Create Dynamic Charts with JavaScript via C++
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Dynamic (or interactive) charts have the ability to change when you change the scope of the data. In other words, dynamic charts can automatically reflect changes when the data source is changed. To trigger a change in the data source, you can use the filtering option of Excel tables or a control such as a ComboBox or a drop‑down list.
This article demonstrates the usage of Aspose.Cells for JavaScript via C++ APIs to create dynamic charts using both of the aforementioned approaches.
Using Excel Tables
Excel tables are referred to as ListObjects in Aspose.Cells' perspective; therefore, we will use the term ListObject instead of Table for clarity. Please read in detail how to create ListObjects with Aspose.Cells for JavaScript via C++.
ListObjects provide built‑in functionality to sort and filter the data upon user interaction. Both sorting and filtering options are provided through the drop‑down lists that are automatically added to the header row of the ListObject. Due to these features, the ListObject seems to be the perfect candidate to serve as the data source for a dynamic chart because when sorting or filtering is changed, the representation of data in the chart will be updated to reflect the current state of the ListObject.
To keep the demonstration simple to understand, we will create the Workbook from scratch and move forward step by step as outlined below.
- Create an empty Workbook.
- Access the Cells of the first Worksheet in the Workbook.
- Insert some data into the cells.
- Create a ListObject based on the inserted data.
- Create a Chart based on the data range of the ListObject.
- Save the result on the disk.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Aspose.Cells Example</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Aspose.Cells Example</h1>
<input type="file" id="fileInput" accept=".xls,.xlsx,.csv" />
<button id="runExample">Run Example</button>
<a id="downloadLink" style="display: none;">Download Result</a>
<div id="result"></div>
</body>
<script src="aspose.cells.js.min.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
const { Workbook, SaveFormat, ChartType, Utils } = AsposeCells;
AsposeCells.onReady({
license: "/lic/aspose.cells.enc",
fontPath: "/fonts/",
fontList: [
"arial.ttf",
"NotoSansSC-Regular.ttf"
]
}).then(() => {
console.log("Aspose.Cells initialized");
});
document.getElementById('runExample').addEventListener('click', async () => {
// Create an instance of Workbook
const book = new Workbook();
// Access first worksheet from the collection
const sheet = book.worksheets.get(0);
// Access cells collection of the first worksheet
const cells = sheet.cells;
// Insert data column-wise
cells.get("A1").putValue("Category");
cells.get("A2").putValue("Fruit");
cells.get("A3").putValue("Fruit");
cells.get("A4").putValue("Fruit");
cells.get("A5").putValue("Fruit");
cells.get("A6").putValue("Vegetables");
cells.get("A7").putValue("Vegetables");
cells.get("A8").putValue("Vegetables");
cells.get("A9").putValue("Vegetables");
cells.get("A10").putValue("Beverages");
cells.get("A11").putValue("Beverages");
cells.get("A12").putValue("Beverages");
cells.get("B1").putValue("Food");
cells.get("B2").putValue("Apple");
cells.get("B3").putValue("Banana");
cells.get("B4").putValue("Apricot");
cells.get("B5").putValue("Grapes");
cells.get("B6").putValue("Carrot");
cells.get("B7").putValue("Onion");
cells.get("B8").putValue("Cabbage");
cells.get("B9").putValue("Potato");
cells.get("B10").putValue("Coke");
cells.get("B11").putValue("Coladas");
cells.get("B12").putValue("Fizz");
cells.get("C1").putValue("Cost");
cells.get("C2").putValue(2.2);
cells.get("C3").putValue(3.1);
cells.get("C4").putValue(4.1);
cells.get("C5").putValue(5.1);
cells.get("C6").putValue(4.4);
cells.get("C7").putValue(5.4);
cells.get("C8").putValue(6.5);
