Tutorial 12 - Exporting and Importing Charts

This tutorial is overviews exporting TeeCharts in various formats and importing TeeChart's own .tee format Chart templates. See the Visual Basic 6 "Import from file" example code in the Examples folder below your TeeChart installation folder.

Contents

Exporting Charts

Available formats

Available Export formats. All formats may be copied to either a file or Clipboard or to a Stream.

Image formats

BMP	IBMPExport Class
JPEG	IJPEGExport Class
WMF & EMF	IMetafileExport Class
GIF	IGIFExport Class
PNG	IPNGExport Class
PCX	IPCXExport Class
PDF	IPDFExport Class
PostScript	IEPSExport Class

Data formats

Text	ITextExport Class
XML	IXMLExport Class
HTML	IHTMLExport Class
Excel	IXLSExport Class

Other formats
Tee format is a flexible format that stores Chart property information and, optionally, Chart data. Files are small (data dependent) and ideal for network use to update live client based Charts.

TEE (TeeChart)

INativeExport Class

At runtime you can display the export dialogue by using the

ShowExport

method.

Example

Private Sub Command1_Click()
TChart1.Export.ShowExport
End Sub

Example export

Exporting to a file is reasonable straightforward, in most cases you just need to define the destination filename.

Example

With CommonDialog1
  .Filter = "Images (*.bmp)|*.bmp|Images(*.jpg)|*.jpg|Images(*.wmf)|*.wmf|Images(*.emf)|*.emf
|Images (*.gif)|*.gif|Images (*.png)|*.png|Images (*.pcx)|*.pcx|Images(*.eps)|*.eps|Images(*.pdf)|*.pdf"
  .ShowSave
  If .FileName <> "" Then
    Select Case .FilterIndex
    Case 1
    TChart1.Export.asBMP.SaveToFile (.FileName)
    Case 2
    TChart1.Export.asJPEG.SaveToFile (.FileName)
    Case 3
    TChart1.Export.asMetafile.SaveToFile (.FileName)
    Case 4
    TChart1.Export.asMetafile.Enhanced = True
    TChart1.Export.asMetafile.SaveToFile (.FileName)
    Case 5
    TChart1.Export.asGIF.SaveToFile (.FileName)
    Case 6
    TChart1.Export.asPNG.SaveToFile (.FileName)
    Case 7
    TChart1.Export.asPCX.SaveToFile (.FileName)
    Case 8
    TChart1.Export.asEPS.SaveToFile (.FileName)
    Case 9
    TChart1.Export.asPDF.SaveToFile (.FileName)
    End Select
  End If
End With

Exporting Images

BMP

BMP file export has additional parameters for colours and size.

Example

With TChart1.Export
    .asBMP.Colors = pfDevice
    .asBMP.Height = 400
    .asBMP.Monochrome = False
    .asBMP.Width = 500
    .asBMP.SaveToFile "C:\TestFiles\MyTeeChart.png"
End With

JPEG

JPEG file export now has parameters for speed and quality for both SaveToFile and SaveToStream.

Example

With TChart1.Export
    .asJPEG.CompressionQuality = 90
    .asJPEG.GrayScale = False
    .asJPEG.Height = 400
    .asJPEG.Width = 500
    .asJPEG.SaveToFile "C:\TestFiles\MyTeeChart.png"
End With

The CompressionQuality value (from 1 - 100) will make the file larger and thus slower to transmit across a network - quality is better though ! You will need to decide on the best balance to suit your application.

WMF & EMF

Enhanced Metafiles are simply created by setting "Enhanced" to True.

Example

With TChart1.Export
    .asMetafile.Enhanced = True
    .asMetafile.Height = 400
    .asMetafile.Width = 500
    .asMetafile.SaveToFile "C:\TestFiles\MyTeeChart.emf"
End With

GIF

GIF support is included with TeeChart courtesy of Anders Melander's Delphi GIFImage classes ((c) 1997-99 Anders Melander). Full documentation for the GIF classes are outside the scope of TeeChart's own documentation. Anders has donated GIFImage to the Jedi project who now co-ordinate documentation and support for it.

