Drawing graphs with PHP

[TheDD]

Hi all,

i have a question:

is there any librairy for drawing graphs with PHP? Not graphs like
histogram or alike, but like a set of shapes linked together in a certain
way (like a flow chart or call graph).

I have found a script to handle the graph in memory but i can already do
that, my problem is to draw it (it an optimal way, and without crossing
links if possible).

Thx
--
TheDD

[Ian.H]

Re: Drawing graphs with PHP

On Sun, 09 Nov 2003 10:49:52 +0100, TheDD wrote:
[color=blue]
> Hi all,
>
> i have a question:
>
> is there any librairy for drawing graphs with PHP? Not graphs like
> histogram or alike, but like a set of shapes linked together in a certain
> way (like a flow chart or call graph).
>
> I have found a script to handle the graph in memory but i can already do
> that, my problem is to draw it (it an optimal way, and without crossing
> links if possible).
>
> Thx[/color]


Not 100% sure if it covers your req's.. but have a google for 'JPGraph'.
This might be just what you're looking for =)


HTH.



Regards,

Ian

--
Ian.H [Design & Development]
digiServ Network - Web solutions
www.digiserv.net | irc.digiserv.ne t | forum.digiserv. net
Programming, Web design, development & hosting.

[Andy Hassall]

Re: Drawing graphs with PHP

On Sun, 9 Nov 2003 10:49:52 +0100, TheDD <pas.d@email.co m> wrote:
[color=blue]
>i have a question:
>
>is there any librairy for drawing graphs with PHP? Not graphs like
>histogram or alike, but like a set of shapes linked together in a certain
>way (like a flow chart or call graph).
>
>I have found a script to handle the graph in memory but i can already do
>that, my problem is to draw it (it an optimal way, and without crossing
>links if possible).[/color]

The most popular free directed graph drawing library is the 'dot' program from
the Graphviz library:

http://www.research.att.com/sw/tools/graphviz/

It does a decent enough job for small-ish graphs (<50 nodes), can output in
various formats, including HTML image maps so you can make the nodes clickable.

Basically you'll have to output a file in the simple format that dot
understands describing the graph, and use system() or backticks `` to call dot
to render that to a file.

Doesn't guarantee optimal layout or zero crossing edges; it uses heuristics to
get a generally reasonable layout.

There are commercial packages that do a better job but they're mostly
incredibly expensive. The Graph Layout Toolkit from Tom Sawyer Software looked
impressive, but the quote they called back with had quite a few zeroes ;-)

--
Andy Hassall (andy@andyh.co. uk) icq(5747695) (http://www.andyh.co.uk)
Space: disk usage analysis tool (http://www.andyhsoftware.co.uk/space)

[TheDD]

Re: Drawing graphs with PHP

On Sun, 09 Nov 2003 09:55:15 GMT, Ian.H wrote:[color=blue]
> On Sun, 09 Nov 2003 10:49:52 +0100, TheDD wrote:[/color]
[color=blue][color=green]
>> [...][/color][/color]
[color=blue]
> Not 100% sure if it covers your req's.. but have a google for 'JPGraph'.
> This might be just what you're looking for =)[/color]
[color=blue]
> HTH.[/color]
[color=blue]
> Regards,[/color]

No, it's for histogram graphs and similar :(

Thx anyway
--
TheDD

[TheDD]

Re: Drawing graphs with PHP

On Sun, 09 Nov 2003 14:10:39 +0000, Andy Hassall wrote:[color=blue]
> On Sun, 9 Nov 2003 10:49:52 +0100, TheDD <pas.d@email.co m> wrote:[/color]
[color=blue][color=green]
>> [...][/color][/color]
[color=blue]
> The most popular free directed graph drawing library is the 'dot' program from
> the Graphviz library:[/color]
[color=blue]
> http://www.research.att.com/sw/tools/graphviz/[/color]
[color=blue]
> It does a decent enough job for small-ish graphs (<50 nodes), can output in
> various formats, including HTML image maps so you can make the nodes clickable.[/color]
[color=blue]
> Basically you'll have to output a file in the simple format that dot
> understands describing the graph, and use system() or backticks `` to call dot
> to render that to a file.[/color]

I thought about this, but i was hopping for something "better integrated".
I will look how this can be done (html map § png image, html, or just
getting the coordinates and drawing myself).
[color=blue]
> Doesn't guarantee optimal layout or zero crossing edges; it uses heuristics to
> get a generally reasonable layout.[/color]
[color=blue]
> There are commercial packages that do a better job but they're mostly
> incredibly expensive. The Graph Layout Toolkit from Tom Sawyer Software looked
> impressive, but the quote they called back with had quite a few zeroes ;-)[/color]

Yeah, i can imagine ;)

Thx
--
TheDD http://www.epita.fr/~mancel_d
Ing2 Groupe B2
EPITA Promotion 2005

[Andy Hassall]

Re: Drawing graphs with PHP

On Tue, 11 Nov 2003 10:49:38 +0100, TheDD <mancel_d@epita .fr> wrote:
[color=blue]
>On Sun, 09 Nov 2003 14:10:39 +0000, Andy Hassall wrote:[color=green]
>> On Sun, 9 Nov 2003 10:49:52 +0100, TheDD <pas.d@email.co m> wrote:[/color]
>[color=green][color=darkred]
>>> [...][/color][/color]
>[color=green]
>> The most popular free directed graph drawing library is the 'dot' program from
>> the Graphviz library:[/color]
>[color=green]
>> http://www.research.att.com/sw/tools/graphviz/[/color]
>[color=green]
>> It does a decent enough job for small-ish graphs (<50 nodes), can output in
>> various formats, including HTML image maps so you can make the nodes clickable.[/color]
>[color=green]
>> Basically you'll have to output a file in the simple format that dot
>> understands describing the graph, and use system() or backticks `` to call dot
>> to render that to a file.[/color]
>
>I thought about this, but i was hopping for something "better integrated".
>I will look how this can be done (html map § png image, html, or just
>getting the coordinates and drawing myself).[/color]

Haven't tried it personally, but a quick search came up with the following PHP
class for wrapping up Graphviz:

http://pear.php.net/package/Image_GraphViz

Probably worth a look.

--
Andy Hassall (andy@andyh.co. uk) icq(5747695) (http://www.andyh.co.uk)
Space: disk usage analysis tool (http://www.andyhsoftware.co.uk/space)

[david]

Re: Drawing graphs with PHP

Andy Hassall wrote:
[color=blue][color=green][color=darkred]
>>>>[...][/color][/color][/color]
[color=blue]
> Haven't tried it personally, but a quick search came up with the following PHP
> class for wrapping up Graphviz:
>
> http://pear.php.net/package/Image_GraphViz
>
> Probably worth a look.[/color]

Yes, it will prevent me from writing some code, but not a hard part. It's still
not integrated since i need to save a dot file (through the lib), proccess
through graphviz, and then use the output :/

Thx anyway :) i will work on this again in one week.

NB: i must be a bad searcher ;)

--
TheDD