Introducing Premium Map Pack 2.0

February 2nd, 2010

What is it?

We’re extremely happy to announce a new addition to our offerings – Premium Map Pack. It is a result of months of scrupulous work. There are two main aspects that set maps from the new pack apart:

  1. Increased level of detail. We took extreme care of making those maps as accurate and as detailed as possible. Coastlines, pennisulas, fjords, borders, are now presented in greater detail and accuracy.
  2. Number of countries. World map now includes even more countries, territories and even tiny island nations. All in all 252 areas are represented!

Current version of the Premium Map Pack includes four maps:

  • World
  • World with Antarctica
  • World in Continents
  • Europe

We will be adding the rest of the continens over the course of the coming weeks and possibly even other interesting maps in the future.

Check out a couple of sample strips from the Premium World map: Europe and America.

Availability

As a thank you for our commercial license buyers we’re releasing Premium Map Pack as a free download for them. So if you own any amMap 2 license (including single-site) just head to our customers’ download area. (use your email you entered when ordering amMap and order reference id to login).

If you do not own a commercial license, now would be a perfect time to acquire one. The licenses start at 85EUR.

XY and Radar charts added to Flex components

January 29th, 2010

The most exciting news about version 1.4.0.0 is that we added XY (or Scatter/Bubble) and Radar (Polar) charts.

Upgrading from previous version

The new chart types caused some changes in the structure, so there will be several things you’ll need to do when migrating from previous versions. We are sorry for this inconvenience but we feel it is the absolutely necessary change for the sake of consistency in all future versions.

1. AmCartesianChart class renamed to AmSerialChart – simply change the name in your applications.

2. “cartesian” folder with classes like AmGraph, ChartScrollbar, ChartCursor changed to “chartClasses” – if you import one of these classes in your Actionscript, you should change the path to the class.

3. AmChart, AmBalloon, AmLegend classes were moved from com.amcharts to com.amcharts.chartClasses. Change the paths to these classes too.

4. Even if you do not use these classes in your ActionScript, but only mxml, Flex builder can cache the old paths to these classes and show errors when compiling application. The most easy way to solve this is to remove all your amChart objects from the application, save it and bring it back exactly as it was. Now the application should compile properly.

5. CartesianChartEvent is renamed to SerialChartEvent.

6. PieChartEvent and SerialChartEvent (previously CartesianChartEvent) do not have dataUpdated event type anymore. dataUpdated event is now AmChartEvent’s type.

 

The final version of Flex components will be released on February 8. We do not plan adding new features during this time. The structure won’t change again.

Download Flex charting components

Best regards,

amCharts team.

amMap 2.5.4 Released

January 27th, 2010

We have just released a new version amMap 2.5.4 [Download] with the whole slew of new features, enhancements and fixes:

  • FEATURE: new <movie> attribute: active [true] (true/false)
    If set to "false" the movie will be invisible to mouse events (hover, click, etc.) even if behavior associated with it is set – the mouse will rather interact with underlying map. This feature will allow you to create map overlays that do not interfear with the map functionality.
  • FEATURE: you can now instruct amMap to preserve the original color of the area like it is set in the map SWF. Set <area><preserve_color> to "true" if you want to preserve color of all the areas. To preserve the color for individual areas you can set "preserve_color" attribute in the <area> tag in your data.
  • FEATURE: lines can now display rollover balloon. 

    Additional parameters for <line> data tag: 

    - balloon [true] (true/flase): whether to display balloon on rollover or not. 
    - title [text] (): line title

    Additional related settings: 

    - <line><balloon_text> [] ({title}): You can set any text here. Special code {title} will be replaced with whatever there is in <line>’s "title" attribute.

  • FEATURE: new setting <hover_focus>: 
    <movie><hover_focus> [false] (true/false)
    <line><hover_focus> [false] (true/false)
    <label><hover_focus> [false] (true/false) 

    If set to true hovered movie/line/label will be brought in front of other movies/lines/labels.

  • FEATURE: new setting <area><color_no_value> [] (color hex code)
    If set all areas that do not have value attribute will be painted in this color. But only if other overriding color options are not set. I.e. color attribute in <area>, or <preserve_color> setting.
  • TWEAK: amMap now supports areas with negative values correctly.
  • BUG FIX: map enlargement was not functioning properly with redraw=true, again :)
  • BUG FIX: setData and timeline slide transitions were leaving some leftover area data if some areas were missing in the new data. This is now corrected with one downside: you have to have <color_unlisted> set in your settings file, because otherwise the area will be left colored the way it was before setData/slide.
  • NEW MAP: Costa Rica

amStock 1.2.2.0 Released

January 20th, 2010

We have just released a new amStock 1.2.2.0 version with a whole slew of fixes and enhancements. [Download]

  • A new setting <balloon_text> was added to <data_set_selector> group. Sometimes data set title doesn’t fit in the drop-down. If you set a value like {title} here, the roll-over balloon will display full title so users can read it. You can also display {short} title and a {description} in this balloon.
  • A new setting, <disable_custom_cursors> was added. If you set it to true, custom hand and resize arrow cursors will be disabled.
  • A new setting, <chart><events><show_date> was added. If you set it to false, the date will not be displayed in the balloon (when you roll-over the event bullet)
  • When user clicks on a predefined period button, this JavaScript function is called: amPeriodSelected(chart_id, type, count, id);
  • Now you can select predefined period with this JavaScript function:

    flashMovie.selectPeriod(id);

    id is the pid attribute: <period type="DD" count="10" pid="p1">10D</period> or order number of your period if you don’t have pid attribute.

