Create a chart in React

FusionTime is a JavaScript charting library that helps you visualize, and explore time-series data. In FusionTime, you get lots of out-of-the-box interactivity, like, time navigator, date range selectors, tooltips with crosslines, interactive legend and more features which enhances the experience of exploring and understanding time series data.

We have built a simple react-fusioncharts component which provides bindings for FusionTime. The react-fusioncharts component allows you to easily add interactive time-series charts to any React project.

In this page, we'll see how to install FusionTime and render an interactive time-series chart using the react-fusioncharts component.

Installation

Since FusionTime is distributed along with FusionCharts Suite, download/install the FusionCharts package to get access to FusionTime and other chart types of the FusionCharts Suite. To install follow the steps below:

To install FusionTime and the react-fusioncharts component via npm follow the steps below:
1. Install the react-fusioncharts component

$ npm install react-fusioncharts --save

2. Install fusioncharts package

$ npm install fusioncharts --save

To install FusionTime and the react-fusioncharts component follow the steps below:
  1. Include the React core library.
  2. Include Babel for JSX transpiling.
  3. Include the FusionCharts JavaScript files from CDN.
  4. Include FusionTime file.
  5. Include the react-fusioncharts module.

<head>
    <!-- Including react -->
    <script type="text/javascript" src="https://unpkg.com/react@16/umd/react.development.js"></script>
    <!-- Including react-dom -->
    <script type="text/javascript" src="https://unpkg.com/react-dom@16/umd/react-dom.development.js"></script>
    <!-- Including babel -->
    <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/babel-standalone/6.21.1/babel.min.js"></script>
    <!-- Including the fusioncharts core library -->
    <script type="text/javascript" src="http://cdn.fusioncharts.com/fusioncharts/latest/fusioncharts.js"></script>
    <!-- Including the fusiontime file to render charts -->
    <script type="text/javascript" src="http://cdn.fusioncharts.com/fusioncharts/latest/fusioncharts.timeseries.js"></script>
    <!-- Including react-fusioncharts component -->
    <script type="text/javascript" src=" https://unpkg.com/[email protected]/dist/react-fusioncharts.js"></script>
</head>

To install the FusionCharts Suite and the react-fusioncharts component follow the steps below:
  1. Include the Reactcore library.
  2. Include Babelfor JSX transpiling.
  3. Include the FusionCharts JavaScript files, which can be downloaded from here.
  4. Include the FusionTime file
  5. Include the react-fusioncharts component.
The consolidated code is shown below:

<head>
    <!-- Step 1 - Including react  -->
    <script type="text/javascript" src="path/to/local/react.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="path/to/local/react-dom.js"></script>
    <!-- Step 2 - Including Babel for JSX transpiling -->
    <script type="text/javascript" src="path/to/local/babel-core.js"></script>
    <!-- Step 3 - Including the fusioncharts core library -->
    <script type="text/javascript" src="path/to/local/fusioncharts.js"></script>
    <!-- Step 4 - Including FusionTime file -->
    <script type="text/javascript" src=" path/to/local/fusioncharts.timeseries.js"></script>
    <!-- Step 5 - Including the react-fusioncharts component -->
    <script type="text/javascript" src="path/to/local/react-fusioncharts.js"></script>
</head>

Create your First Chart

Let's create a time-series chart using react-fusioncharts component showing Online sales of a SuperStore.

The chart will look as shown below:

Loading data for chart…

The data for the above chart is too big to be displayed here. The table below shows the sample data of the above chart:

Time Sales
1/4/2011 16.448
1/5/2011 272.736
1/5/2011 11.784
1/5/2011 3.54
1/6/2011 19.536
1/7/2011 2573.82
1/7/2011 609.98

FusionTime accepts a DataTable as it's data source. DataTable is the tabular representation of data. To create the DataTable, you need to provide the following:

  • schema - which defines the properties of the columns.
  • data - values of each row and column of the DataTable.

For an instance of FusionTime, you can create n number of DataTables, but only 1 DataStore.

Now, let's learn how to prepare the schema and the data of the DataTable.

Create the schema

The schema outlines each column represented in the above table. The schema contains an array which has multiple objects created in it. Each object represents a column of the above table.

name and type are mandatory keys for each object. If the object type is time then format is also a mandatory key.

To define the schema, let's create a schema.json file and copy the following code:

It is not mandatory to create the schema in a different .json file. You can also define the schema within the .html file.

[{
    "name": "Time",
    "type": "date",
    "format": "%-m/%-d/%Y"
}, {
    "name": "Sales",
    "type": "number"
}]

In the above code:

  • schema is the variable in which the array is stored.
  • Each object of a schema maps to a column of the tabular representation of the data.
  • The JSON object has the following attributes:
    • name - Specify the name of the column of the tabular representation of data
    • type - Specify the type of the column.
    • format - Specify the input format of the date as per your data. In this example, the format is %-m/%-d/%Y. To know more on date formats click here.

