Ambling is a rails plugin makes it easy to generate XML needed by the wonderfully slick

Amcharts[http://www.amcharts.com/].

Amcharts has two kinds of XML: the data xml and the settings xml. Ambling can help with both.

To install, do the usual rails incancation:

ruby script/plugin install svn://rubyforge.org//var/svn/ambling/trunk

Ambling expects amcharts to be installed under public/amcharts. Put the

licence key (if any), swf files, fonts and plugins directories under here

Amcharts uses swfobject.js, so put that in public/javascripts and include it

in your layout. It does not work with swfobject version 2.x so you'll need

to find swfobject 1.x

Ambling uses expressinstall.swf by default, so put that in public/amcharts.

Ambling is also now on github: http://github.com/ahobson/ambling/tree/master

Examples:

In your controller, generate the data xml for a pie chart

def pie_data

chart = Ambling::Data::Pie.new

FavoriteColor.count(:color, :group => :color).each do |data|

chart.slices << Ambling::Data::Slice.new(data.last, :title => data.first,

:url => favorite_colors_path(:color => data.first))

end

render :xml => chart.to_xml

end

In your view, embed the flash and customize the settings

<%=

ambling_chart(:pie, :data_file => url_for(:action => 'pie_data', :escape => false),

:id => 'pie_data', :width => 290, :height => 200,

:chart_settings => Ambling::Pie::Settings.new({

:pie => {

:x => 110,

:y => 110,

:radius => 80,

:colors => '#B40000,#F7941D,#0265AC',

:outline_color => '#000000',

:outline_alpha => 50,

},

:animation => {

:pull_out_on_click => false,

},

:data_labels => {

:show => cdata_section("{value}"), :radius => -30,

},

:legend => {

:enabled => true, :x => 195, :y => 20, :width => 100, :text_color => '#000',

:max_columns => 1, :spacing => 2, :text_size => 10,

:key => {:size => 10}

},

:labels => {

:label =>

{:x => 40, :y => 5, :text => cdata_section("Favorite Colors"),

:text_size => 16, :text_color => '#0265AC'},

}

}).to_xml) do

content_tag('p', "To see this page properly, you need to upgrade your Flash Player")

end

%>

How about a combo bar and line graph?

In your controller:

def graph_data

avg_attendence = Movies.find_average_attendence_last_thirty_days

colors = %w{#B40000 #F7941D #0265AC #DF5858 #FFC580 #6FAFF3 #5AAB6D #E99393 #9DCFA9 #A4CBF3}

chart = Ambling::Data::ColumnChart.new

chart.graphs << Ambling::Data::LineGraph.new([], :title => "Average Attendence", :color => '#000000')

avg_attendence.each do |day,avg_attendence|

chart.series << Ambling::Data::Value.new(day.to_s(:pretty_day), :xid => day.to_i)

chart.graphs.last << Ambling::Data::Value.new(avg_attendence, :xid => day.to_i)

end

all_movie_names = Movies.find_movie_names

all_movie_names.each_with_index do |movie_name, i|

chart.graphs << Ambling::Data::ColumnGraph.new([], :title => movie_name, :color => colors[i])

movie_attendence = Movies.find_attendence_by_name(movie_name)

movie_attendence.each do |day, attendence|

chart.graphs.last << Ambling::Data::Value.new(attendence, :xid => day.to_i)

end

end

render :xml => chart.to_xml

end

In your view:

<%=

ambling_chart(:column, :data_file => url_for(:action => 'graph_data', :escape => false),

:id => "graph_data", :width => 900, :height => 250,

:chart_settings => Ambling::Column::Settings.new({

:column => {

:type => "stacked", :width => 90, :spacing => 5,

:balloon_text => "{value} people attended the movie {title} on {series}"

},

:grid => {

:category => {:alpha => 0}, :value => {:alpha => 10}

},

:values => {

:category => {:enabled => true, :frequency => 3}

},

:plot_area => {

:margins => {:left => 30, :top => 40, :right => 100, :bottom => 40}

},

:legend => {

:enabled => true, :x => 805, :y => 20, :width => 100, :text_color => '#000',

:max_columns => 1, :spacing => 2, :text_size => 10,

:key => {:size => 10}

},

:labels => {

:label => [

{:x => 350, :y => 5, :text => cdata_section("Movie Attendence"),

:text_size => 16, :text_color => '#0265AC'}

]

},

:graphs => {

:graph => [

{:type => 'line', :gid => 1, :width => 3}

]

}

}).to_xml) do

content_tag('p', "To see this page properly, you need to upgrade your Flash Player")

end

%>

Here's a column example.

In your controller:

def column_data

colors = %w{#B40000 #F7941D #0265AC}

chart = Ambling::Data::ColumnChart.new

chart.series << Ambling::Data::Value.new(1, :xid => 1)

[["Chocolate", 55], ["Ice Cream", 34], ["Cookies", 22]].each_with_index do |kv, i|

chart.graphs << Ambling::Data::ColumnGraph.new([], :gid => i, :title => kv.first, :color => color[i])

chart.graphs.last << Ambling::Data::Value.new(kv.last, {:xid => 1})

end

render :xml => chart.to_xml

end

In your view:

<%=

ambling_chart(:column, :data_file => url_for(:action => 'column_data', :escape => false),

:id => 'column_data', :width => 290, :height => 200,

:chart_settings => Ambling::Column::Settings.new({

:column => {

:type => "bar", :width => 97, :spacing => 0,

:balloon_text => cdata_section("{value} people bought {title}")

},

:grid => {

:category => {:alpha => 0}, :value => {:alpha => 10}

},

:values => {

:category => {:enabled => false}

},

:plot_area => {

:margins => {:left => 40, :top => 40, :right => 100, :bottom => 40}

},

:legend => {

:enabled => true, :x => 195, :y => 20, :width => 100, :text_color => '#000',

:max_columns => 1, :spacing => 1, :text_size => 10,

:key => {:size => 10}

},

:labels => {

:label => [

{:x => 20, :y => 5, :text => cdata_section("Dessert"),

:text_size => 16, :text_color => '#0265AC'},

{:x => 30, :y => 170, :text => "Sweet Sales", :align => "center", :width => 180,

:text_size => 12}

]

}

}).to_xml) do

content_tag('p', "To see this page properly, you need to upgrade your Flash Player")

end

%>

Thanks to the ziya plugin for inspiration