Introduction to creating annotations

Prerequisites

FusionCharts Suite XT includes a wide range of charts, gauges, and maps that you can use to plot static as well as real-time data. Annotations, a compelling feature of the product, lets you make your charts self-descriptive and visually engaging.

This article:

Annotation Items

Annotations are graphical elements-text, images, shapes-that you can use to customize your chart.

You can add the following types of annotations to your chart:

Text (custom notes, labels, or paragraphs of text)
Image (external images)
Shapes (rectangle, polygon, circle, arc, and line)
Path connectors (free-form arrows, connectors, callouts, and so on)

The image of a chart rendered with different types of annotations items is shown below:

image alt text

The basic JSON structure to create annotations is shown below:

{
    "chart": {
        ...
    },
    "annotations": {
        "groups": [{
        		//Annotation group 1
            	//Define a unique identification string for the group.
                "items": [
                	//Define individual annotation items.
                    {//Annotation Item 1},
                    {//Annotation Item 2},
                    ...
                    {//Annotation Item *n*}
                ]
            }, {
            	//Annotation group 2
            	//Define a unique identification string for the group.
                "items": [
                	//Define individual annotation items.
                	{//Annotation Item 1},
                	{//Annotation Item 2},
                	...
                    {//Annotation Item *n*}
                ]
            },
            ...
             {
            	//Annotation group *n*
            	//Define a unique identification string for the group.
                "items": [
                	//Define individual annotation items.
                    {//Annotation Item 1},
                    {//Annotation Item 2},
                    ...
                    {//Annotation Item *n*}
                ]
            },
        ]
    }
}

Objects Used to Create Annotations

The annotations, groups, and items objects are used to create annotations.

A brief description of these objects is given in the table below:

Object Description

Object	Description
`annotations`	An object that encompasses all the code for generating annotations.
`groups`	An object array that consolidates multiple annotations into one group. You can create multiple annotation groups for one chart. Grouping annotations is useful when a complex graphic is created using individual annotation items. This is covered in detail in the subsequent articles.
`items`	An object array that defines individual annotation items that will be contained in one annotation group.

annotations

An object that encompasses all the code for generating annotations.

groups

An object array that consolidates multiple annotations into one group. You can create multiple annotation groups for one chart. Grouping annotations is useful when a complex graphic is created using individual annotation items.

This is covered in detail in the subsequent articles.

items

An object array that defines individual annotation items that will be contained in one annotation group.

To know how to create the different types of annotations, refer the following articles: