com.softwarefx.chartfx.server.writer.flash
Class FlashWriter

java.lang.Object
  com.softwarefx.chartfx.server.writer.flash.FlashWriter

All Implemented Interfaces:

IWriter

public class FlashWriter
extends Object
implements IWriter

Provides properties and methods to write chart in Flash format.

Chart FX allows generation of charts using supported Chart FX external writers. The Flash Class is used to configure additional attributes for the generation of Flash formatted charts.

One of the most useful features of Chart FX is its versatility to render charts in different formats, in order to take advantage of the browser capability to display active content. One of the formats supported by Chart FX is Macromedia Flash. Macromedia Flash Player is the most widely viewable rich client technology to deploy content and applications. It is implements vector-based content and applications download faster than their bitmap equivalents. Streaming data content appears immediately, without having to wait for the entire piece to download

Chart FX for can provide Drill down charts using the Flash format, in the same way that is done with Image Maps. For further details on how to implement Drill Down using Flash, SVG and/or Image Maps, please refer to the Image Maps Generation section in the Internet Reference help file.

The syntax required for rendering the chart as an Flash on the browser is as follows:

<%= chart.GetHtmlTag(<width>,<height>,"Flash") %>

Constructor Summary

FlashWriter()

Method Summary

String	getCodebase() Gets the Codebase.
int	getCompressionLevel() Gets the CompressionLevel.
float	getFlatness() Gets the Flatness.
String	getPluginsPage() Gets the PluginsPage.
FlashVersion	getVersion() Gets the Version.
boolean	isCompression() Gets the Compression.
boolean	isTooltips() Gets the Tooltips.
boolean	isTooltipsConstraint() Gets the TooltipsConstraint.
void	removePluginParam(String name) This method allows you to remove paramaters in the Object tag, that you had previously set using the SetPluginParam method.
void	setCodebase(String value) This property defines where web browser will download the Flash control from.
void	setCompression(boolean value) Indicates whether the Chart should be Compressed or not.
void	setCompressionLevel(int value) This property allows you to specify the level of compression
void	setFlatness(float value) Sets a value indicating a value used to smooth circular chart elements for the FlashWriter.
void	setPluginParam(String name, String value) This method allows you to add param attributes to the Object Tag for the Flash Chart.
void	setPluginsPage(String value) This property defines where the Netscape users will download the Flash control from.
void	setTooltips(boolean value) Indicates whether the Chart should display tooltips or not.
void	setTooltipsConstraint(boolean value) Sets a value indicating to whether or not to clip tooltips extending outside the chart.
void	setVersion(FlashVersion value) This property forces the users to have a certain version of Flash installed on their machine.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

equals, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Constructor Detail

FlashWriter

public FlashWriter()

Method Detail

getCodebase

public String getCodebase()

Gets the Codebase. For more detail see setCodebase(java.lang.String).

getCompressionLevel

public int getCompressionLevel()

Gets the CompressionLevel. For more detail see setCompressionLevel(int).

getFlatness

public float getFlatness()

Gets the Flatness. For more detail see setFlatness(float).

getPluginsPage

public String getPluginsPage()

Gets the PluginsPage. For more detail see setPluginsPage(java.lang.String).

getVersion

public FlashVersion getVersion()

Gets the Version. For more detail see setVersion(com.softwarefx.chartfx.server.writer.flash.FlashVersion).

isCompression

public boolean isCompression()

Gets the Compression. For more detail see setCompression(boolean).

isTooltips

public boolean isTooltips()

Gets the Tooltips. For more detail see setTooltips(boolean).

isTooltipsConstraint

public boolean isTooltipsConstraint()

Gets the TooltipsConstraint. For more detail see setTooltipsConstraint(boolean).

removePluginParam

public void removePluginParam(String name)

This method allows you to remove paramaters in the Object tag, that you had previously set using the SetPluginParam method.

Parameters:

name - The name of the Parameter that you had previously set.

