NiceChart: what changed

Revision 1 to 2. Removed lines have a minus sign; added lines have a plus sign.

Old	New		Line
1	1		The following text is based on the readme.html file which is included in the NiceChart installation directory. It is written by the original author of the component, [[priyatna.org\|Priyatna]]. The text was also published on the author's web site which, however, is not available any more.
2	2
3	3		## Introduction
4	4
5		-	~~<figure>~~
6		-	~~<img src="nicechart.png" title="nicechart.png" />~~
7		-	~~<figcaption>nicechart.png</figcaption>~~
8		-	~~</figure>~~
	5	+	![](/wiki-images/d/d8/Nicechart.png)
9	6
10	7		Once I need a chart component that can shows interpolated lines for one of my project. I don't need a sophisticated full-featured chart, I just need a simple one with basic functionalities. Don't find a way to do it with standard Delphi TChart component, I decided to write my own.
11	8
12	9		Currently it has three graph styles: lines, smooth lines with B-Splines, and bars. It has multi-lined title, legend, automatic y-axis, and supports multiple series. It also can produce a monochrome version of the graph using monochromatic brushes. Those features are sufficient for my programming needs.
13	10
14	11		I learned a lot from creating this component. I learned the algorithm to pick axis value range that are aligned to zero from an arbitrary set of values. I also learned some linear interpolation algoritms, although currently only B-splines that is accomodated in this component. And finally I understand why there's only a handful chart component out there.
15	12
16	13		## Version History
17	14
18	15		### Version 2.0
19	16
20		-	~~Released: June 2023 - Ported to Lazarus, cross-platform - Some new properties: </tt>ShowXAxisLine</tt>, `ShowYAxisLine`, `GridColor`, `AxisLineWidth`, `TickLength`, `NiceSeries.LineWidth`~~
	17	+	Released: June 2023 - Ported to Lazarus, cross-platform - Some new properties: ShowXAxisLine, `ShowYAxisLine`, `GridColor`, `AxisLineWidth`, `TickLength`, `NiceSeries.LineWidth`
21	18
22	19		### Version 1.1
23	20
24	21		Released: January 12nd, 2008 - bug fixed: title not centered - bug fixed: empty series - soft colors
25	22
26	23		### Version 1.0
27	24
28	25		Released: May 26th, 2007 - Initial release
29	26
30	27		## License
31	28
32	29		This library is released under Mozilla Public License. You can use it in your freeware, shareware or commercial softwares. You can send your modification to me, and if I decide to include it in the main distribution, I will add your name as a contributor. You can read full licensing information in the file "License.txt" in the NiceChart installation folder.
33	30
34	31		## Download and installation
35	32
36	33		The easiest way for Lazarus users is to get the package from the [[Online Package Manager]] (OPM) which is installed with newer Lazarus versions. Simply open its menu item, check "NiceChart" in the tree list, and click "Install". Then OPM will take care of the download and the installation.
37	34
38	35		Since the OPM version may not always be up-to-date, you can also download the development version from the "Lazarus Component and Code Repository" (CCR) where a zipped snapshot is provided (https://sourceforge.net/p/lazarus-ccr/svn/HEAD/tree/components/nicechart/). Alternatively, if you use SVN you can use the following SVN command in a console window:
39	36
40	37		svn checkout <svn://svn.code.sf.net/p/lazarus-ccr/svn/components/nicechart> nicechart
41	38
42	39		This applies also for Delphi users.
43	40
44	41		In Lazarus, open the NiceChartLaz.lpk file in the package editor ("Package" \> "Open Package File (.lpk)"), click "Use" \> "Install", and let the IDE recompile itself.
45	42
46	43		In Delphi, open NiceChartD7.dpk in the IDE and press the "Install" button. Another package is provided in the download for newer Delphi versions, named NiceChartXE11; although tested under Delphi XE11 (Alexandria) it should work in other Delphi versions as well.
47	44
48	45		If you switch between several Delphi versions it may be required to delete the `.res` file of your project.
49	46
50	47		The component will appear on the priyatna.org component palette tab.