cells.get("C9").putValue(5.3);
cells.get("C10").putValue(3.2);
cells.get("C11").putValue(3.6);
cells.get("C12").putValue(5.2);
cells.get("D1").putValue("Profit");
cells.get("D2").putValue(0.1);
cells.get("D3").putValue(0.4);
cells.get("D4").putValue(0.5);
cells.get("D5").putValue(0.6);
cells.get("D6").putValue(0.7);
cells.get("D7").putValue(1.3);
cells.get("D8").putValue(0.8);
cells.get("D9").putValue(1.3);
cells.get("D10").putValue(2.2);
cells.get("D11").putValue(2.4);
cells.get("D12").putValue(3.3);
// Create ListObject, Get the List objects collection in the first worksheet
const listObjects = sheet.listObjects;
// Add a List based on the data source range with headers on
let index = listObjects.add(0, 0, 11, 3, true);
sheet.autoFitColumns();
// Create chart based on ListObject
index = sheet.charts.add(ChartType.Column, 21, 1, 35, 18);
const chart = sheet.charts.get(index);
chart.chartDataRange = "A1:D12";
chart.chartDataRangeHasHeaders = true;
chart.nSeries.categoryData = "A2:B12";
// Save spreadsheet
const outputData = book.save(SaveFormat.Xlsx);
const blob = new Blob([outputData]);
const downloadLink = document.getElementById('downloadLink');
downloadLink.href = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
downloadLink.download = 'output_out.xlsx';
downloadLink.style.display = 'block';
downloadLink.textContent = 'Download Excel File';
document.getElementById('result').innerHTML = '<p style="color: green;">Operation completed successfully! Click the download link to get the modified file.</p>';
});
</script>
</html>
Using Dynamic Formulas
If you do not wish to use the ListObject as a data source for the dynamic chart, another option is to use Excel functions (formulas) to create a dynamic range of data, and a control (such as a ComboBox) to trigger the change in data. In this scenario, we will use the VLOOKUP function to fetch the appropriate values based on the selection of the ComboBox. When the selection is changed, the VLOOKUP function refreshes the cell value. If a range of cells uses the VLOOKUP function, the whole range can be refreshed upon user interaction, so it can serve as a source for the dynamic chart.
To keep the demonstration simple to understand, we will create the Workbook from scratch and move forward step by step as outlined below.
- Create an empty Workbook.
- Access the Cells of the first Worksheet in the Workbook.
- Insert some data into the cells by creating a named range. This data will serve as a series for the dynamic chart.
- Create a ComboBox based on the named range created in the previous step.
- Insert additional data into the cells that will serve as a source for the VLOOKUP function.
- Insert VLOOKUP functions (with appropriate parameters) into a range of cells. This range will serve as a source for the dynamic chart.
- Create a Chart based on the range created in the previous step.
- Save the result on the disk.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Aspose.Cells Example</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Aspose.Cells Example</h1>
<input type="file" id="fileInput" accept=".xls,.xlsx,.csv" />
<button id="runExample">Run Example</button>
<a id="downloadLink" style="display: none;">Download Result</a>
<div id="result"></div>
</body>
<script src="aspose.cells.js.min.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
const { Workbook, SaveFormat, ChartType, Color, Utils } = AsposeCells;
AsposeCells.onReady({
license: "/lic/aspose.cells.enc",
fontPath: "/fonts/",
fontList: [
"arial.ttf",
"NotoSansSC-Regular.ttf"
]
}).then(() => {
console.log("Aspose.Cells initialized");
document.getElementById('runExample').addEventListener('click', async () => {
const fileInput = document.getElementById('fileInput');
const resultDiv = document.getElementById('result');
if (!fileInput.files.length) {
resultDiv.innerHTML = '<p style="color: red;">Please select an Excel file.</p>';
return;
}
