Installation of the JavaScript library

This page focuses on the usage of the JavaScript library - not the GWT library. The documentation for the GWT library can be found online on the arcadiacharts web page.

Step one: copy the arcadiaCharts files to your webserver

After you have downloaded the arcadiaCharts library you will find a zip file with the name arcadiacharts-xxxx.zip in your download directory.

Please unpack this file to a directory on your webserver. You should have the following directory structure:

  • In the root directory you will find some sample charts in the form of .html files like example_columnchart_salesreport.html or example_linechart_goldprice.html.
  • /arcadiacharts contains the charting library
  • /arcadiacharts/themes contains the ready-made themes
  • /arcadiacharts/fonts contains the fonts provided
  • /arcadiacharts/backgrounds contains background gradients which are used by some of the default themes
  • /arcadiacharts/loader the default loader which is shown until the diagram has finished drawing
  • /documentation contains the class reference (API) and a user menu which you should use to get started
  • /resources some static resources like images (img), stylesheets (css) and data files (data), i.e. files which contain data in CSV format. These resources are specific to the examples that are part of the distribution. You don't need to upload this directory to your web server if you are planning to create a diagram from scratch, i.e. you are not planning to base your diagram on an example.

You will also find some code templates which you can use as a starting point for your own diagram. You can identify these code templates through the file name which starts with code_template_, e.g. code_template_linechart_basic.html.

Warning: Problems running the library locally

Internet Explorer and Chrome will not run the library locally. If you try to load a showcase from a local file system, IE and Chrome will present you with an error message or simply an empty page due to their very strict same origin policy.

This behavior can be turned off but we recommend either running arcadiaCharts from a web server or using Firefox, Safari or Opera when opening the showcases from a local drive.

Step two: Testing the installation

If you installed arcadiaCharts in a local directory you should find some sample showcases in the root directory. Double-clicking on one of these showcases should cause it to open in a browser and present a chart. This does not work with Chrome and Internet Explorer. Please see the note above for an explanation.

If you installed arcadiaCharts on a webserver you should be able to open one of the showcases provided from the web server directory.