This is the README file for PHPlot Last updated for PHPlot-5.2.0 on 2010-10-03 The project web site is http://sourceforge.net/projects/phplot/ The project home page is http://phplot.sourceforge.net/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- OVERVIEW: PHPlot is a PHP class for creating scientific and business charts. The release documentation contains only summary information. For more complete information, download the PHPlot Reference Manual from the Sourceforge project web site. You can also view the manual online at http://phplot.sourceforge.net For important changes in this release, see the NEWS.txt file. CONTENTS: COPYING . . . . . . . . . . . . LGPL 2.1 License file ChangeLog . . . . . . . . . . . Lists changes to the sources NEWS.txt . . . . . . . . . . . . Highlights changes in releases README.txt . . . . . . . . . . This file contrib . . . . . . . . . . . . "Contributed" directory, add-ons phplot.php . . . . . . . . . . The main PHPlot source file rgb.inc.php . . . . . . . . . . Optional extended color table REQUIREMENTS: You need a recent version of PHP5, and you are advised to use the latest stable release. This version of PHPlot has been tested with PHP-5.3.3 and PHP-5.2.14 on Linux, and with PHP-5.3.3 on Windows/XP. Use of PHP-5.3.2 or PHP-5.2.13 is not recommended, if you are using TrueType Font (TTF) text. A bug with TTF rendering in those versions affects PHPlot images. This was fixed in PHP-5.3.3 and PHP-5.2.14. You need the GD extension to PHP either built in to PHP or loaded as a module. Refer to the PHP documentation for more information - see the Image Functions chapter in the PHP Manual. We test PHPlot only with the PHP-supported, bundled GD library. If you want to display PHPlot charts on a web site, you need a PHP-enabled web server. You can also use the PHP CLI interface without a web server. PHPlot supports TrueType fonts, but does not include any TrueType font files. If you want to use TrueType fonts on your charts, you need to have TrueType support in GD, and some TrueType font files. By default, PHPlot uses a simple font which is built in to the GD library. INSTALLATION: Unpack the distribution. (If you are reading this file, you have probably already done that.) Installation of PHPlot simply involves copying two script files somewhere your PHP application scripts will be able to find them. The scripts are: phplot.php - The main script file rgb.inc.php - Optional large color table Make sure the permissions on these files allow the web server to read them. The ideal place is a directory outside your web server document area, and on your PHP include path. You can add to the include path in the PHP configuration file; consult the PHP manual for details. KNOWN ISSUES: Here are some of the problems we know about in PHPlot. See the bug tracker on the PHPlot project web site for more information. #1795969 The automatic range calculation for Y values needs to be rewritten. This is especially a problem with small offset ranges (e.g. Y=[999:1001]). You can use SetPlotAreaWorld to set a specific range instead. #1605558 Wide/Custom dashed lines don't work well This is partially a GD issue, partially PHPlot's fault. #2919086 Improve tick interval calculations Tick interval calculations should try for intervals of 1, 2, or 5 times a power of 10. PHP Issues: PHP has many build-time and configuration options, and these can affect the operation of PHPlot (as well as any other application or library). Here are some known issues: + Slackware Linux includes a version of PHP built with --enable-gd-jis-conv (JIS-mapped Japanese font support). This prevents the usual UTF-8 encoding of characters from working in TrueType Font (TTF) text strings. + The Ubuntu Linux PHP GD package (php5-gd) was built to use the external shared GD library, not the one bundled with PHP. This can result in small differences in images, and some unsupported features (such as advanced truecolor image operations). Also, although this Ubuntu GD library was built with fontconfig support, PHP does not use it, so you still need to specify TrueType fonts with their actual file names. + Some PHP installations may have a memory limit set too low to support large images, especially truecolor images. If you think you found a problem with PHPlot, or want to ask questions or provide feedback, please use the Help and Discussion forum at http://sourceforge.net/projects/phplot/ If you are sure you have found a bug, you can report it on the Bug tracker at the same web site. There is also a Features Request tracker. TESTING: You can test your installation by creating the following two files somewhere in your web document area. First, the HTML file: ------------ simpleplot.html ---------------------------- Hello, PHPlot!

PHPlot Test

--------------------------------------------------------- Second, in the same directory, the image file producing PHP script file. Depending on where you installed phplot.php, you may need to specify a path in the 'require' line below. ------------ simpleplot.php ----------------------------- SetDataValues($data); $plot->SetDataType('data-data'); $plot->DrawGraph(); --------------------------------------------------------- Access the URL to 'simpleplot.html' in your web browser. If you see a simple graph, you have successfully installed PHPlot. If you see no graph, check your web server error log for more information. COPYRIGHT and LICENSE: PHPlot is Copyright (C) 1998-2010 Afan Ottenheimer This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; version 2.1 of the License. This software is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Lesser General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License along with this software; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA