Chart FX for Java Designer

The Chart FX for Java Designer is a stand-alone chart template generator. Using this tool, you can create XML files containing all the visual attributes you desire for your chart. Once you have configured these settings in a familiar design-time environment, you can export the settings as XML and later import them into your charts using the import method.

Installation

The Chart FX for Java designer requires the Java Runtime Engine, however, depending on the Edition (Standard or Enterprise) you may be required to download additional components:

  • Both J2EE 1.3 & 1.4 and J2SE 1.4 include the Java API for XML Processing (JAXP), which the designer is dependent. Therefore, if you are running one of these environments, you simply need to needed to run the designer Executable Jar File (chartfx.designer.jar) located in the Designer directory of the Chart FX for Java installation.
  • If you are running J2SE 1.3, you will need to download and install Java API for XML Processing (JAXP). This may require Downloading the Java Web Services Developer Pack 1.x from http://java.sun.com.

Running the Designer

1. Systems that support executing .jar files by double clicking on the file may do so to run the Chart FX for Java designer.

2. For users who prefer to start the designer from a command prompt:

  • Navigate to the Designer directory. (containing chartfx.designer.jar and chartfx.jar)
  • Execute the following command:


C:\Program Files\Chart FX for Java 62\Designer> java –jar chartfx.designer.jar

Using the Designer

Once you have applied the desired attributes to the chart using the properties dialog window, click the "File" option located in the designer's menu and select "Save Template". This will save an XML file containing the visual attributes applied in the designer. Note that per series attributes as well as data related settings are not saved in the XML. For example NSeries and NValues, which control the number of series and points in the chart, would not be recorded.

Importing the XML

Now that you have saved an XML template with the desired visual attributes, it may be imported into any pre-populated Chart FX chart to produce the desired look and feel with one line of code. To import an XML file, the following code could be used:


chart1.importChart(FileFormat.XML, application.getRealPath("/ChartFX")
+ "/data/chartsettings.cfx");

Chart FX for Java Designer Licensing Considerations

The Chart FX for Java Designer can be distributed to as many computers as needed. To distribute the designer to new machines, run the Chart FX for Java installer again and select the Designer option, or simply copy the chartfx.jar and chartfx.designer.jar to the machine and run the .jar file as described above.

Please note that this license is only valid for the designer and that calls to the API will still need to be directed to the machine with the properly licensed server component. If you wish to make calls to machines where you have distributed the designer, you will need to obtain new licenses for additional test/development server installations.

Note: The same rules apply for any Chart FX for Java Plugins. You may distribute the plugin files to as many computers as needed, but must use a properly licensed machine to directly call the API.