Dynamic Date/Time X-Axis Labels

This tutorial demonstrates how the X-Axis labels can be dynamically generated from input parameters passed through on the IMG tag request.

Prerequisites

The following tutorials assume you have already downloaded and installed the
PHP Advanced Graphs and Charts package.

The latest release can be downloaded here

Directory Structure

In this tutorial you will be create a web page and a couple of configuration files. For the purposes of this tutorial you should create a directory /graphtest/ directory under your web root directory.

This tutorial also assumes that you installed the graphing software directly under the web root
(e.g. /webRootFilePath/jpowered/graph/ )

Step 1 - Create a test MySQL Database

For the purpose of this tutorial the following MySQL database should be created.-

CREATE DATABASE graphtestdb;
USE graphtestdb;
CREATE TABLE salesPerYear
  (salesPerYearID  INT auto_increment,
   month           INT,
   year            INT,
   productx        REAL,
   producty        REAL,
   productz        REAL,
   PRIMARY KEY  (`salesPerYearID`),
   KEY `month`  (`month`),
   KEY `year`   (`year`)
   );

Now add the following data to the 'salesPerYear' table:-

INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,1,2006,34500,10000,80000);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,2,2006,44500,20000,74000);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,3,2006,94500,30000,68000);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,4,2006,114500,40000,69700);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,5,2006,78000,45000,52400);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,6,2006,64000,70000,10000);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,7,2006,44500,30000,30000);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,8,2006,54500,50000,74000);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,9,2006,64500,20000,28000);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,10,2006,64500,30000,63700);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,11,2006,38000,55000,82400);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,12,2006,74000,30000,90000);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,1,2007,74500,55000,80000);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,2,2007,78500,54000,84000);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,3,2007,72500,53000,88000);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,4,2007,73500,52000,89700);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,5,2007,78000,55000,82400);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,6,2007,74000,50000,80000);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,7,2007,74500,51000,80000);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,8,2007,77500,52000,84000);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,9,2007,74500,53000,88000);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,10,2007,78500,54000,89700);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,11,2007,78000,55000,82400);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,12,2007,74000,54000,80000);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,1,2008,84500,20000,20000);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,2,2008,84500,30000,24000);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,3,2008,84500,35000,28000);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,4,2008,84500,36000,29700);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,5,2008,88000,45000,22400);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,6,2008,84000,42000,20000);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,7,2008,84500,44000,20000);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,8,2008,84500,47000,24000);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,9,2008,84500,42000,28000);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,10,2008,84500,43000,29700);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,11,2008,88000,45000,22400);
INSERT INTO salesPerYear VALUES(0,12,2008,84000,48000,20000);

Step 2 - Create a Custom Data Function

Create a file named datafunction.php which contains the following:-

<?php
function datascript() {
        $dataLines = array();
        // ensure $_REQUEST["year"] is set and has a value
        // between 2006 and 2008.
        if (!isset($_REQUEST["year"])) {
                $_REQUEST["year"] = 2008;
        }
        if ($_REQUEST["year"]>2008 || $_REQUEST["year"]<2006) {
                $_REQUEST["year"] = 2008;
        }
        // connect to the database
        $dbLink = mysql_connect("localhost:3306",
                                [USER],
                                [PASSWORD]);
        if (!$dbLink) {
                print "Could not connect: ".mysql_error();
                exit(0);
        }
        if (!mysql_select_db("graphtestdb", $dbLink)) {
                print "Could not select database: ".mysql_error();
                exit(0);
        }
        // Contstruct the data lines for ProductX, ProductY and Product Z
        $sql = "SELECT productx,producty,productz
                  FROM salesPerYear
                 WHERE year=".$_REQUEST["year"]."
                 ORDER BY month ";
        $result = mysql_query($sql, $dbLink);
        $dataNum = 1;
        while ( $row = mysql_fetch_array($result,MYSQL_ASSOC) ) {
                $dataLines[] = "data".$dataNum."series1: ".$row["productx"];
                $dataLines[] = "data".$dataNum."series2: ".$row["producty"];
                $dataLines[] = "data".$dataNum."series3: ".$row["productz"];
                $dataNum++;
        }
        // release the result set and close the databse connection
        mysql_free_result($result);
        mysql_close($dbLink);
        // return the data lines to the graphing software
        return $dataLines;
}
// Make sure there are no characters (not even a space or return character)
// after the following line
?>

Replace [USER] and [PASSWORD] with valid logon details for your MySQL server.

Place the file on your web server in a directory /graphtest/ under your web root directory

Note: The above assumes that your MySQL server is running on the same machine as your Web Server. If this is not the case then you will need to replace "localhost:3306" with the correct route to your MySQL server.