51	48
52	49		## Documentation
53	50
54	51		### Methods
55	52
56	53		There are some main methods of the component:
57	54
58		-	~~- <b>`procedure`</b>` BeginUpdate;`~~
	55	+	- `procedure`` BeginUpdate;`
59	56
60	57
61	58		Call this method to prevent control updating its content. This is useful when you want to add bulky data to the chart. Don't forget to call \<bb\>EndUpdate\</bb\> when you are done supplying data.
62	59
63		-	~~- <b>`procedure`</b>` EndUpdate;`~~
	60	+	- `procedure`` EndUpdate;`
64	61
65	62
66	63		Call this method to reenable update. You must call `BeginUpdate` prior to call this method.
67	64
68		-	~~- <b>`function`</b>` AddSeries(AKind: TSeriesKind): TNiceSeries;`~~
	65	+	- `function`` AddSeries(AKind: TSeriesKind): TNiceSeries;`
69	66
70	67
71	68		Add a new series to the chart. A series can be a bar, line or smooth line type.
72	69
73		-	~~- <b>`function`</b>` ClientToChart(`<b>`const`</b>` X, Y: Integer; `<b>`var`</b>` AX, AY: Double): Boolean;`~~
	70	+	- `function`` ClientToChart(``const`` X, Y: Integer; ``var`` AX, AY: Double): Boolean;`
74	71
75	72
76	73		Call this function to get X-axis and Y-axis value from mouse position. The X and Y parameters are the mouse position, and the corresponding X-axis and Y-axis values are stored in AX and AY variables. This function returns `True` if the supplied mouse position is within the X-axis and Y-axis range. Otherwise, it returns False.
77	74
78		-	~~- <b>`procedure`</b>` RemoveSeries(ASeries: TNiceSeries);`~~
	75	+	- `procedure`` RemoveSeries(ASeries: TNiceSeries);`
79	76
80	77
81	78		Removes a series from the chart.
82	79
83		-	~~- <b>`procedure`</b>` Clear;`~~
	80	+	- `procedure`` Clear;`
84	81
85	82
86	83		Removes all series from the chart.
87	84
88		-	~~- <b>`function`</b>` CreateMetafile: TMetafile;`~~
	85	+	- `function`` CreateMetafile: TMetafile;`
89	86
90	87
91	88		Creates a metafile (WMF) from the chart. This function is useful when you want to save the content of the chart to a file. Not available in the Lazarus version.
92	89
93		-	~~- <b>`procedure`</b>` CopyToClipboard;`~~
	90	+	- `procedure`` CopyToClipboard;`
94	91
95	92
96	93		Copies the content of the chart to the clipboard. The content can be pasted in any application as a graphic image. Not available in Lazarus.
97	94
98	95		### Properties
99	96
100	97		These are the main properties of the component:
101	98
102		-	~~- <b>`property`</b>` Series[Index: Integer]: TNiceSeries;`~~
	99	+	- `property`` Series[Index: Integer]: TNiceSeries;`
103	100
104	101
105	102		A collection of series that is contained in the chart.
106	103
107		-	~~- <b>`property`</b>` SeriesCount: Integer;`~~
	104	+	- `property`` SeriesCount: Integer;`
108	105
109	106
110	107		Specifies how many series are in the chart.
111	108
112		-	~~- <b>`property`</b>` ShowLegend: Boolean;`~~
	109	+	- `property`` ShowLegend: Boolean;`
113	110
114	111
115	112		Shows or hides legend. Set to `True` to show the legend, or set to `False` to hide it.
116	113
117		-	~~- <b>`property`</b>` ShowTitle: Boolean;`~~
	114	+	- `property`` ShowTitle: Boolean;`
118	115
119	116
120	117		Shows or hides title. Set to `True` to show the title, or set to `False` to hide it.
121	118
122		-	~~- <b>`property`</b>` ShowXGrid: Boolean;`~~
	119	+	- `property`` ShowXGrid: Boolean;`
123	120
124	121
125	122		Shows or hides horizontal grid. Set to `True` to show the grid, or set to `False` to hide it.
126	123
127		-	~~- <b>`property`</b>` ShowYGrid: Boolean;`~~
	124	+	- `property`` ShowYGrid: Boolean;`
128	125
129	126
130	127		Shows or hides vertical grid. Set to `True` to show the grid, or set to `False` to hide it.
