amCharts & amMap blog

We have just released an updated version of ASP.NET controls for amCharts. This release (1.6.3.0) includes all the new features of amCharts bundle 1.6.3.0. See the change log below for details.

Download ASP.NET Controls for amCharts.

Changes in ASP.NET Controls for amCharts version 1.6.3.0:

• FEATURE ADDED: XY chart: added ZoomDisableAxis property. You can disable vertical or horizontal zoom. Set x to disable horizontal and y to disable vertical zoom.
• FEATURE ADDED: XY chart: added global BulletMaxSize and BulletMinSize properties.
• FEATURE ADDED: all charts: added ScientificMax and ScientificMin properties. These properties control limits when chart starts displaying values in scientific notation.
• FEATURE ADDED: all charts: added JsEnabled property. In case you don’t use any flash – JavaScript communication, you should set this setting to false – this will save some CPU and will disable the security warning message which appears when opening the chart from hard drive.
• FEATURE ADDED: Column chart, Line chart: ValuesDuration (column chart) and YLeftValuesDuration/YRightValuesDuration (line chart) properties added. In case you want your axis to display formatted durations instead of numbers, you have to set the unit of the duration in your data. For example, if your values in data represents seconds, set “ss” here.
• FEATURED ADDED: Column, Line and XY charts: added PercentileMargins property. When it’s set to true margin settings are treated as percentile values.
• BUGFIX: LineChart: DataLabelFormatString wasn’t sent to the flash controls in LineChartGraph

All amChart family members just got an update

New settings <scientific_min> and <scientific_max> added. If absolute value of your number is equal or bigger then scientific_max or equal or less then scientific_min, this number will be formatted using scientific notation, for example:

15000000000000000 -> 1.5e16
0.0000023 -> 2.3e-6

amStock-only updates

NEW FEATURE: scrollers’ graph can now be "step" or "line". New setting <graph_type> was added to the <scroller> group. The default type is "line".

FIX: if start_on_axis was set to false and equal_spacing was set to true, the last grid line wasn’t displayed.

[Download]

We have just release new verson of or stock chart – amStock 1.1.7.0. [Download]

Bugs Fixed:

When <equal_spacing> was set to false cursor was not always snaping to the nearest bullet.

Selected predefined period button lost selected color after the chart was resized or a data set for comparing was changed.

Now if you do not specify value for the events that are not assigned to any graph they will be displayed directly on axis.

New Features:

<strict_min_max> setting was added. This setting goes to:
<charts><chart><values><y_left> (or <y_right>). If this is set to true, the axis will stay between Min and Max values even if there are graph points beyond those values. The parts of the graph that do not fit will be cropped. If this is set to false, the Min and Max values will be extended to fit the graph. The default value is false.

<frequency> for scroller graph. If your data set has a lot of values the scroller might significantly slow down the whole chart. (Provided you have some graph in the scroller). This new setting can help solve the problem. I.e. if you set <scroller><frequency>5</frequency></scroller>, the graph in the scroller will take only every 5th data point. Other values will be skipped.

<fade_others_to> setting was added. It goes to:
<charts><chart><legend>. When the user rolls-over a legend entry key, the other graphs will fade to this setting so that the rolled over graph would stand out from the rest. Recommended setting is 10-20. Most likely you should set <graphs_on_off> to false if you use this setting. [Example].

New JavaScript function, setEvents(events, remove_old) was added. It allows adding events at a runtime. Use default event XML syntax: <events><event>….</event></events>. If you set the remove_old to true, the old events will be removed. Default value is "false".

Date format for date input fields
You can set custom date format for the period selector date-input fields. This can be done using this setting: <period_selector><date_format>. Note, you can’t use “month” here – only “MM”.

Custom background image can be loaded
A new setting, <background><file> was added. The file should be placed in the “path” folder.

Get and set status of a chart with JavaScript function
JavaScript functions for getting and setting current status of a chart added: if you call flashMovie.getStatus() function, the chart will return the current status of a chart in a query string, for example:

<code>from=2008-01-01&to=2008-03-05&main=4&comparing=6,3</code>

As you see, it returns the selected period, the id of the main data set and the ids of data sets, selected for comparing. To set this or some other status, you should call:

<code>flashMovie.setStatus(”from=2008-01-01&to=2008-03-05&main=4&comparing=6,3″);</code>

This is very comfortable when user navigates away from the page and you want to keep the same status when the user comes back.

JavaScript functions are called when main and comparing data sets are changed:
amSelectDataSet(chart_id, did) – called when main data set was changed
amCompareDataSet(chart_id, did) – called when data set for comparing was selected
amUncompareDataSet(chart_id, did) – called when comparing data set was unselected

Vertical legend
A new setting <legend_position> was added. The default value is “top”, the other available – “left” and “right”. In case you use “left” or “right”, you can control the width of the legend with the <legend_width> setting. The default value is 150. Check vertical legend example.

The items in the legend can arranged in the reverse order. 
A new setting, <reverse_order> was added to the chart’s legend settings.

The graph can be hidden when the chart is initialized.
If you set <graph><hidden>true</hidden></graph>, the graph will be hidden when the chart is first loaded. Check this example to see this in action.

Download stock chart

The following article, written by Bruce Richardson from AMR Research came to my attention. It highlights the use of amCharts in Business Intelligence software. This is one of the best references amCharts ever received. Thank you, Bruce!

I am happy to announce that visual editor for stock chart was released today. Now you’ll be able to work with stock chart like with all other charts from amCharts bundle. This editor is a bit different from other charts, as the chart itself is different. The main difference is that the data should be placed inside the data set settings, not like for other charts.

It would be really nice to receive your feedback! (info@amcharts.com)

Stock chart (since v 1.1.4.1) can accept encrypted data. This allows you to protect your data – people who will access your data file directly won’t be able to see the real data. Stock chart allows you to use your own encryption algorithms – it will load additional swf file which you can create yourself and will use this file for decrypting data. More information about this new feature can be found in the documentation.