How to create Graphs on OpenInsight forms

waheed

Hello,
I am using OI 9.3.2.
Is it possible to show graphs on OI form?
I want to show some financial information graphically using charts, like pie, bar chart etc.
Any solution within OI, ? or any work around using MS Excel ?

Please suggest.

DonBakke

I'll present a few options for your consideration but they will be general solutions. Others can offer additional solutions or elaborate on my thoughts.

ActiveX Controls - There are some third-party ActiveX controls you can drop into an OLE control within an OpenInsight form. This would give you the best "embedded" experience within an OI form. We've used a control from ChestySoft. It's a bit dated, but it works. I'm sure there are other third-party controls that will work but I'm not as familiar with them. We have been wanting to create our own controls but they have not been a high priority for us.

.NET Controls - Similar to ActiveX controls, there are several .NET controls that can produce graphs. You can embed a .NET control into your form using the OpenInsight invoker control or by getting the source of the .NET control and recompiling it with a COM interface (thus making it into an ActiveX control). I don't know of anyone who has done this with a graph controls, but I would not be surprised if someone has done this.

Web APIs - Services like Google Charts allow you to submit data and get a web response that you can display in a browser control in your OI form. These can be very rich and flexible, but they do require you to be online.

Working with Excel is definitely an option that people have used, but you don't get the embedded experience that I think you are after. This would require you to use OLE Automation with the Excel object.

Hopefully that gives you something to chew on.

BarryStevens

>>the OpenInsight invoker control
Please explain!
>>We have been wanting to create our own controls but they have not been a high priority for us.
I am sure that would be a welcome addition by all - Mmm 'crowd funding' LOL

DonBakke

>>the OpenInsight invoker control
Please explain!

This is part of RevDotNet (see the 59-129 RevDotNet Quick Start Guide 1.1.pdf document). The "invoker" comes from the name of the ProgID used by the OLE control (i.e., RevDotNet.Invoker or RevDotNet4.Invoker).

>>We have been wanting to create our own controls but they have not been a high priority for us.
I am sure that would be a welcome addition by all - Mmm 'crowd funding' LOL

We are not shy about crowd funding projects! Anyone want to get a kickstarter project up and running? :)

BarryStevens

Thanks, will take a deeper look at the DotNet benefits :)

AusMarkB

The RevDotNet was one of those things that I got excited about at the time but then kind of felt it never really went anywhere. I played with it briefly but couldn't get anything to really work.
Caveat: It could have just been me. I didn't have any actual requirement and was merely experimenting to try and grasp the potential.

Did anybody else have any success in using this to provide actual functionality?

DonBakke

We have a client that uses it for a ListView control. They have a need to provide users the ability to view several images in various formats just like Windows Explorer. I am certain the client would have been happy to use a pure ActiveX control, but it would seem one was not available (that's what I was told, I didn't actually research this).

It is functional. However, I will say that the code needed to manage .NET controls this way is very cumbersome. It reminds me very much of the code often needed to expose Windows Common Controls in OI. If this is the only way to get functionality that is greatly needed, then you do what must be done. But if there is any other way then I would definitely avoid using .NET controls or I would try to find a way to port them as a COM object.

AusMarkB

Sounds like my experience. With no specific requirement I just threw it in the too hard basket.