Now that we have the schema ready, let's work on the data.

Create data

Data can be provided either in JSON format or 2D array format. We will use the 2D array format.

Data for the above chart is too big to be shown here. A sample of it has been used in the data object defined below:

var data = [
    [
        "1/4/2011",
        16.448
    ],
    [
        "1/5/2011",
        272.736
    ],
    [
        "1/5/2011",
        11.784
    ],
    [
        "1/5/2011",
        3.54
    ],
    [
        "1/6/2011",
        19.536
    ],
    [
        "1/7/2011",
        2573.82
    ],
]

Create a new data.json file, and copy the above code there. Next, copy the entire data and replace it with the content of the data object in your 'data.json' file.

It is not mandatory to create a data.json file. You can also do the same in your HTML file.

In the above code:

  • data is the variable in which the data array is stored.
  • Each object in the data array corresponds to a row in the tabular representation of the data.
  • Each element in an object is represented by each object of the schema. The values in each object of the array represent the following:
    • Time according to the format
    • Total Sales amount

We are all set with our data to create the chart.

By default, FusionTime applies the average function to aggregate the data and display on the chart. You can change the aggregate function from average to any other numeric calculation. To know more click here.

Now, let's create the files to render the above chart.

Render the chart

To render the chart, create a .js file and copy the following code:


// Step 1 - Including react
import React from 'react';

// Step 2 - Including the react-fusioncharts component
import FusionCharts from 'fusioncharts';

// Step 3 - Including the fusiontime file
import TimeSeries from 'fusioncharts/fusioncharts.timeseries';
import ReactFC from '../lib/ReactFC';

// Step 4 - Adding the chart as dependency to the core fusioncharts
ReactFC.fcRoot(FusionCharts, TimeSeries);

// Step 5 - Creating the JSON object to store the chart configurations
const jsonify = res => res.json();
const dataFetch = fetch(
'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fusioncharts/dev_centre_docs/master/assets/datasources/fusiontime/online-sales-single-series-area-data-plot/data.json'
).then(jsonify);
const schemaFetch = fetch( 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fusioncharts/dev_centre_docs/master/assets/datasources/fusiontime/online-sales-single-series-area-data-plot/schema.json'
).then(jsonify);

class SimpleTimeSeries extends React.Component {
    constructor(props) {
        super(props);
        // In this method we are fetching our data and schema from remote URLs and creating our DataTable
        this.onFetchData = this.onFetchData.bind(this);
        this.state = {
            timeseriesDs: {
                type: 'timeseries',
                renderAt: 'container',
                width: '600',
                height: '400',
                dataSource: {
                    caption: { text: 'Online Sales of a SuperStore in the US' },
                    data: null,
                    yAxis: [{
                        plot: [{
                            value: 'Sales ($)'
                        }]
                    }]
                }
            }
        };
    }
    // We are creating our DataStore immediately after a component is mounted
    componentDidMount() {
        this.onFetchData();
    }
    onFetchData() {
        Promise.all([dataFetch, schemaFetch]).then(res => {
            const data = res[0];
            const schema = res[1];
            // Here we are creating our DataTable
            const fusionTable = new FusionCharts.DataStore().createDataTable(data, schema);
            const timeseriesDs = Object.assign({}, this.state.timeseriesDs);
            timeseriesDs.dataSource.data = fusionTable;
            this.setState({
                timeseriesDs
            });
        });
    }
    render() {
        return (
        
{this.state.timeseriesDs.dataSource.data ? ( ) : ( 'loading' )}
); } }

<html>
<head>
    <!-- Including react -->
    <script type="text/javascript" src=" https://unpkg.com/react@16/umd/react.development.js"></script>
    <!-- Including react-dom -->
    <script type="text/javascript" src=" https://unpkg.com/react-dom@16/umd/react-dom.development.js"></script>
    <!-- Including babel -->
    <script type="text/javascript" src=" https://unpkg.com/babel-standalone@6/babel.min.js"></script>
    <!-- Including the fusioncharts core library -->
    <script type="text/javascript" src=" http://cdn.fusioncharts.com/fusioncharts/latest/fusioncharts.js"></script>
    <!-- Including the fusiontime library to render charts -->
    <script type="text/javascript" src=" http://cdn.fusioncharts.com/fusioncharts/latest/fusioncharts.timeseries.js"></script>
    <!-- Including react-fusioncharts component -->
    <script type="text/javascript" src=" https://unpkg.com/[email protected]/dist/react-fusioncharts.min.js"></script>
    <script type="text/jsx">
        ReactFC.fcRoot(FusionCharts);

        const jsonify = res => res.json();
        const dataFetch = fetch(  'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fusioncharts/dev_centre_docs/fusiontime-beta-release/charts-resources/fusiontime/online-sales-single-series/data.json').then(jsonify);

