FusionCharts can effectively be used with Ruby to plot dynamic data-driven charts. In this set of examples, we'll show a few basic examples to help you get started.

We'll cover the following examples here:

1. We'll use FusionCharts in Ruby with a pre-built Data.xml (which contains data to plot)
2. We'll then change the above chart into a single page chart using dataXML method.
3. Finally, we'll use FusionCharts JavaScript class to embed the chart. This is present in the Download Package > Code > RoR > public > javascripts

Let's quickly see each of them. Before you proceed with the contents in this page, we recommend you to go through the section "How FusionCharts Works?".

All code discussed here is present in
Controller : Download Package > Code > RoR > SampleApp > app > fusioncharts > controllers > basic_example_controller.rb.
View : Download Package > Code > RoR > SampleApp > app > views > fusioncharts > basic_example folder.
View Helper Modules: Download Package > Code > RoR > SampleApp > lib > fusioncharts_helper.rb

All the charts can be accessed from the index controller in this manner: http://<ipaddress:port>/fusioncharts/index

Setting up the charts for use
In our code, we've used the charts contained in Download Package > Code > RoR > SampleApp > public >FusionCharts folder. When you run your samples, you need to make sure that the SWF files are in proper location. Also the Data.xml file used in simple_chart action is present in the Download Package > Code > RoR > public > Data folder.

Plotting a chart from data contained in Data.xml
Let's now get to building our first example. In this example, we'll create a "Monthly Unit Sales" chart using dataURL method. For a start, we'll hard code our XML data in a physical XML document Data.xml and then utilize it for our chart.

Let's first have a look at the XML Data document:

<graph caption='Monthly Unit Sales' xAxisName='Month' yAxisName='Units' decimalPrecision='0' formatNumberScale='0'>
    <set name='Jan' value='462' color='AFD8F8' />
    <set name='Feb' value='857' color='F6BD0F' />
    <set name='Mar' value='671' color='8BBA00' />
    <set name='Apr' value='494' color='FF8E46'/>
    <set name='May' value='761' color='008E8E'/>
    <set name='Jun' value='960' color='D64646'/>
    <set name='Jul' value='629' color='8E468E'/>
    <set name='Aug' value='622' color='588526'/>
    <set name='Sep' value='376' color='B3AA00'/>
    <set name='Oct' value='494' color='008ED6'/>
    <set name='Nov' value='761' color='9D080D'/>
    <set name='Dec' value='960' color='A186BE'/>
</graph>

This XML is stored as Data.xml in Data Folder under public folder. It basically contains the data to create a single series chart to show "Monthly Unit Sales". We'll plot this on a Column 3D Chart. Let's see how to do that.

To plot a chart that consumes this data, you need to include the HTML code to embed a Flash object and then provide the requisite parameters. To make things simpler for you, we've put all this functionality in a function named as render_chart_html. This function is present in the fusioncharts_helper.rb file in the lib folder and is accessible to all views by including it in the application_helper.rb as shown:

require "fusioncharts_helper"
include FusionChartsHelper

We will define a function called simple_chart in the controller. The view used for this controller is the simple_chart.html.erb file. We will use a layout to contain all the common elements of the html.erb files that we will be using and put only the specific elements or ruby code in individual templates.

Let's see it in example.

Controller: Fusioncharts::BasicExampleController
Action: basic_chart
class Fusioncharts::BasicExampleController < ApplicationController
#This is the layout which all functions in this controller make use of.
layout "common"
#In this function, a pre-defined Data.xml
#(contained in /Data/ folder)
#is used to provide the xml in the dataURL method.
#render_chart_html function from the helper
is invoked to render the chart.
#The function itself has no code, all the work
# is done in the builder and the view.
def basic_chart

end

View:
<% @page_title="FusionCharts - Simple Column 3D Chart" %>
<% @page_heading="Examples" %>
<% @page_subheading="Basic example using pre-built Data.xml" %>
<%
#Create the chart - Column 3D Chart with data from Data/Data.xml
render_chart_html '/FusionCharts/FCF_Column3D.swf', '/Data/Data.xml', '', 'myFirstHTML', 600, 300 do-%>
<% end -%>

The actions in this controller use a layout named "common". This file common.html.erb is present in the views/layouts folder. We will see the details of this layout in a minute.
As seen above, we have not written any code in the action basic_chart - the action is just defined empty. Rails by default, tries to render a template by the same name. (In this case, basic_chart.html.erb)
In the basic_chart.html.erb template, we have assigned values for page_title, page_heading and page_subheading variables which will be used in the "common" layout.

render_chart_html function
The code written to show the chart is just one line function call to the function render_chart present in the fusioncharts_helper.rb. To this function, you need to pass the following parameters (in the same order):

debugMode parameter is not used in Free version.