131	128
132		-	~~- <b>`property`</b>` Title: string;`~~
	129	+	- `property`` Title: string;`
133	130
134	131
135	132		Specifies title of the chart. You can use a multi-lined title separated by \#13 (carriage return).
136	133
137		-	~~- <b>`property`</b>` TitleFont: TFont;`~~
	134	+	- `property`` TitleFont: TFont;`
138	135
139	136
140	137		Specifies title font name, size, color and styles (bold, italic, underline or strike-out).
141	138
142		-	~~- <b>`property`</b>` AxisXTitle: string;`~~
	139	+	- `property`` AxisXTitle: string;`
143	140
144	141
145	142		Specifies horizontal axis title.
146	143
147		-	~~- <b>`property`</b>` AxisYTitle: string;`~~
	144	+	- `property`` AxisYTitle: string;`
148	145
149	146
150	147		Specifies vertical axis title.
151	148
152		-	~~- <b>`property`</b>` AxisXOnePerValue: Boolean;`~~
	149	+	- `property`` AxisXOnePerValue: Boolean;`
153	150
154	151
155	152		Forces the chart to treat each x-axis value as a different value, so all point or bar can be viewed even though they have same x value.
156	153
157		-	~~- <b>`property`</b>` AxisXScale: Single;`~~
	154	+	- `property`` AxisXScale: Single;`
158	155
159	156
160	157		You can scale the horizontal axis so it shows different values than the original data. This is useful, for example, if you want to supply the data in real values, but want to show the axis in thousands. In this case, simply set this property to `1000`.
161	158
162		-	~~- <b>`property`</b>` AxisYScale: Single;`~~
	159	+	- `property`` AxisYScale: Single;`
163	160
164	161
165	162		Same as the above, but this is for vertical axis.
166	163
167		-	~~- <b>`property`</b>` Monochrome: Boolean;`~~
	164	+	- `property`` Monochrome: Boolean;`
168	165
169	166
170	167		If set to `True`, the chart will be drawn in monochrome, using different brush pattern for bars. Otherwise, it will be drawn in color. Colors and brush patterns for each series are automatically choosen by the component.
171	168
172	169		New properties in v2.0
173	170
174		-	~~- <b>`property`</b>` AxisLineWidth: Integer;`~~
	171	+	- `property`` AxisLineWidth: Integer;`
175	172
176	173
177	174		Width of the pen (in pixels) used to draw the labelled x and y axes at the bottom and left sides of the chart, respectively.
178	175
179		-	~~- <b>`property`</b>` ShowXAxisLine: boolean;`~~
	176	+	- `property`` ShowXAxisLine: boolean;`
180	177
181	178
182	179		If set to `true`, the logical x axis will be drawn as a horizontal line at `y=0`.
183	180
184		-	~~- <b>`property`</b>` ShowYAxisLine: boolean;`~~
	181	+	- `property`` ShowYAxisLine: boolean;`
185	182
186	183
187	184		If set to `true`, the logical y axis will be drawn as a vertical line at `x=0`.
188	185
189		-	~~- <b>`property`</b>` GridColor: TColor;`~~
	186	+	- `property`` GridColor: TColor;`
190	187
191	188
192	189		Color of the grid lines.
193	190
194		-	~~- <b>`property`</b>` TrickLength: Integer;`~~
	191	+	- `property`` TrickLength: Integer;`
195	192
196	193
197	194		Length of the labelled tick marks at the chart axes.
198	195
199	196		## Contacts
200	197
201	198		Don't hesitate to report any bug or whish to me:
202	199
203	200		Priyatna Bandung - Indonesia
204	201
205	202		<http://www.priyatna.org/>
206	203
207	204		[mailto:me@priyatna.org](mailto:me@priyatna.org)
208	205
209	206		> Note: The http address is no longer available. You may report bugs also in the Lazarus bug tracker for the CCR project.
210	207
211	208		---
212	209		From the Free Pascal wiki, page "NiceChart", as it stood on 2023-06-25 after a change by Wp, out of the wiki's dump of 2024-05-26. Copyright stays with the author who wrote it, according to the old wiki's [[Licensing]] page. If you have concerns about this material, [message the admin](/wiki-contact).

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