  • amClickedOn and amRolledOver JavaScript functions now return Array of objects containing data set title, short title, id and values of a clicked date:

    amClickedOn(chart_id, date, period, data_object)

    data_object’s structure:

    a) when data is not grouped into longer periods:
        values:
          volume:
            close: 21010110
        id: 0
        short: ES
        title: East Stock

    b) when data is grouped into longer periods:
        values:
          volume:
            close: 16344710
            high: 21587410
            low: 16344710
            sum: 90934150
            open: 16509710
        id: 1
        short: ES
        title: East Stock

  • FIX:In some cases event bullets were incorrectly placed above the graph.

Stock Chart for WPF & Silverlight 1.1 Released

December 16th, 2009

We’ve released version 1.1 of amCharts Stock Chart for WPF & Silverlight. Obviously the biggest change from 1.0 is support for Silverlight from a single code base. Licensees of WPF version get the Silverlight version for free and linkware version is free as usual for both WPF and Silverlight.

But Silverlight support is not the only noteworthy change in 1.1. Some of the important new features are these:

  • 3 new EventBullet types: VerticalBand, HorizontalBand and GraphHighlight;
  • support for mouse wheel scrolling and zooming;
  • support for different colors for positive and negative columns in column graph;
  • performance improvements.

And these are only the most noticeable changes. Find what’s changed from release candidate in the change log below and a complete log in the changelog.txt file included in distribution archive.

Download amCharts Stock Chart for WPF

Change log for v.1.1:

  • FEATURE ADDED: added StockChart.ZoomInOnWheelDown property. When set to true (default) mouse wheel zooms in when your rotate mouse down. Otherwise zooms-in on mouse wheel rotated up.
  • PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT: performance improvements in IsEquallySpaced=true (default) mode.
  • CHANGE: GraphHighlight event bullets no longer turn into vertical line when collapsed but aren’t collapsed below 6 pixels width instead.
  • BUGFIX: MouseWheel event was marked as handled even when it wasn’t actually handled (depending on modifier keys used)
  • BUGFIX: dynamically removing and adding graphs, datasets, etc. caused exceptions and incorrect behavior
  • BUGFIX: ValueChange and PercentChange legend types in period mode were calculated incorrectly.
  • BUGFIX: EventBullets where not removed when graphs were removed
  • BUGFIX: Silverlight version: scrollbar never appeared in comparison dataset listbox in DataSetSelector in Silverlight
  • BUGFIX: WPF version: values on the right axis were arranged incorrectly
  • BUGFIX: control wasn’t invalidated properly on data changes resulting in chart being hidden on startup
  • BUGFIX: graphs assigned to right value axis were not rendered when removed and added back to the chart.
  • BUGFIX: System.ArgumentException was thrown in some scenarios when zooming in (most notably with VerticalBand event bullet)
  • COSMETIC FIX: event bullet balloons had no space around "-" between Date and ToDate

amCharts Flex components can be used with Flash Builder 4 (aka Gumbo) now!

December 14th, 2009

Since v 1.3.2.0 beta we added additional swc file to the package of our Flex components  – amChartsFB4.swc. This file was compiled for use with Flash Builder 4 (aka Gumbo) – enjoy!

Note, because of naming conflict style “depth” was changed to “depth3D” in this version (both in Flex 3 and Flash Builder 4 components). So if your charts were 3D, you should change this style name in your applications.

Streamlined Licensing of WPF & Silverlight Charts

December 10th, 2009

We’ve used a different licensing scheme for our WPF & Silverlight charts than for other products. According to feedback from several prospective customers, this created a lot of confusion. So, by popular demand, we’ve decided to unify licensing scheme across all products.

From now on in addition to free linkware license these license types are available for amCharts WPF & Silverlight products:

  • Single application license – for use in a single non-redistributable application or web site you’ve developed for yourself or your client;
  • Multiple applications license – for use in multiple non-redistributable applications or web sites you’ve developed for yourself or your clients;
  • Developer (OEM) license – for use in redistributable applications. Includes access to source code.

Previous licenses will be honored for as long as they are valid and upgrade options for future major version updates will be offered.

Don’t forget that you can still get Stock Chart licenses with 30% discount. The offer expires really soon (within 1-2 weeks).