All the actions in this controller use the "common" layout.

common layout
This is the layout used by most templates in our application. Here we place all the common elements of the page, so that, in each template., only the specifics can be dealt with. Here is how it looks:

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE><%= @page_title %></TITLE>
<%
#You need to include the following JS file, if you intend to embed the chart using JavaScript.
#Embedding using JavaScripts avoids the "Click to Activate..." issue in Internet Explorer
#When you make your own charts, make sure that the path to this JS file is correct. Else, you would get JavaScript errors.

%>
<%= javascript_include_tag "FusionCharts" %>
<style type="text/css">
<!--
body {
font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
font-size: 12px;
}
.text{
font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
font-size: 12px;
}
-->
</style>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<CENTER>
<h2> <a href="http://www.fusioncharts.com" target="_blank" >FusionCharts Free</a> <%= @page_heading %> </h2>
<h4><%= @page_subheading %> </h4>
<%= yield %>
<BR>
<BR>
<a href='/NoChart.html' target="_blank">Unable to see the chart above?</a>
<BR><h5><%= link_to '&laquo; Back to list of examples', :controller=>'fusioncharts/index'%></h5>
</CENTER>
</BODY>
</HTML>

As you would notice, this layout contains all the common elements of the page like <html> ,<head>,<body>. Note that the included javascript file (FusionCharts.js) will not be used by basic_chart and basic_data_xml views of the controller Fusioncharts::BasicExampleController but all other views which use this layout will use this javascript. Hence it has been included here.

This layout, gets the title from a variable @page_title and puts it within the <title> </title> tags. Similarly, inside the body tag, it renders the values of @page_heading and @page_subheading. These values might differ from one template to the other and hence, each template needs to assign values to these variables, as seen in the view for basic_chart action.

The <%=yield%> inside the body ensures that any content in our specific template are included before rendering the page. At the bottom, there is a link to "/NoChart.html" which would display information to the user, in case he/she is unable to view the chart. Finally, there is another link to go back to the index page.

To view this page, you would open the browser and point to the basic_chart action of the basic_example controller present in the Fusioncharts folder. Suppose the host is localhost and port is 3000, then the address to be typed would be: http://localhost:3000/Fusioncharts/basic_example/basic_chart

The chart you see will be like the one shown below:

If you do not see a chart like the one below, please follow the steps listed in Debugging your Charts > Basic Troubleshooting section of this documentation.

Well, that was simple! Creating chart in Ruby on Rails using FusionCharts is fun and easy.
FusionCharts allows the user to provide the xml in two ways. They are setDataURL and setDataXML.The basic_chart uses the dataURL method. Let's now convert the above chart to use dataXML method.

Changing the above Basic Chart to use dataXML method

The action we will use for this is named basic_data_xml. Here is the code fragment showing this action.

Controller: Fusioncharts::BasicExampleController
Action: basic_data_xml
#This action demonstrates the ease of generating
#charts using FusionCharts.
#Here, we've used a Builder Template to build the XML data.
#Ideally, you would generate XML data documents at run-time,
#after interfacing with forms or databases etc.
#Such examples are also present.
#Here, we've kept this example very simple.
#render_chart_html function from the helper module is invoked
# to render the chart.
#The function itself has no code(except setting the content type),
# all the work is done in the builder and the view.
def basic_data_xml
    headers["content-type"]="text/html";
end
View:
<% @page_title="FusionCharts - Simple Column 3D
Chart using dataXML method" %>
<% @page_heading="FusionCharts Examples" %>
<% @page_subheading="Basic example using dataXML method
(with XML data hard-coded in Builder Template itself)" %>
<p>If you view the source of this page, you'll see
that the XML data is present in this same page
(inside HTML code). dataXML method is
ideal when you've to plot small amounts of data.</p>
<%
# The xml is obtained as a string from builder template.
str_xml =render "fusioncharts/basic_example/sampledata"
#Create the chart - Column 3D Chart with data from
# str_xml variable using dataXML method
render_chart_html '/FusionCharts/Column3D.swf', '', str_xml,
'myNextHTML', 600, 300, false do-%>
<% end -%>

Finally, we call render_chart_html function to render a Column3D chart (swf present in the public/FusionCharts folder), using the dataXML method by setting the value of str_xml in the third parameter.

Let us now take a look at the builder template.

