Davisor Real3D offers realistic rendering of 3D charts. In contrast to standard 2D charts, first a 3D model of the chart is constructed. Using a 3D engine, a still image is produced from the model. This approach often produces more visually pleasing end results. All the common chart types are also supported as Real3D versions (area, bar,column, line and pie).
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| 2D column chart | Real3D column chart |
Switch from standard charts to Real3D, can be done by just
adding 3d to the chart type.
For example, in the above, left chart is produced by chart type
column and right one with type column3d.
In order for 3D charts to work, you have to obtain Davisor Chart Real3D extension and install 3D rendering engine. 3D engine used by Davisor Chart is Sun's free Java3D. Not all environments support Java3D in full extent.
Download the latest Java3D.
Make sure that
you use Java3D-1.3.1(-beta) or later. Follow installation
instructions.
When using Linux, you can use Blackdown's Java3D. As a root, run installation script in your $JAVA_HOME directory.
In order for Java3D to work, OpenGL support is needed.
In most Windows installations, this step can be omitted. Checking that graphics drivers and DirectX installation is up-to-date can be done.
In order for Java3D to work properly, XFree86 4.3.0 or newer
is needed. You can check your X version by issuing
'XFree86 -version' command.
Change also the /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 as follows:
# Load "GLcore" # OpenGL support
# Load "dri" # Direct rendering infrastructure
Load "glx" # OpenGL X protocol interface
You can check your installtion status by 'glxinfo'. Typical
printing contains the following elements:
... server glx vendor string: NVIDIA Corporation server glx version string: 1.3 ... client glx vendor string: NVIDIA Corporation client glx version string: 1.3 ... OpenGL vendor string: NVIDIA Corporation OpenGL renderer string: GeForce4 MX 440/AGP/SSE2 OpenGL version string: 1.4.0 NVIDIA 43.49 ...
Check that your openwin installation is recently patched.
OpenGL 1.3 is recommended, but earlier version can also be sufficient.
You can probe (remember to set DISPLAY correctly) your
installation with:
/usr/openwin/demo/GL/ogl_install_check
and
/usr/openwin/demo/GL/xglinfo
This mean installing lates X windows environment and latest graphics
card drivers. After installation one should test it using OpenGL software
(such as glxgears) and Java3D demo OffScreenCanvas3D/OffScreenTest.java
.
After running
glxgears
one should see wildly spinning gears:
3D images can be rendered to memory or visibly to the screen. As a default Real3D renders charts to memory, or offscreen, from which ready charts are served. Unfortunately, some environments do not fully support offscreen rendering.
After setting $JAVA_HOME to your java installation directory
and running commands (in Unix)
cd $JAVA_HOME/demo/java3d/OffScreenCanvas3D/ $JAVA_HOME/bin/java OffScreenTest
one should see two cubes:
Note for Unix: If you are logging remotely via ssh, make sure
that you remember to use correct DISPLAY environment variable.
This often is 'DISPLAY=:0'.
In environments which do not support offscreen rendering correctly,
one can fall back to on-screen rendering. In Real3D, on-screen
rendering can be enabled using java option -Ddavisor.onscreen="true".
See chart FAQ for more details.
Copy davisorchart3d.jar to your chart
WEB-INF/lib. Some web servers need restarting,
for noticing the jar.
You can test your installation by clicking:
The following examples demonstrate basic properties of Real3D charts. For further examples, see individual chart types and xmlReference.
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| One can rotate chart. Compare this image to the one at the top of the page. | Pie chart. |
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| Antialiasing can be used to reduce graininess. NOTE: If antialiased chart does not look good, try onscreen rendering as described in chart FAQ. | Antialised pie chart. NOTE: If antialiased chart does not look good, try onscreen rendering as described in chart FAQ. |