*Important Notice
TeeChart provides the means to create GIF Chart images but LZW compression has been disabled until the use and licensing of LZW has been completely clarified with Unisys. Unisys's position on LZW licensing has led us to the interim conclusion (unfortunately) that by not including LZW we protect ourselves and our customers against unexpected licensing battles with Unisys at a later stage. TeeChart continues to support GIF with RLE compression which is not subject to Unisys license. We will be happy to discuss the issue with any customer who feels that they need to use LZW and to make a joint approach to Unisys to clarify the license position.

The image format PNG is superior in many respects to GIF with LZW, particularly in the case of TeeChart where animations are not exported. We recommend the use of PNG where possible.

See Unisys and LZW for more information on use of GIF LZW encoded images.

Example

With TChart1.Export
    .asGIF.ColorReduction = rmWindows256
    .asGIF.Compression = gcRLE
    .asGIF.DitherMode = dmStucki
    .asGIF.Height = 400
    .asGIF.Width = 500
    .asGIF.SaveToFile "C:\TestFiles\MyTeeChart.png"
End With

PNG

PNG provides a compressed image format that is supported by all principle browsers.

Example

With TChart1.Export
    .asPNG.CompressionLevel = 10
    .asPNG.Height = 400
    .asPNG.Width = 500
    .asPNG.SaveToFile "C:\TestFiles\MyTeeChart.png"
End With

PCX

IPCXExport uses the PCX unit Copyright Software Matters Inc. 1999. Please see their web www.smatter.com for more information.

Example

With TChart1.Export
    .asPCX.Height = 400
    .asPCX.Width = 500
    .asPCX.SaveToFile "C:\TestFiles\MyTeeChart.pcx"
End With

PDF

Use IPDFExport to generate PDF (Adobe Portable Document Format) files from TChart controls. For more information about PDF format please see http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/adobepdf.html. PDF is copyright Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Example

With TChart1.Export
    .asPDF.Height = 400
    .asPDF.Width = 500
    .asPDF.SaveToFile "C:\TestFiles\MyTeeChart.pdf"
End With

Flex - Flash

Use TeeChart's IFlexExport interface to generate Flash Charts. TeeChart's creates Flash (see About Flash at the Adobe Web) Charts via Adobe's Flex compiler (see About Flex at the Adobe Web). The Flex compiler is freely available for download from Adobe.

To use TeeChart with Flex:

Install Flex to a folder on your machine and note the path to Flex's bin folder (eg. C:\Flex3\bin).
Use either the Compile or CompileDeleteShow methods to create your Flash Chart.

Example

Private Sub Command1_Click()
  Dim tmpFolder
  Dim FlexBinFolder
  
  tmpFolder = "c:\tmp"
  FlexBinFolder = "c:\Flex3\bin"
  myWidth = 100
  myHeight= 200
  
  ' The following line creates the Flex code and compiles it to Flash 
  ' and then shows the result on a browser page
  TChart1.Export.asFlex.CompileDeleteShow myWidth, myHeight, tmpFolder, _
     TChart1.Name, FlexBinFolder, True, True, True
End Sub

Some animations may be included with your Flash Chart. By adding a MarksTip tool to the Chart and activating the Expand animation when moving the mouseover the pointers on the Flash Chart, the pointers will expand and show a MarkToolTip.

Example

With TChart1
  .Series(0).FillSampleValues (8)
  .Legend.Visible = False
  .Tools.Add tcMarksTip
  .Tools.Items(0).asMarksTip.Series = TChart1.Series(0)
  
  .Animations.Add tcExpand
  .Animations.Items(0).asExpand.Target = cpSeriesPointer
  .Animations.Items(0).asExpand.Trigger = atMouseOver
End With

TeeChart used for Flash output is ideal to include a small, 'CompactChart' to accompany editorial written content but any size Chart may be produced by this technique.

