JavaScript Charts in PHP and MySQL with FusionCharts XT: Part 2

This the second part of the FusionCharts XT with PHP series. We will create interactive JavaScript charts using data from a MySQL database with FusionCharts XT. We will make use of the PHP library that is bundled with the FusionCharts Suite.

To recap from the first article in this series, FusionCharts XT is essentially a JavaScript charting library, which renders highly interactive charts in the browser. It takes data in either XML or JSON. To plot a chart using PHP, you need to include the HTML and JavaScript code to embed a chart object and then provide the requisite parameters. To make things simpler for you, we have put all this functionality in a PHP script named FusionCharts.php. This script is bundled in FusionCharts XT Download Package > Code > PHP > Includes > FusionCharts.php. So, whenever you need to work with FusionCharts XT in PHP, just include this file in your page and you’re good to go.

FusionCharts XT in PHP Series

• Part 1 – JavaScript charts in PHP using FusionCharts XT
• Part 2 – JavaScript charts in PHP and MySQL using FusionCharts XT
• Part 3 – Drill-down JavaScript charts in PHP and MySQL
• Part 4 – JavaScript LinkedCharts in PHP and MySQL
• Part 5 – Using Debugging Tools for JavaScript Charts

What we are going to visualize

We will make use of the sample World database provided by MySQL and plot the Top 10 Most Populous Countries.

What we will need

• PHP running on any server
• MySQL
• The latest version of FusionCharts XT
• The sample World database provided by MySQL. Read more to understand the structure of this database and how to set it up.

Our installation process will be the same as we did in the previous article. You may use the same setup or create it as follows:

1. Within the root directory of your web server, create a folder named FusionCharts_XT_with_PHP. This will be our demo folder.
2. Copy the entire Charts folder from the FusionCharts XT Download Package and paste it within our demo folder. This completes the installation of FusionCharts XT in our web application.
3. Copy the Includes folder from FusionCharts XT Download Package > Code > PHP > Includes to our demo folder.

Connecting to the MySQL database

In the Includes folder, we provide you with DBConn.php, which you can use to connect with your database. You may use this file to authenticate with your database if you aren’t using any other method. You would have to provide the relevant values to connect to your database. For instance, on our demo computer, we have the following values:

// These four parameters must be changed dependent on your MySQL settings
    $hostdb = 'localhost';   // MySQl host
    $userdb = 'root';     // MySQL username
    $passdb = '';      // MySQL password
    $namedb =  $dbName ? $dbName : 'world'; // MySQL database name

There are two ways using which you can provide data to the PHP library – Data URL and Data String. Let us use both of them in detail.

Creating the chart using the Data URL method

In the Data URL method, you instruct FusionCharts to load XML or JSON data from a URL. This URL could refer to a static XML file that is already present on the server, or it could refer to a virtual data provider e.g., /path_to/DataProvider.php, which executes queries the database, builds the XML data as string and finally outputs this XML string to the output stream with content type set to [cciel lang=’html’]text/xml, but without any HTML tags. We then need to create a second file, which would receive this XML string, pass it on to FusionCharts.php, and then render the chart.

Let us create the first file named FusionChartsXT_with_PHP_and_MySQL_using_DataURL_DataProvider.php. Write the following code in this file:

< ?php
// Set the content type in the header to text/xml.
header('Content-type: text/xml');

// Include DBConn.php
include('Includes/DBConn.php');

// Use the connectToDB() function provided in DBConn.php, and establish the connection between PHP and the World database in our MySQL setup.
$link = connectToDB();

// Form the SQL query which will return the Top 10 Most Populous Countries.
$strQuery = 'SELECT Name AS Country, Population FROM country ORDER BY Population DESC LIMIT 10';

// Execute the query, or else return the error message.
$result = mysql_query($strQuery) or die(mysql_error());

// If we get a valid response - 
if ($result) {

 // Create the chart's XML string. We can add attributes here to customize our chart.
 $strXML = "";

 while($ors = mysql_fetch_array($result)) {
  // Append the names of the countries and their respective populations to the chart's XML string.
  $strXML .= "";
 }
}   
// Close the chart's XML string.
$strXML .= ""; 

// Return the valid XML string.
echo $strXML;
?>

Save this file and navigate to it using your web browser. You should see the following XML displayed:

We now need to pass this XML data to FusionCharts.php, which will generate the required HTML and JavaScript code to display our chart. Let us create a PHP file FusionChartsXT_with_PHP_and_MySQL_using_DataURL.php. In this file, write the following code:

< ?php
// It would generate the HTML and JavaScript code required to render the chart. 
include('Includes/FusionCharts.php');
?>
 
< !DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
"https://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">

Save this file and navigate to it using your web browser. This is the JavaScript chart that you should get to see:

Creating the chart using Data String method

In the Data String method, the XML or JSON data is embedded within a single web page, along with the chart’s HTML and JavaScript code. This method doesn’t require a static data file or a virtual data provider. Moreover, once the chart has finished loading, the data is present locally within the page.

Create a blank PHP file named FusionChartsXT_with_PHP_and_MySQL_using_DataString.php. Write the following code in this file:

< ?php
 
// Include the DBConn.php and FusionCharts.php files, so that we can access their variables and functions.
include('Includes/DBConn.php');
include('Includes/FusionCharts.php');

// Use the connectToDB() function provided in DBConn.php, and establish the connection between PHP and the World database in our MySQL setup.
$link = connectToDB();

// Form the SQL query which will return the Top 10 Most Populous Countries.
$strQuery = 'SELECT Name AS Country, Population FROM country ORDER BY Population DESC LIMIT 10';

// Execute the query, or else return the error message.
$result = mysql_query($strQuery) or die(mysql_error());

// If we get a valid response - 
if ($result) {
 
 // Create the chart's XML string. We can add attributes here to customize our chart.
 $strXML = "";
 
 while($ors = mysql_fetch_array($result)) {
  // Append the names of the countries and their respective populations to the chart's XML string.
  $strXML .= "";
 }
}   
// Close the chart's XML string.
$strXML .= ""; 
?>
  
< !DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
"https://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">

Save this file and navigate to it using your web browser. This is the JavaScript chart that you should get to see:

Download source files for these samples

Next in the series

In this article, the chart has top 10 countries by population. In the next article, we will see how to add drill-down capability to this MySQL data. So when you click on the column showing China’s population, you will be able to drill-down to the most populous cities in China.