VTK/Charts

Goals

• Render 2D charts using OpenGL/VTK
• Scalable to large data sets
• Simple, flexible API
• Enable server side rendering of charts with VTK compositing
• Proper handling of IEEE Not-A-Number (NaN) values in plots of both experimental and simulation data.

Open Questions

• Alternate backend to produce publication quality output?
• Possibility to extend the API to 3D charts in the future?
• Maybe real-time charting? (just-in-time visualization of data sets)

Further Details on API

Please see VTK/2DAPI and VTK/Charts/ChartAPI for details about the 2D API and chart API, along with proposed class relationships. VTK/Marks discusses options for a protovis-like API in VTK, that would build on the 2D API. The VTK/CanvasAPI details the canvas API that both the chart and marks API build on.

Chart Types

• XY plot
• Scatter
• Bar chart
• Histogram
• Stack chart
• Pie chart
• Parallel axes
• Tree map
• Bubble chart

Existing Applications/Libraries

Below is a summary of different libraries or applications that produce 2D charts and plots. Those listed either provide both screen and publication quality rendering, or just screen rendering.

Optimized for Screen Rendering

• prefuse
• tableau
• Many Eyes
• Google Chart
• Qwt
• QwtPlot3D
• QPlotter
• ggobi
• ZedGraph
• TeeChart
• Iocomp
• Scientific charting control
• ChartDirector
• Dundas
• Visifire
• core-plot
• Protoviz

Multiple Backends (Publication Quality)

• PLPlot
• gnuplot
• matplotlib
• Veusz
• Grace
• GLE