plot in html

[Bill Chiu]

Dear gurus:

I need to create a real-time line plot on an html page, without
resorting to java, cgi, or anything server-side or offline. I think
maybe this could be done with javascript, or dhtml, and most likely
macromedia flash - what may be the best choice for a clean and
portable design?
and why?


Bill

[Steven Post]

Re: plot in html

In article <94f9726d.04010 72135.6be6028d@ posting.google. com>,
billchiu@despam med.com (Bill Chiu) wrote:
[color=blue]
> Dear gurus:
>
> I need to create a real-time line plot on an html page, without
> resorting to java, cgi, or anything server-side or offline. I think
> maybe this could be done with javascript, or dhtml, and most likely
> macromedia flash - what may be the best choice for a clean and
> portable design?
> and why?
>
>
> Bill[/color]

I did a series of timelines in Flash for a textbook publisher. I'd show
'em to you, 'cept they are still in development, and that probably
wouldn't be kosher.

In any case, if you are a terrific coder, you could probably do
something decent using dhtml (Incidentally, isn't dhtml just html
elements with js applied to them? I've never known of any functional
difference between dhtml and js), but it would be a big pain in the ass.

Unless you just totally ignored whole classes of browsers, you'd be best
off making some sort of API to save you the trouble of having to adapt
everything to a cross-browser environment. I've seen some pretty clever
APIs, but it's not a job I would envy.

The nice thing about Flash is that it's like a virtual machine in a way.
There are subtle differences between the PC plugin and the Mac plugin,
but to be sure, you've only got to write your code once. Plus Flash was
originally designed with animation in mind, so if you wanted to
incorporate a fair amount of animation, you could do worse than chose
Flash.

There are a lot of people who act like Flash is some kind of horrible
skin disease, and while I admit it has its shortcomings (the Flash MX
development environment for Mac is a horrid piece of shit, for example),
there are things it is very well suited to. Wish I could show off my
timeline...

DHTML makes me nervous. I can never stop thinking that there are whole
swaths of the Internet public looking at my work and seeing totally
screwed up crap.

sp

[Richard Cornford]

Re: plot in html

"Bill Chiu" <billchiu@despa mmed.com> wrote in message
news:94f9726d.0 401072135.6be60 28d@posting.goo gle.com...[color=blue]
>I need to create a real-time line plot on an html page, without
>resorting to java, cgi, or anything server-side or offline. I
>think maybe this could be done with javascript, or dhtml, and
>most likely macromedia flash - what may be the best choice for
>a clean and portable design? and why?[/color]

The best DHTML line drawing I have seen is at:-

<URL: http://www.walterzorn.com/jsgraphics/jsgraphics_e.htm >

-They use reasonable implementations of fast line drawing algorithms.
But look under the hood and the code is generating and positioning
hundreds (possibly thousands) of absolutely positioned DIV elements, and
that is a great burden on the browser and inevitably not fast.

I don't particularly like flash but for dynamic line/graph drawing it
probably is a better option. Though you could consider SVG, which could
also be scripted on a supporting client.

Richard.

[Evertjan.]

Re: plot in html

Bill Chiu wrote on 08 jan 2004 in comp.lang.javas cript:
[color=blue]
> I need to create a real-time line plot on an html page, without
> resorting to java, cgi, or anything server-side or offline. I think
> maybe this could be done with javascript, or dhtml, and most likely
> macromedia flash - what may be the best choice for a clean and
> portable design?
> and why?
>[/color]

My examples:

<http://groups.google.com/
groups?selm=Xns 9317AF8435034ee jj99%40194.109. 133.29>

pointing to:

<http://devrijehuisarts .org/test/jsgraph.asp>

--
Evertjan.
The Netherlands.
(Please change the x'es to dots in my emailaddress)

[Brian Genisio]

Re: plot in html

Bill Chiu wrote:
[color=blue]
> Dear gurus:
>
> I need to create a real-time line plot on an html page, without
> resorting to java, cgi, or anything server-side or offline. I think
> maybe this could be done with javascript, or dhtml, and most likely
> macromedia flash - what may be the best choice for a clean and
> portable design?
> and why?
>
>
> Bill[/color]


Hmmmm... Both of the examples I saw make many, many 1x1 DIV objects... I
once had an idea for something similar, but with a table, and 1x1 cells,
with no border, and no padding. I never implemented it, but I would
assume that it could work.

Either implementation will create _tons_ of DOM nodes, likely causing
massive resouce requirements.

I know you need to not resort to CGI, but PHP has an extremely
easy-to-use graphics library that can create images on the fly with only
a few lines of code

Brian