If you have any questions about this licensing change, licensing in general or any other non-technical inquiries about our WPF & Silverlight products, feel free to contact us at net@amcharts.com.

Stock Chart for WPF & Silverlight Release Candidate

December 8th, 2009

Release Candidate for version 1.1 of amCharts Stock Chart for WPF & Silverlight has just been posted. This release includes a number of bug fixes and improvements along with a couple minor new features. Based on your feedback we’ve added customization settings for mouse wheel scrolling and zooming feature, column graph can now display negative and positive values using PositiveBrush/NegativeBrush settings and more. See the complete change log below for details.

Download amCharts Stock Chart for WPF & Silverlight

This is most likely the last release before we ship a final 1.1 version, so it’s the last 1-2 weeks when you are able to take advantage of the 30% discount on Stock Chart licenses. Details are on the “buy” page.

Here’s a complete change log:

  • FEATURE ADDED: added settings to customize mouse wheel scrolling and zooming: ScrollModifierKeys, ZoomModifierKeys, AcceleratedWheelModifierKeys and AcceleratedWheelFactor.
  • FEATURE ADDED: added Graph.UsePositiveNegativeBrushForColumns property which when set to true makes column graph use PositiveBrush/NegativeBrush for columns instead of Fill/Stroke
  • FEATURE ADDED: when zooming out and GraphHighlight event bullet becomes virtually invisible, it’s displayed as VerticalLine
  • PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT: changes to data in Legend caused graph redraws
  • BUGFIX: Scroller thumb wasn’t redrawn/placed properly when chart size was reduced
  • BUGFIX: EventBullets were not stacking properly when different bullet types were stacked together
  • BUGFIX: exceptions were thrown when attempting to display event bullets on a chart with no graphs
  • BUGFIX: when current grouping interval stepped over EventBulletThresholdPeriod currently visible bullets were not removed
  • BUGFIX: Silverlight version: some usage scenarios caused infinite layout loops
  • COSMETIC IMPROVEMENT: EventBullet balloons show ToDate in GraphHighlight and VerticalBand bullet balloons, containers for missing data in balloons are collapsed, if there’s no data to show in the balloon, balloons is not displayed.

Stock Chart for WPF & Silverlight v.1.1 Beta 2 Released

December 3rd, 2009

We’ve released Beta 2 of version 1.1 of our Stock Chart control for WPF & Silverlight. This release includes several new exciting features:

  • 3 new event bullet types: HorizontalBand – to highlight a range of values, VerticalBand – to highlight a range of dates/times, and GraphHighlight – to highlight a period on a graph. See these bullet types in action here.
  • Mouse Wheel scrolling and zooming (control + wheel)

Both WPF and Silverlight versions are available for immediate download.

Don’t forget about 30% discount on Stock Chart licenses. This is only valid while Stock Chart v.1.1 is in beta which is not for long now.

Here’s a complete change log for this release:

  • FEATURE ADDED: HorizontalBand and VerticalBand EventBullets to render vertical and horizontal guides on the chart.
  • FEATURE ADDED: new GraphHighlight EventBullet type let’s you highlight a portion of graph between Date and ToDate
  • FEATURE ADDED: Mouse wheel scrolling and zooming (ctrl+wheel). Subject to platform limitations in Silverlight.
  • FEATURE ADDED: added LegendPeriodValueFormatString property to control format of values in legend in period mode separately.
  • COSMETIC FEATURE: Silverlight version: Thumbs in scroller show up only when mouse is over it.
  • COSMETIC IMPROVEMENT: Silverlight version: Cursor now changes to Scroll cursor when mouse is pressed inside a chart.
  • BUGFIX: Silverlight version: there was an odd visual "effect" in column graph when chart was first loaded or when graph was switched on/off
  • BUGFIX: Silverlight version: chart wasn’t updated when graphs were switched off/on via legend
  • BUGFIX: zooming didn’t work properly when Chart.IsDataGroupingEnabled was set to false.
  • BUGFIX: HorizontalLine and VerticalLine EventBullets where not rendered properly

amStock 1.2.1.0 Released

December 2nd, 2009

We just released the new version of amStock 1.2.1.0 [Download]

New features

  • A new setting, <update_on_release_only> was added to <scroller> settings group. If you set it to true, the chart will not update while dragging or resizing scrollbar. The view will be updated only when you release mouse button. This is useful if you work with large data sets and want to make your chart work faster.
  • Stripping unnecessary symbols from your data
    A new setting, <strip_symbols> was added to <csv> settings group. For example:
    <data_sets>
       <data_set>
          <csv>
             <strip_symbols>",</strip_symbols>
    Means the data parser will strip all " and , from your data before parsing.
  • The chart can be scrolled with mouse wheel. Note, the chart must have focus (click once on the chart) in order this feature to work. This feature will not work if wmode is set to transparent or opaque (in your HTML).