See Also:

setPluginParam(java.lang.String, java.lang.String)

setCodebase

public void setCodebase(String value)

This property defines where web browser will download the Flash control from.

Remarks:

The defalut value sends the user to the Macromedia page. If you want to have your users download from your intranet site, for example, you would want to set this property.

You may, optionally add a specific version of Flash that you want your users to download ("#Version=5,0,1,2"). If you don't specify a version ChartFX will get the version based on the Version property setting.

See Also:

setVersion(com.softwarefx.chartfx.server.writer.flash.FlashVersion), setPluginsPage(java.lang.String)

setCompression

public void setCompression(boolean value)

Indicates whether the Chart should be Compressed or not.

Remarks:

The Default value is false (or, not compressed). This will perform faster than a compressed chart.If you don't set the CompressionLevel the default (-1) will be used for the compression.

This property must be set to true in order to set the CompressionLevel property.

See Also:

setCompressionLevel(int)

setCompressionLevel

public void setCompressionLevel(int value)

This property allows you to specify the level of compression

Remarks:

You Must set Compression to True in order for this property to have any effect.

Compression is based on the http://www.gzip.org/zlib/ compression Library.

The Default -1, based on the ZLIB Library, compressed to around level 6.

The range of values for this property are 0 to 10 (zero is no compression). A non-compressed chart will take about 8kb storage space, while a very compressed chart will use around 3kb.

in deciding how much compression to use keep in mind that the lower the compression the faster the performance will be. For archived charts you may want to use a higher compression to save on size.

See Also:

setCompression(boolean)

setFlatness

public void setFlatness(float value)

Sets a value indicating a value used to smooth circular chart elements for the FlashWriter.

Remarks:

By default, the chart will use an internal value to smooth a circular flash object. When set to a value other than zero, the circular object will be created by a series of strait lines. So, the larger the value configured, the longer the line used to create the circle (rougher circle).

The default value for this property is 0.

setPluginParam

public void setPluginParam(String name,
                           String value)

This method allows you to add param attributes to the Object Tag for the Flash Chart.

For example, you may want the chart to using Medium quality rather than the default High quality.

Remarks:

Please visit the http://www.macromedia.com/support/flash/site to learn about the properies you can modify in a Flash control.

Parameters:

name - The name of the property you are going to modify.

value - The value set to the named property.

See Also:

removePluginParam(java.lang.String)

setPluginsPage

public void setPluginsPage(String value)

This property defines where the Netscape users will download the Flash control from.

Remarks:

The defalut value sends the user to the Macromedia page. If you want to have your users download from your intranet site, for example, you would want to set this property.

You may, optionally add a specific version of Flash that you want your users to download ("#Version=5,0,1,2"). If you don't specify a version ChartFX will get the version based on the Version property setting.

See Also:

setVersion(com.softwarefx.chartfx.server.writer.flash.FlashVersion), setCodebase(java.lang.String)

setTooltips

public void setTooltips(boolean value)

Indicates whether the Chart should display tooltips or not.

Remarks:

This property can only be used with Flash version 5 or greater. If the Flash Version is 4 or lower no tooltips will appear.

setTooltipsConstraint

public void setTooltipsConstraint(boolean value)

Sets a value indicating to whether or not to clip tooltips extending outside the chart.

Remarks:

Tooltips extending outside the chart area in Flash format will be clipped by default. When this property is set to true, Chart FX will using internal algorithms to move the tootip left in the chart area so that it is not clipped.

setVersion

public void setVersion(FlashVersion value)

This property forces the users to have a certain version of Flash installed on their machine.

Remarks:

The default is set to V5 to enable tooltips to work.

The text in the chart use ASCII characters. If you need Unicode support you must set the version to V6, earlier versions of Flash do not support Unicode.

Keep in mind that if you set the version to a higher number you may have users that won't be able to view your chart normally. And, if you use a low version number you lose possible features (like tooltips and Unicode).