How to create charts...

[Ransika deSilva]

Hello,
Could you kindly tell me how to create charts(pei charts, bar charts, line charts etc.). I am sure it is possible to do it.
step by step advice is much appriciated. Is there a place where I can refer notes on it.
thanks

[Ernest Friedman-Hill]

Well, there are two possible approaches: one would be to subclass JPanel to create your own "Chart" component. In that Chart component, you'd override paintComponent(), and in paintComponent() you'd draw a chart, one little symbol or tic-mark at a time. It's lots of work, and you need to be pretty good at geometry!
The other way would be to buy a charting component written by someone else -- or perhaps find a free one. I found this decent-looking one in about 1/3 second of Googling:
http://www.jfree.org/jfreechart/index.html .