#Creates xml with values for monthly sales data
#The values required for building the xml are hard-coded in this file
xml = Builder::XmlMarkup.new
xml.graph(:caption=>'Monthly Unit Sales', :xAxisName=>'Month', :yAxisName=>'Units', :decimalPrecision=>'0', :formatNumberScale=>'0') do
    xml.set(:name=>'Jan',:value=>'462',:color=>'AFD8F8')
    xml.set(:name=>'Feb',:value=>'857',:color=>'F6BD0F')
    xml.set(:name=>'Mar',:value=>'671',:color=>'8BBA00')
    xml.set(:name=>'Apr',:value=>'494',:color=>'FF8E46')
    xml.set(:name=>'May',:value=>'761',:color=>'008E8E')
    xml.set(:name=>'Jun',:value=>'960',:color=>'D64646')
    xml.set(:name=>'Jul',:value=>'629',:color=>'8E468E')
    xml.set(:name=>'Aug',:value=>'622',:color=>'588526')
    xml.set(:name=>'Sep',:value=>'376',:color=>'B3AA00')
    xml.set(:name=>'Oct',:value=>'494',:color=>'008ED6')
    xml.set(:name=>'Nov',:value=>'761',:color=>'9D080D')
    xml.set(:name=>'Dec',:value=>'960',:color=>'A186BE')
end

We have hardcoded the xml here. Ideally, you would get this data from database at run-time.

Using FusionCharts JavaScript class to embed the chart

If you see the charts from previous examples in Internet Explorer, you'll see a screen as below:

Internet Explorer asks you to "Click and activate..." to use the chart. This is happening because of a technical issue on behalf of Microsoft. As such, all Flash movies need to be clicked once before you can start interacting with them.

However, the good news is that there's a solution to it. This thing happens only when you directly embed the HTML code of the chart. It would NOT happen when you use JavaScript to embed the chart. To see how to embed using JavaScript at code level, please see Creating Your First Chart > JavaScript Embedding Section.

Again, to make things simpler for you, we've provided a function called render_chart which helps you wrap this JavaScript function in Ruby, so that you don't have to get your hands dirty with JavaScript, Flash and HTML.

Let's now quickly put up a sample to show the use of this function. We will create another action in the BasicExampleController class and the corresponding view.

Controller: Fusioncharts::BasicExampleController
Action: simple_chart
#Here, we've used a pre-defined Data.xml (contained in /Data/ folder)
#Ideally, you would NOT use a physical data file. Instead you'll have
#your own code virtually relay the XML data document.
# Such examples are also present.
#For a head-start, we've kept this example very simple.
#This function uses the dataURL method of FusionCharts.
#A view with the same name simple_chart.html.erb is present
#and it is this view, which gets shown along with the layout "common".
#render_chart function from the helper module is invoked to render the chart.
#The function itself has no code, all the work is done in
# the builder and the view.
def simple_chart

end

View:
<% @page_title="FusionCharts Free - Simple Column 3D Chart" %>
<% @page_heading="Examples" %>
<% @page_subheading="Basic example using pre-built Data.xml (dataURL method)" %>
<%
#Create the chart - Column 3D Chart with data from /Data/Data.xml
render_chart "/FusionCharts/FCF_Column3D.swf", "/Data/Data.xml", "", "myFirst", 600, 300, false, false do-%>
<% end -%>

simple_chart action of the controller will render the view simple_chart.html.erb. In this view, we call the render_chart function present in the fusioncharts_helper.rb, using the dataURL method by passing the second parameter as the path to the xml file.

The render_chart function takes the following parameters:

Note that, debugMode and registerWithJS are not used in Free version.

When you now view the chart, you'll see that no activation is required even in Internet Explorer.

Simple Chart using JavaScript and dataXML method

In the previous example, we have seen the advantages of using javascript to render the chart. Let us now try using the setDataXML method in conjunction with this. Here is the controller and view code:

Controller: Fusioncharts::BasicExampleController
Action: data_xml
#A Builder Template is used to build the XML data which is hard-coded.
#Ideally, you would generate XML data documents
#in the builder at run-time,
#after interfacing with forms or databases etc.
#Such examples are also present.
#We set the content-type header to text/html.
#render_chart function from the helper is invoked to render the chart.
#The function itself has no code,
# all the work is done in the builder and the view.
def data_xml
    headers["content-type"]="text/html";
end
View:
<% @page_title="FusionCharts Free - Simple Column 3D Chart using dataXML method" %>
<% @page_heading="Examples" %>
<% @page_subheading="Basic example using dataXML method (with XML data hard-coded in Builder Template itself)" %>
<p>If you view the source of this page, you'll see that the XML data
is present in this same page (inside HTML code). dataXML method is
ideal when you've to plot small amounts of data.</p>
<%
# The xml is obtained as a string from builder template.
str_xml = render "fusioncharts/basic_example/sampledata"
#Create the chart - Column 3D Chart with data from str_xml variable using dataXML method
render_chart '/FusionCharts/FCF_Column3D.swf', '', str_xml, 'myNext', 600, 300, false, false do-%>
<% end -%>

This view is similar to the basic_data_xml.html.erb we had seen before, except that we call the render_chart function here.

We have used a builder template to build the required xml. We use the render function to render the builder xml and assign to the variable str_xml.

This str_xml is passed as parameter to the render_chart function to render a Column3D chart. The builder used for this purpose is the same sampledata.builder that we saw in the basic_data_xml action. The resulting chart looks similar to the one seen in the previous example.