FusionCharts - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

FusionCharts is a data visualization

Data visualization

Data visualization is the study of the visual representation of data, meaning "information that has been abstracted in some schematic form, including attributes or variables for the units of information"....

component for generating dynamic Flash charts

Flash charting

A Flash chart is an animation that depicts a standard statistical chart using Adobe Flash. Flash charts are generated using a Flash charting tool and they can be incorporated in websites or in desktop applications. Flash charts can be viewed on all computers that have Adobe Flash player installed...

that can be embedded in web and desktop applications. Built using ActionScript

ActionScript

ActionScript is an object-oriented language originally developed by Macromedia Inc. . It is a dialect of ECMAScript , and is used primarily for the development of websites and software targeting the Adobe Flash Player platform, used on Web pages in the form of...

, FusionCharts is essentially a collection of SWF

SWF

SWF is an Adobe Flash file format used for multimedia, vector graphics and ActionScript. Originating with FutureWave Software, then transferred to Macromedia, and then coming under the control of Adobe, SWF files can contain animations or applets of varying degrees of interactivity and function.,...

files that automatically generate charts based on data and configuration settings provided in custom XML

XML

Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....

format.

FusionCharts is the product of InfoSoft Global (P) Ltd., an ISV

Independent software vendor

Independent software vendor is a business term for companies specializing in making or selling software, designed for mass marketing or for niche markets...

headquartered in Kolkata, India. InfoSoft Global is the licensor of the FusionCharts Suite and all other data visualization solutions that are distributed under the FusionCharts brand.

History

The first commercial version of FusionCharts, FusionCharts v1, was single-handedly developed by Pallav Nadhani, the co-founder of InfoSoft Global (P) Ltd. FusionCharts was introduced at a time when the true potential of the Flash

Adobe Flash

Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...

technology was still unrealized by a vast majority of the development community, and Flash was chiefly used for creating website intros. Nadhani, who was then a high-school student, stumbled upon the idea of using Flash for data visualization upon being offered an opportunity to author an article on information technology

Information technology

Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...

. The article that Nadhani authored presented a unique concept of amalgamating Flash with ASP

ASP.NET

ASP.NET is a Web application framework developed and marketed by Microsoft to allow programmers to build dynamic Web sites, Web applications and Web services. It was first released in January 2002 with version 1.0 of the .NET Framework, and is the successor to Microsoft's Active Server Pages ...

. It is the idea of infusing dynamicity into Flash applications with the help of ASP that inspired the development of FusionCharts v1, which was eventually released on October 22, 2002.

The FusionCharts Suite

The term FusionCharts Suite is used as a collective reference for FusionCharts and 3 other data visualization products, developed by InfoSoft Global.

Components of the FusionCharts Suite

FusionCharts is a charting component for generating animated charts. It supports 2D and 3D versions of standard plot types: column, line, bar, area and pie.
FusionWidgets is a data visualization component for generating real-time gauges and charts. It provides innovative KPI indicators such as dial gauge (speedometer chart), linear gauge and bullet graph
Bullet graph
A bullet graph is a variation of a bar graph developed by Stephen Few. Seemingly inspired by the traditional thermometer charts and progress bars found in many dashboards, the bullet graph serves as a replacement for dashboard gauges and meters...

. The component also provides real-time versions of standard charts in addition to the gantt chart
Gantt chart
A Gantt chart is a type of bar chart that illustrates a project schedule. Gantt charts illustrate the start and finish dates of the terminal elements and summary elements of a project. Terminal elements and summary elements comprise the work breakdown structure of the project. Some Gantt charts...

, funnel chart
Funnel chart
Funnel charts are a type of chart, often used to represent stages in a sales process and show the amount of potential revenue for each stage. This type of chart can also be useful in identifying potential problem areas in an organization’s sales processes...

, Pyramid chart and sparklines.
FusionMaps is a data-driven map builder used for depicting geographical distribution of quantitative data. The component offers world maps, continental maps and maps of major countries.
PowerCharts is a tool for advanced data visualization. It can be used for generating simulation models, plotting stock quotes and network planning. The component supports organizational charts, logarithmic scale charts, network diagrams, inverse scale charts, financial analysis charts etc.

Vertical solutions

InfoSoft Global has released several add-on components and plugins to facilitate implementation of the FusionCharts Suite in popular applications and various development platforms. Vertical solutions of FusionCharts are available for Adobe Flex

Adobe Flex

Adobe Flex is a software development kit released by Adobe Systems for the development and deployment of cross-platform rich Internet applications based on the Adobe Flash platform...

, Adobe Dreamweaver, FileMaker

FileMaker

FileMaker Pro is a cross-platform relational database application from FileMaker Inc., formerly Claris, a subsidiary of Apple Inc. It integrates a database engine with a GUI-based interface, allowing users to modify the database by dragging new elements into layouts, screens, or forms...

, Joomla and Visual Basic

Visual Basic

Visual Basic is the third-generation event-driven programming language and integrated development environment from Microsoft for its COM programming model...

FusionCharts Free - Open Source

FusionCharts Free was released on March 19, 2007. The product is a stripped-down version of FusionCharts offering 22 types of basic charts. It provides support for cosmetic customization, drill-down and a number of other features.

On August 28, 2009 - FusionCharts Free was made open source

Open source

The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...

under the GPL and MIT

MIT License

The MIT License is a free software license originating at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . It is a permissive license, meaning that it permits reuse within proprietary software provided all copies of the licensed software include a copy of the MIT License terms...

license. The license agreement allows un-restricted modification of the source code

Source code

In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...

and permits the user to freely distribute the customized version of the product.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.