const file = fileInput.files[0];
const arrayBuffer = await file.arrayBuffer();
// Creating a workbook object from the uploaded file
const workbook = new Workbook(new Uint8Array(arrayBuffer));
// Get the first worksheet
const worksheet = workbook.worksheets.get(0);
// Create a range in the worksheet
const range = worksheet.cells.createRange("C21", "C24");
// Name the range
range.name = "MyRange";
// Fill different cells with data in the range
range.get(0, 0).putValue("North");
range.get(1, 0).putValue("South");
range.get(2, 0).putValue("East");
range.get(3, 0).putValue("West");
const comboBox = worksheet.shapes.addComboBox(15, 0, 2, 0, 17, 64);
comboBox.inputRange = "=MyRange";
comboBox.linkedCell = "=B16";
comboBox.selectedIndex = 0;
const cell = worksheet.cells.get("B16");
const style = cell.style;
style.font.color = Color.White;
cell.style = style;
worksheet.cells.get("C16").formula = "=INDEX(Sheet1!$C$21:$C$24,$B$16,1)";
// Put some data for chart source
// Data Headers
worksheet.cells.get("D15").putValue("Jan");
worksheet.cells.get("D20").putValue("Jan");
worksheet.cells.get("E15").putValue("Feb");
worksheet.cells.get("E20").putValue("Feb");
worksheet.cells.get("F15").putValue("Mar");
worksheet.cells.get("F20").putValue("Mar");
worksheet.cells.get("G15").putValue("Apr");
worksheet.cells.get("G20").putValue("Apr");
worksheet.cells.get("H15").putValue("May");
worksheet.cells.get("H20").putValue("May");
worksheet.cells.get("I15").putValue("Jun");
worksheet.cells.get("I20").putValue("Jun");
// Data
worksheet.cells.get("D21").putValue(304);
worksheet.cells.get("D22").putValue(402);
worksheet.cells.get("D23").putValue(321);
worksheet.cells.get("D24").putValue(123);
worksheet.cells.get("E21").putValue(300);
worksheet.cells.get("E22").putValue(500);
worksheet.cells.get("E23").putValue(219);
worksheet.cells.get("E24").putValue(422);
worksheet.cells.get("F21").putValue(222);
worksheet.cells.get("F22").putValue(331);
worksheet.cells.get("F23").putValue(112);
worksheet.cells.get("F24").putValue(350);
worksheet.cells.get("G21").putValue(100);
worksheet.cells.get("G22").putValue(200);
worksheet.cells.get("G23").putValue(300);
worksheet.cells.get("G24").putValue(400);
worksheet.cells.get("H21").putValue(200);
worksheet.cells.get("H22").putValue(300);
worksheet.cells.get("H23").putValue(400);
worksheet.cells.get("H24").putValue(500);
worksheet.cells.get("I21").putValue(400);
worksheet.cells.get("I22").putValue(200);
worksheet.cells.get("I23").putValue(200);
worksheet.cells.get("I24").putValue(100);
// Dynamically load data on selection of drop‑down value
worksheet.cells.get("D16").formula = "=IFERROR(VLOOKUP($C$16,$C$21:$I$24,2,FALSE),0)";
worksheet.cells.get("E16").formula = "=IFERROR(VLOOKUP($C$16,$C$21:$I$24,3,FALSE),0)";
worksheet.cells.get("F16").formula = "=IFERROR(VLOOKUP($C$16,$C$21:$I$24,4,FALSE),0)";
worksheet.cells.get("G16").formula = "=IFERROR(VLOOKUP($C$16,$C$21:$I$24,5,FALSE),0)";
worksheet.cells.get("H16").formula = "=IFERROR(VLOOKUP($C$16,$C$21:$I$24,6,FALSE),0)";
worksheet.cells.get("I16").formula = "=IFERROR(VLOOKUP($C$16,$C$21:$I$24,7,FALSE),0)";
// Create Chart
const index = worksheet.charts.add(ChartType.Column, 0, 3, 12, 9);
const chart = worksheet.charts.get(index);
chart.nseries.add("='Sheet1'!$D$16:$I$16", false);
chart.nseries.get(0).name = "=C16";
chart.nseries.categoryData = "=$D$15:$I$15";
// Save result and provide download link
const outputData = workbook.save(SaveFormat.Xlsx);
const blob = new Blob([outputData]);
const downloadLink = document.getElementById('downloadLink');
downloadLink.href = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
downloadLink.download = 'output_out.xlsx';
downloadLink.style.display = 'block';
downloadLink.textContent = 'Download Excel File';
resultDiv.innerHTML = '<p style="color: green;">Operation completed successfully! Click the download link to get the modified file.</p>';
});
});
</script>
</html>