Step 3 - Create the config file

Create a file named 'config.php' and add the following contents to it. This file should then be placed in the /graphtest/ directory.

width:             800
height:            400
quality:           very high
backgroundcolor:   white
grid:              true
axis:              true
3d:                true
ndecplaces:        0
thousandseparator: ,
barspacing:        2
barwidth:          16
displaybarvalues:  false
gradientfill:      true
series1:           #BB0000|Product X|left|8|triangle|true|solid|
series2:           #0000BB|Product Y|left|8|box|true|solid|
series3:           #FF8800|Product Z|left|8|diamond|true|solid|
gridbgcolor:       #FFFFCC
axiscolor:         dark grey
floorcolor:        light gray
gridcolor:         grey
gridstyle:         dotted
ylables:           true
yfont:             arial
yfontsize:         11
yfontbold:         bold
yfontitalic:       false
ylabelcolor:       black
ylabelpre:         $
ylabelpost:
titletext:         Product Sales by Month for 2008
titlefont:         arial
titlefontsize:     14
titlefontbold:     bold
titlefontitalic:   false
titlecolor:        #8080B0
titleposition:     -1,55
xtitletext:        2008
xtitlefont:        arial
xtitlefontsize:    11
xtitlefontbold:    bold
xtitlefontitalic:  false
xtitlecolor:       #8080B0
xtitleposition:    -1,-1
ytitletext:        Value
ytitlefont:        arial
ytitlefontsize:    11
ytitlefontbold:    bold
ytitlefontitalic:  false
ytitlecolor:       #8080B0
ytitleposition:    -1,230
<?php
// dynamically generate the X Axis labels from
// the request parameter "startDate"
$year  = substr($_REQUEST["startDate"],0,4);
$month = substr($_REQUEST["startDate"],5,2);
$day   = substr($_REQUEST["startDate"],8,2);
$startDate = mktime(0,0,0,$month,$day,$year);
$xlabelValue = "";
for ($i=0;$i<12;$i++) {
        $monthName = date("F 'y",$startDate);
        $xlabelValue .= $monthName."|";
        // add 1 month to for the next month
        $startDate = strtotime("+1 month",$startDate);
}
// write out the xlabels parameter
print "xlabels:  ".$xlabelValue."\n";
?>
xlabelorientation: Up angle
xlabeloffset:      0
xlabelcolor:       #8080B0
xlabelfont:        arial
xlabelfontsize:    10
xlabelfontbold:    false
xlabelfontitalic:  false
legend:            true
legendstyle:       horizontal
legendbgcolor:     #EEEEEE
legendbordercolor: #CCCCFF
legendtextcolor:   #8080B0
legendtitle:
legendfont:        arial
legendfontsize:    11
legendfontbold:    false
legendfontitalic:  false
legendposition:    -1,64
// for a full explanation of these parameters see:-
// http://www.jpowered.com/php-scripts/adv-graph-chart/documentation/configurationOptions.htm

Notes: This config.php file contains the parameters which determine certain aspects of the graph like colors and fonts. For the function and options of each parameter see the following page:-
Graph Parameters »

Step 4 - Create a web page and add the Graph to it

Add this HTML code to your page (replacing [www.YourDomain.com] with the actual domain of your web site. Place this page in the /graphtest/ directory.

<img src="http://[www.YourDomain.com]/jpowered/graph/vertical-cylinder-graph.php?
datascript=../../graphtest/datafunction.php&
config=../../graphtest/config.php&
startDate=2008-01-01"
width=800
height=400 />

Note:The relative file paths are relative to the location of the vertical-cylinder-graph.php file (they are NOT relative to the location of the web page).

Save the web page and load it up to your web server placing it in the /graphtest/ directory.

Final Step - View the page in a browser

Open your web browser and view the page. You should see a Vertical Cylinder Graph with 36 bars plotted (12 for each series).

How it works

When the page loads the graph function is called and the 'startDate' parameter is passed through.

The graph function in turn passes this through to the config.php script which then dynamically generates the x-axis labels using the value of startDate as a starting point.

In the config.php The output date format is set to 'month year' and the time interval to 1 month. However these can be changed to whatever interval and date/time format is required.

Graphing Tutorials - Dynamic Date and Time Axis

Dynamic Date/Time X-Axis Labels

Prerequisites

Directory Structure

Step 1 - Create a test MySQL Database

Step 2 - Create a Custom Data Function

Step 3 - Create the config file

Step 4 - Create a web page and add the Graph to it

Final Step - View the page in a browser

How it works

Tutorials

More

Documentation

Database Connections

Installation Help