: 1e6 , s: "M"},
    {v: 1e9 , s: "G"},
    {v: 1e12, s: "T"},
    {v: 1e15, s: "P"},
    {v: 1e18, s: "E"},
    {v: 1e21, s: "Z"},
    {v: 1e24, s: "Y"}
]

Modifying suffixes

In case scientific suffixes don't fit the dataset, you can define a custom set:

example: disable big and small number prefixes

"number_symbols": []

example: custom monetary prefixes

"number_symbols": [
    { "number": 1e+3, "suffix": "K" },
    { "number": 1e+6, "suffix": "M" },
    { "number": 1e+9, "suffix": "B" }
]

Font sizing

compact-chart comes with three pre-made font sizings you can use for your charts.

Possible values are:

"small"
"medium"
"large"
defaults to "medium"

Title configuration

title object is defined with the following options:

{
    "label": "",
    "placement": "top"
}

title.label- sets title text to display; if ommited, or set to empty string, the title will not be drawn
- defaults to ""
title.placement- defines the placement of the chart title
- possible values are:
  - "top" - top center
  - "left" - left vertical
  - "bottom" - bottom center
  - "right" - right vertical
- defaults to "top"

Legend configuration

legend object is defined with the following options:

{
    "show": true,
    "placement": "top-end"
}

legend.show - option to show or hide the chart legend
- defaults to false
legend.placement- defines the placement of the chart legend as a combination of position and alignment values
- possible values for position are:
  - "top"
  - "left"
  - "bottom"
  - "right"
- possible values for alignment are:
  - "center"
  - "start"
  - "end"
- defaults to: "top-end"

Labels

Since Chart.js doesn't come with the support for displaying labels, chartjs-plugin-datalabels plugin is used.

Note: Chart labels are disabled by default.

labels object is defined with the following options:

{
    "show": false,
    "label": "value",
    "placement": "anchor-align"
}

label font color is automatically set to black or white, depending on the chart color palette
labels.show - option to show or hide the labels on the chart
- defaults to false
labels.label - which data values to show
- possible values are
  - "label" - show category values
  - "value" - show metric values
  - "percentage" - show metric values as percentages
    - can be used only if the percent calculation option is enabled percentage_values: true <>
  - "value-percentage" - show both absolute metric values and percentages
    - can be used only if the percent calculation option is enabled percentage_values: true <>
- defaults to: "value"
labels.placement - defines the placement of the labels as a combination of anchor and alignment values:
- An anchor point is defined by an orientation vector and a position on the data element. The orientation depends on the scale type (vertical, horizontal or radial). The position is calculated based on the anchor option and the orientation vector. In-depth explaination of these values is available here.
  Possible values for anchor are:
  - "center"
  - "start"
  - "end"
- The align option defines the label's position relative to the anchor point position and orientation. In-depth explanation of these values is available here.
  Possible values for alignment are:
  - "center"
  - "start"
  - "end"
  - "right"
  - "bottom"
  - "left"
  - "top"
- defaults to:
  - vertical bar charts: "end-bottom"
  - horizontal bar charts: "end-start"
  - line and area charts: "center-center"
  - pie, doughnut and gauge charts: "center-center"

Cartesian axes

applies to bar and line charts only
only one value per axis is supported

axis object is defined with the following options:

{
    type: "category",
    label: "",
    tick_orientation: null,
    range: null
}

axis.type:
- Possible values are:
  - "linear"
  - "category"
  - "logarithmic"
- defaults to:
  - " category" for the x-axis of vertical bar charts and line charts, and y-axis of horizontal bar charts
  - " linear" for the y-axis of vertical bar charts and line charts, and the x-axis of horizontal bar charts
axis.label: defines the title for the axis
- defaults to empty string ""
axis.tick_orientation: defines the angle of the horizontal axis label
- only applicable to horizontal scales
- Possible values are:
  - null: (default) automatic mode, in which the chart decides on the optimal label angle, so the ticks don't overlap or be too crowded
  - a number between 0 and 90 decimal degrees, representing the angle of the horizontal axis labels
- defaults to automatic mode, in which the chart decides on the optimal label angle, so the ticks don't overlap or be too crowded
axis.range: customizes the minimal and maximal rendered data values
- defaults to automatic mode, in which the chart decides on the optimal rendered data values range for the dataset
- Possible values are:
  - null: automatically determine optimal dataset values range
  - " auto-0" : defines a half-opened range; the axis will include 0 value if it is not already included
  - [min value, max value]: values override the minimum and maximum values from a dataset

Show values as percentages

By default, absolute values will be used on axes. However, setting the percentage_values option to true enables displaying specific values as percentages.

Applicable to bar charts only.

defaults to: false

Stacked data

Bar and line charts can be configured as stacked ones by setting the stacked option to true.

Applicable to bar and line charts only.

defaults to: false

Doughnut Pie and Gauge charts

Doughnut and Gauge charts are effectively the pie chart with a hole in the center.

Gauge charts are basically circular sectors of doughnut charts, with a central angle less than 360°.

Available options for styling doughnut, pie, and gauge charts are:

hole_size
A number between 0 and 1, corresponding to the ratio of radii between the hole and the chart. Values equal to or greater than 1 will be ignored, and a value of 0 will completely shut your piehole.
- defualts to
  - 0.5 for doughnut and gauge
  - 0 for pie charts
angle
A number between 0 and 360, corresponding to the central angle of the circular sector in decimal degrees.
- defaults to:
  - 180 degrees for gauge
  - 360 degrees for doughnut and pie charts

How it is made

compact-chart is an easy-to-use charting HTML Custom Element, built on top of Chart.js.

Instead of an extensive set Chart.js configuration options, compact-chart supports only a maximally simplified subset of Chart.js types and configuration options.

It's built with:

Chart.js - Simple yet flexible JavaScript charting for designers & developers
chartjs-plugin-datalabels - Highly customizable Chart.js plugin for displaying labels on data for any type of charts
Vue custom element - A tiny wrapper around Vue components

Browser compatibility

In general:

Custom elements are supported by default in Firefox, Chrome, and Edge (76). Opera and Safari so far support only autonomous custom elements.
Promise is supported in Firefox (starting from 29), Chrome (32), Opera (19) and Safari (9). For a full list, refer to MDN Web Docs.

Building from source

A step by step series of examples that tell you how to get a development environment running:

# Clone existing repository
git clone https://github.com/mireo/compact-charts.git

# Install Node.js https://nodejs.org/en/download/

# install vue-cli-service globally
npm install -g @vue/[email protected]

# install dependencies
npm install

# start dev server with hot reload at localhost:4200
npm run serve

# build for production
# produces a production-ready bundle in the dist/ directory, with minification for JS/CSS/HTML and auto vendor chunk splitting for better caching
npm run build

The library build will output:

dist/compact-chart.common.js - a CommonJS bundle for consuming via bundlers
dist/compact-chart.umd.js: a UMD bundle for consuming directly in browsers or with AMD loaders
dist/compact-chart.umd.min.js: minified version of the UMD build
dist/compact-chart.css: extracted CSS file

Note on Vue Dependancy

The resulting bundle will also bundle Vue. If you wish to exclude Vue, exclude the --inline-vue flag from the build command.

Credits

Maintained and sponsored by Mireo d.d.

Founded in 2001, Mireo is a pioneer in developing award-winning GPS navigation and software solutions for vehicle tracking and fleet management. We have redefined the limits of speed and capabilities in analyzing spatiotemporal data. We've drawn the most detailed road map of Croatia. Enthusiasts always coming up with revolutionary ideas on how to implement cutting edge technologies – that's who we are.