This is a followup to a thread started earlier this year.
I have had to add some graphs to an in-house app that I support. I am
just so frustrated that Apple has not stepped up to the plate and
provided the Cocoa community with something, after all the requests
that have been voiced here and at WWDC, particularly since they have
a package in house (GraphKit).
[As an aside, I have entered a enhancement bug on this as well as
voice it in the Scientific lunch at WWDC.]
Now having the need, I re-read all the posts and have my own
experiences to share, as well as some new info. My need is for
something I can add into my app - a framework - that does not require
me to install other software on the client machines (only a few
clients, but no messing with their machines!)
I'm using the bar charts (now), and limiting the number of bars to a
"reasonable" number for the size of the graph. My biggest complaint
was the appearance of the bars - they look like bullets (ith rounded
tops). I hacked the code to draw real bars, and also ended up turning
the gradients off too (my preference was a solid color.] I also did
some code commenting to allow live resize, which works just fine.
I found the overall design of the API to be quite professional, and
its worked flawlessly for me.
Narrative
I never tried Narrative, as it appeared to not have been changed
(change == support in my mind), so I really cannot comment on it
further.
After the comments I had seen on the list before, I tried GraphX:
It has very pretty output, and this was my original choice. However,
after I build it into my app, I found that it does not support any
axis labels (the author thought about it but never implemented it).
This was a real shame, but after toying with adding them on my own, I
switched to SM2DGraph.
Two other packages that I found (referenced on cocoa-dev) were
Vvidget (www,vvi.com) and DataGraph.
It took me a while to figure out the model for Vvidget (so call me
slow), but apparently what you do is get a license for Vvidget, which
then allows you to get their cocoa framework that you can then use
(on the same machine with Vvidget) to draw and print graphs. Thus, to
incorporate what they have, the client needs to have a valid license
for Vvidget - which costs around $200 a seat. However, if this is
what you want, their product appears very well done - the company has
been around a long time and the product originally ran on Next. Note
that these graphs are "publication quality".
They have a similar model - you buy their $29 program (yes!), and
then you can use their Cocoa graphics package. However, if you
distribute your app, there is no way ship your app alone - the target
machine needs to have a valid DataGraph license. A principal of this
company posted here or on Cocoadev that such a license is in the
works, but an email to him on the status elicited no response.
This C++ product has been around for a long time, and supports a wide
range of graph types. But its been targetted at X11 / Terminal
(termcap) type applications. Its a complex engine with a plain
wrapper. I contacted one of the principals, and he is very interested
in finding a cocoa programmer to partner with - to do the Mac quality
front end. So, if anyone knows of an interested programmer they
should contact Peter using peterw at softintegration dot com
David
PS: One of my clients has a Java programmer on staff, who does his
work on the Mac using Java app because he can use an open source Java
graphing package - a package that I, using Cocoa, cannot use. What a
depressing state of affairs...
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