PostScript

Use IEPSExport to export TeeCharts to EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) format.

Example

With TChart1.Export
    .asEPS.Height = 400
    .asEPS.Width = 500
    .asEPS.SaveToFile "C:\TestFiles\MyTeeChart.eps"
End With

Exporting data

There are four Export formats for Series data:

Text	ITextExport Class
XML	IXMLExport Class
HTML	IHTMLExport Class
Excel	IXLSExport Class

The above components may be associated with a Chart Series from which they can export data as either File, Stream or to the Clipboard. The following example exports the data from a Chart Series to an HTML table:

With TChart1.Export
    .asHTML.IncludeHeader = True
    .asHTML.IncludeIndex = True
    .asHTML.IncludeLabels = True
    .asHTML.Series = 0
    .asHTML.SaveToFile "C:\TestFiles\MyTeeChart.htm"
End With

The output of the above with a random dataset is the following:

Index	Text	Series0
0	MyLabel 0	1,953125
1	MyLabel 1	70,5547511577606
2	MyLabel 2	53,3424019813538
3	MyLabel 3	57,9518616199493
4	MyLabel 4	28,9562463760376
5	MyLabel 5	30,1948010921478
6	MyLabel 6	77,4740099906921
7	MyLabel 7	1,4017641544342
8	MyLabel 8	76,072359085083
9	MyLabel 9	81,4490020275116
10	MyLabel 10	70,9037899971008

TeeChart's 'Tee' template and data export/import format

Tee files

Tee files are TeeChart's own template format for saving Charts and their data. Modified Chart properties are saved with the template and reproduced when the template is imported to a new Chart.

Advantages:

Tee files are very small in size, in most cases that offers an advantage over pure graphics formats (Quicker).
The destination Chart for the template is 'live', it can be zoomed and scrolled and have its properties modified.
Data may optionally be included with the tee template according to your preference.

Tee files are particularly useful in distributed Charting applications and offer the possibility to offer Web browser OLE/ODBC applications where the OLE/ODBC DSN resides only at the server. See the Internet Applications tutorial.

Example

With CommonDialog1
    .Filter = "TeeFile (.tee)|*.tee"
    .ShowSave
    If .FileName <> "" Then
        TChart1.Export.asNative.SaveToFile .FileName, True
    End If
End With

Import

Importing Tee format files

Import a saved Tee file from a local file source or http data source.

Example Imports

Example

'import from file
With CommonDialog1
  .Filter = "Images (.tee)|*.tee"
  .ShowOpen
  If .filename <> "" Then
    TChart2.Import.LoadFromFile (.filename)
  End If
End With

'or
'URL..
TChart2.Import.LoadFromURL "http://mywebserver.domain/myteefile.tee"

'or
'Stream..
Dim MyStream As Variant
MyStream = TChart1.Export.asNative.SaveToStream(True)
TChart2.Import.LoadFromStream MyStream

Effect of changes made in importing Chart

As .tee files only save changes to the standard Chart definition, if the destination Chart includes property changes not touched upon with the Chart to be imported, the originals will carry through. An example would be a Chart Footer. If the .tee file has not had the Footer set and the destination Chart does have, then the Footer will show through the Chart after importation. That may be a desirable result. If you expect changes to be made to the importing Chart that could adversely affect the desired result after a Chart has been imported into it, then you can use the ClearChart method before importation.

Example

Dim MyStream As Variant
MyStream = TChart1.Export.asNative.SaveToStream(True)
TChart2.ClearChart
TChart2.Import.LoadFromStream MyStream

SeriesTextSource, SeriesXMLSource and CrossTabSource

Tee files may be imported from remote web sources via the LoadChartFromURL method. CSV data may be imported via the ISeriesTextSource component and XML data may be imported via the SeriesXMLSource component. The CrossTabSource component connects to any dataset and automatically creates series from database data, using Group and Label fields and formula (sum or count values). Please see the TeeChart's Additional palette components for more information.

Other datasources

For information about data import from other database information sources please see the Database Access tutorial.