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Using Chart Visualisation

pcal

New Member
Hello folks - with sincerest of apologies, I'm a ground zero noob with Fabrik (downloaded it yesterday), trying to build what in concept at least should be a very simple application. Users fill in data on a form, and I generate a chart to compare their data with the aggregated data of all other users.

I've nutted out the data input and storage side of my equation, and am turning my attention to analysis and charting.

No matter what I try, I seem to be unable to make the chart visualisation do anything at all useful. The Google API is the only chart option I've been able to make produce anything at all graphical (all others seems only to generate error messages), but the Google option seems to lack even the most fundamental pieces of a charting puzzle.

I can define the data source(s) to plot on the Y axis of the chart, but where do I define what to plot on the X axis? How do I sort or filter the records to plot? How do I define if I want to plot the raw data, or plot a count of how many records match a datapoint, or anything else?

I enter formatting and axis label information under the "Options" tab, but the rendered graph seems to ignore most of what I have set, and produces a seemingly random set of alternatives.

Clearly there are some fundamental concepts that are escaping me, and regrettably the only information I've been able to find in the wiki states what I had assumed in the first place, but which doesn't seem to work.

Is there a secondary source of information I can immerse myself in to try to grasp the concepts that are clearly beyond my comprehension at this point?

Thanks in anticipation
 
Unfortunately, both of the chart viz's are deprecated. The original 'chart' one uses a Google API which isn't supported any more, and Fusion charts no longer provide a free version we can use (and the old free version is Flash only).

On my list for this year is building a new one, which either drives the new Google chart API, or the just provides queries to the J! "Plotalot" extension. I haven't really decided yet.

So we don't really have a functioning chart viz atm.

-- hugh
 
I must say that i use Plotalot extension for Joomla, and this is a killer app that should be included in Fabrik to make it a perfect component.
You can show a lot of different chart, graphs, and even single element in article or module, just by typing a one line SQL query.

The best setup you can have is Fabrik - Plotalot - Sourcerer from regular labs... with those 3 extensions you can build almost anything !
 
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Yeah. I'm still debating whether to write something to drive the Google charts API directly, or just integrate with Plotalot. There are pros and cons with both approaches.

I can't promise it's going to happen soon, but I do have several clients who are pushing me to get it done.

-- hugh
 
I am also working on a new generic Visualization which will allow you to select several sources of data (like the Googlemaps visualization but more generic) will turn them automatically into JSON arrays (like a CSV only JSON), and allow you to specify additional php and / or javascript to wrap around the data to process it - and even allow you to send data back to the database.

I want to use it to drive a complex Google Map display, but in theory it should be usable to drive any JS library. (I already have a standalone Google Maps prototype - amazing what you can do with 10s of lines of code and the Google Maps API.)

But don't hold your breath - several weeks away I think.
 
I must say that i use Plotalot extension for Joomla
Thanks for the tip. Have installed it and am impressed by the power it offers if somewhat daunted by the SQL complexity (another topic I've not tackled previously). My last major coding project was in VisualBASIC, back before there was a net. So the concepts seem as familiar as the syntax seems foreign.

I've spun my wheels a bit in the last day or two entering lines of code that "should" work but for the empirical evidence that they don't... Is it worth persistence in my attempt to SQLify my thought processes, or will one of these alternative options render that obsolete in the (relatively) short term?
 
OK guys - I promise not to turn this into a SQL thread, but since the experts are already looking and it is directly relevant to how I can get Fabric to Visualise my data... Can someone point out for me what to an expert must obviously be wrong with the following statement?

select unix_timestamp(date_of_record), unit_cost from abcd_list1
where user = '%%J_user_username%%'

order by date_of_record;

=>
Alternate line also tried: where userid = '%%J_user%%'

I have also attempted substituting the %%J variables with the direct user name and user id, but in every case get a warning that no plot data is selected. If I delete the "where" statement completely, the plot works, but selects all data in the list, not just the relevant logged in user's data.

Many thanks in anticipation.
 
Well i can't talk for cheesegrits, but Plotalot use a Joomla plugin, and therefore Fabrik support the integration of Joomla plugin... so even if a native visualization solution comes up in the future, your plotalot integration will continue to work anyway...so i think you could go ahead and just not wait to use it.

And if you familiar with php code, i recommend Sourcerer plugin from Regular labs... i use it a lot on my website, you can push php code in Intro or Outro of list or groups, use it to change element's name on the fly, etc...

My two cents...

rodeokid
 
I think I've narrowed my issue down to the evaluation of the %%J_user%%.

With the help of PhpMyAdmin I discovered that the user field in my table was recording the ID, not the username as I had thought - so comparing user with %%J_user%% should give me the evaluation I'm looking for. I can now substitute %%J_user%% with the actual user id, and the statement does work as expected - so logically, %%J_user%% is not returning the user id of the logged in user.

Documentation I read suggests that it should - so what am I missing?

Cheers.
 
I can't speak for Plotalot's variables, but yes, the Fabrik 'user' element always stores the user ID, not the "display" name you select. It's basically a special case of a join element, so stores the id as an FK (foreign key) to #__users.

-- hugh
 
2018 November
does someone think about adapting a fusioncharts plugin for fabrik?
i know fusioncharts does spider charts, there are many ways and many environments to create those plugins
since 2017, i use the depricated google api and display my results in bars but
today, my clients want their spider charts and here i am again, looking for something usable in fabrik charts

from what i can read here, there are noone interested to invest time in this
or perhaps, someone is working on this, i have no idea

if you know something new, reply here so we will be uptodate
 
I just committed some updates to the Fusion Charts viz. I have a client who is paying for the time to get it working with the latest version (the XT suite).

So you'll need to do a github update, and then you'll need to upload the Fusion Charts package (which we can't ship) to ...

./plugins/fabrik_visualization/fusionchart/libs/fusioncharts-suite-xt

... such that their folder structure (assets, integrations, etc) are at the top level of that folder, and the PHP wrapper is at:

./plugins/fabrik_visualization/fusionchart/libs/fusioncharts-suite-xt/integrations/php/fusioncharts-wrapper/fusioncharts.php

I can't remember if spider charts are enabled in the Fabrik code yet, but it would be simple to add if they aren't in there yet, it's just a case of adding the chart type string to a dropdown menu.

-- hugh
 
We are in need of some funding.
More details.

Thank you.

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