        const schemaFetch = fetch('https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fusioncharts/dev_centre_docs/fusiontime-beta-release/charts-resources/fusiontime/online-sales-single-series/schema.json').then(jsonify);
    </script>
    <script type="text/babel">
        class ChartViewer extends React.Component {
            constructor(props) {
                super(props);
                this.onFetchData = this.onFetchData.bind(this);
                this.state = {
                    timeseriesDs: {
                        type: 'timeseries',
                        renderAt: 'container',
                        width: '600',
                        height: '400',
                        dataSource: {
                            caption: { text: 'Online Sales of a SuperStore in the US' },
                            data: null,
                            yAxis: [{
                                plot: [{
                                    value: 'Sales ($)'
                                }]
                            }]
                        }
                    }
                };
            }
            componentDidMount() {
                this.onFetchData();
            }
            onFetchData() {
                Promise.all([dataFetch, schemaFetch]).then(res => {
                    const data = res[0];
                    const schema = res[1];
                    const fusionTable = new FusionCharts.DataStore().createDataTable(data, schema);
                    const timeseriesDs = Object.assign({}, this.state.timeseriesDs);
                    timeseriesDs.dataSource.data = fusionTable;
                    this.setState({
                        timeseriesDs
                    });
                });
            }

            render() {
                return (
                <div>
                {this.state.timeseriesDs.dataSource.data ? (
                <ReactFC {...this.state.timeseriesDs} />
                ) : (
                'loading'
                )}
                </div>
                );
            }
        }

        ReactDOM.render(
            <ChartViewer />,
            document.getElementById('chart-container')
        );
    </script>
</head>
<body>
    <div id='chart-container'></div>
</body>
</html>


<html>
<head>
    <!-- Including react -->
    <script type="text/javascript" src="path/to/local/react.development.js"></script>
    <!-- Including react-dom -->
    <script type="text/javascript" src="path/to/local/react-dom.development.js"></script>
    <!-- Including babel -->
    <script type="text/javascript" src="path/to/local/babel.min.js"></script>
    <!-- Including the fusioncharts core library -->
    <script type="text/javascript" src="path/to/local/fusioncharts.js"></script>
    <!-- Including the fusiontime library to render charts -->
    <script type="text/javascript" src="path/to/local/fusioncharts.timeseries.js"></script>
    <!-- Including react-fusioncharts component -->
    <script type="text/javascript" src="path/to/local/react-fusioncharts.min.js"></script>
    <script type="text/babel">
    ReactFC.fcRoot(FusionCharts);

    const jsonify = res => res.json();
    const dataFetch = fetch(       'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fusioncharts/dev_centre_docs/fusiontime-beta-release/charts-resources/fusiontime/online-sales-single-series/data.json').then(jsonify);
    const schemaFetch = fetch('https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fusioncharts/dev_centre_docs/fusiontime-beta-release/charts-resources/fusiontime/online-sales-single-series/schema.json').then(jsonify);
    </script>
        <script type="text/jsx">
        class ChartViewer extends React.Component {
            constructor(props) {
                super(props);
                this.onFetchData = this.onFetchData.bind(this);
                this.state = {
                    timeseriesDs: {
                        type: 'timeseries',
                        renderAt: 'container',
                        width: '600',
                        height: '400',
                        dataSource: {
                            caption: { text: 'Online Sales of a SuperStore in the US' },
                            data: null,
                            yAxis: [{
                                plot: [{
                                    value: 'Sales ($)'
                                }]
                            }]
                        }
                    }
                };
            }
            componentDidMount() {
                this.onFetchData();
            }
            onFetchData() {
                Promise.all([dataFetch, schemaFetch]).then(res => {
                    const data = res[0];
                    const schema = res[1];
                    const fusionTable = new FusionCharts.DataStore().createDataTable(data, schema);
                    const timeseriesDs = Object.assign({}, this.state.timeseriesDs);
                    timeseriesDs.dataSource.data = fusionTable;
                    this.setState({
                        timeseriesDs
                    });
                });
            }

            render() {
                return (
                <div>
                {this.state.timeseriesDs.dataSource.data ? (
                <ReactFC {...this.state.timeseriesDs} />
                ) : (
                'loading'
                )}
                </div>
                );
            }
        }
        ReactDOM.render(
        <ChartViewer />,
        document.getElementById('chart-container')
        );
    </script>
</head>
<body>
    <div id='chart-container'></div>
</body>
</html>

In the above code:

  • Create a React Component ChartViewer.
  • Add timeseriesDs in component state.
  • Include the fusioncharts library.
  • Include data.json and schema.json files.
  • Define the chart configuration in the FusionCharts constructor:
    • Set the type as timeseries.
    • Set the chart container as container using the renderAt property.
    • Set the width and height (in pixels).
    • Set the name of the DataTable as the value of the data property of dataSource.
    • Set the data to create the chart.
    • Specify the caption of the chart using text attribute in caption object.
  • Create an empty storage as fusionDataStore using FusionCharts.DataStore.
  • Create a DataTable within the empty storage using fusionDataStore.createDataTable and pass the schema and data to the DataTable.