A clear concept included in the “Web 2.0 bouquet” is what we know as a Rich User-Experience. This is the field where the last year and a half brought a major explosion of novelty and improvement. Techniques like AJAX, Adobe Flash, Flex, Java and Silverlight have evolved and reinforced the user-experience in browser-based applications. So developing a web application that would fit the path of Web 2.0 concept would involve the usage of some of these techniques. And where there are several data sets to work with it is somehow natural to include different graphics and statistics in a stylish manner.

The InfoSoft Global guys have their way around with charts for quite some time now. And they have certainly achieved an impressive level when it comes to improving the user-experience and easing the chart integration in any application.Because the previous release of FusionCharts had a compatibility issue with .NET 2.0 applications, we expected the actual release from InfoSoft Global and we tested it on Blocks4.NET too. The publishers who promote .net components through our portal can now see a graphic evolution of Downloads, Views and DemoVisits over the last three months, for all their listed products.

So here are the steps for including such a chart in your web application.In order to have your web application using Fusion Charts you must first create a specific folder containing the necessary swf files. Then, the necessary assembly (the corresponding FusionCharts.dll file) will be included in the Bin directory of your application. Additionally, in the page where you want these charts to appear, you will probably have to include a javascript file that will handle the xml data file and will handle the chart drawing within the page. To include the proper chart in the page you must call a code behind method where it is handled the xml file creation and another function call, that of the main method provided by the FusionCharts assembly for rendering the chart into the page.

A great advantage shown by FusionCharts is that of easily configuring every detail of how the chart is rendered in your application. The documentation is more than enough to understand what better fits your set of data for showing a nice, compact and interactive graphic statistic. The type of chart I needed was a Multi-series Stacked Columns, included in the Combination Charts section. And although I chose not to include this second possibility, it is very common to combine this type of chart with a Line 2D Chart.Here are the main elements that must appear in the xml data file. The chart element has the role of defining the chart area, where the columns are to be drawn. Within its attributes you can specify the axis name, the captions or subcaptions. The categories node allows you to define the names for the groups of columns that will appear on the charts.Every group of columns can be defined within a dataset element, from the seriesName, color and on to the tooltext property.The styles element, with its two sections definition and application is also important because it allows you to define your own preferences regarding the fonts used or the way tooltips are shown.

Let’s get back to the specific method for rendering the chart. It is called RenderChart and its www.google.comparameters include the swf file used, the path where the xml configuration file can be found or the chart’s id and dimensions.

The chart looks very clean and stylish and you can include it in your project in no time. Having the xml file configured gets almost all the job done. FusionCharts can be integrated with AJAX applications or JavaScript modules and all the troubles regarding the installation are gone as you just copy the necessary swf files on your server. So despite all these simple configuration procedures, FusionCharts recommend themselves as a powerful and reliable product, considerably improving the user interaction with your application.