KupoChart is a charting tool written in PHP, using the Image_Graph module. Based on the parameters passed to the KupoChart script via a standard HTTP request, KupoChart outputs a chart to the user's specifications. It can accept parameters via either HTTP POST or HTTP GET.
The KupoChart API is based on the Google Chart API. Virtually any set of parameters that will work on KupoChart will also work on Google Chart (though, at present, the reverse is not true; presently, KupoChart functionality is a subset of Google Chart functionality).
Presently, KupoChart supports the following chart types:
More types of charts will be added in future releases.
At present (April 15, 2008), Google Chart can only be utilised via accessing Google's own server[s] via the web. There is no downloadable version, either open-source or proprietary, free or for-pay. All information must be sent to Google's servers.
While this may not present a problem for many projects and many users, in cases where long-term viability is a serious concern (i.e. if Google discontinuing the Google Chart service would result in a mission-critical service having to be discontinued), it may give pause to a project manager or developer considering Google Chart.
More critical, however, is the issue of data privacy. Regardless of Google's API, corporations or individuals wishing to graph sensitive data may not wish to transmit all of their information to Google's servers, particularly for applications which are intended for internal corporate use only, or which involve sensitive user data which a company is paid to keep private. To give one example, users in the US medical field, restricted by HIPAA from disclosing certain sorts of data on patients, may be nervous about transmitting such data to an outside service.
Also, for obvious reasons, intranet or similar applications hosted on servers with no access to the outside Internet will not be able to use Google Chart.
Nevertheless, Google Chart is a wonderful tool. In fact, for the project that KupoChart was originally developed for, Google Chart was the first choice of charting utilities. KupoChart's development will continue to use the Google Chart API as a guide, and hopefully, some day, KupoChart's functionality will be a superset of Google Chart's rather than a subset of it.
Since KupoChart implements a clone of Google Chart's API, the project was originally going to be called 'Moogle Chart', as a sort of parody. (See also: [moogle.jpg]) However, for legal reasons the name "KupoChart" was chosen. Kupo is the sound made by the fictional "moogle" creatures.
As of version 0.1.5, KupoChart requires the following:
KupoChart is released under the GNU GPL version 2, or at your option any later version. As part of the licencing terms, KupoChart is provided with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by applicable law.
Usage examples can be found in the appropriate sections of this manual. Please return to the table of contents and select the specific sort of graph you are interested in creating for ample usage information and sample output.
For comments, questions, bugfixes, patches, etc., please contact the author via email to 'J at TWU dot net'.
