NAME

Bar - A writer class for Excel Bar charts.

SYNOPSIS

To create a simple Excel file with a Bar chart using Spreadsheet::WriteExcel:

#!/usr/bin/perl -w

use strict;
use Spreadsheet::WriteExcel;

my $workbook  = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->new( 'chart.xls' );
my $worksheet = $workbook->add_worksheet();

my $chart     = $workbook->add_chart( type => 'bar' );

# Configure the chart.
$chart->add_series(
    categories => '=Sheet1!$A$2:$A$7',
    values     => '=Sheet1!$B$2:$B$7',
);

# Add the worksheet data the chart refers to.
my $data = [
    [ 'Category', 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 ],
    [ 'Value',    1, 4, 5, 2, 1, 5 ],
];

$worksheet->write( 'A1', $data );

__END__

DESCRIPTION

This module implements Bar charts for Spreadsheet::WriteExcel. The chart object is created via the Workbook add_chart() method:

my $chart = $workbook->add_chart( type => 'bar' );

Once the object is created it can be configured via the following methods that are common to all chart classes:

$chart->add_series();
$chart->set_x_axis();
$chart->set_y_axis();
$chart->set_title();

These methods are explained in detail in Spreadsheet::WriteExcel::Chart. Class specific methods or settings, if any, are explained below.

Bar Chart Methods

There aren't currently any bar chart specific methods. See the TODO section of Spreadsheet::WriteExcel::Chart.

EXAMPLE

Here is a complete example that demonstrates most of the available features when creating a chart.

#!/usr/bin/perl -w

use strict;
use Spreadsheet::WriteExcel;

my $workbook  = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->new( 'chart_bar.xls' );
my $worksheet = $workbook->add_worksheet();
my $bold      = $workbook->add_format( bold => 1 );

# Add the worksheet data that the charts will refer to.
my $headings = [ 'Number', 'Sample 1', 'Sample 2' ];
my $data = [
    [ 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 ],
    [ 1, 4, 5, 2, 1, 5 ],
    [ 3, 6, 7, 5, 4, 3 ],
];

$worksheet->write( 'A1', $headings, $bold );
$worksheet->write( 'A2', $data );

# Create a new chart object. In this case an embedded chart.
my $chart = $workbook->add_chart( type => 'bar', embedded => 1 );

# Configure the first series. (Sample 1)
$chart->add_series(
    name       => 'Sample 1',
    categories => '=Sheet1!$A$2:$A$7',
    values     => '=Sheet1!$B$2:$B$7',
);

# Configure the second series. (Sample 2)
$chart->add_series(
    name       => 'Sample 2',
    categories => '=Sheet1!$A$2:$A$7',
    values     => '=Sheet1!$C$2:$C$7',
);

# Add a chart title and some axis labels.
$chart->set_title ( name => 'Results of sample analysis' );
$chart->set_x_axis( name => 'Test number' );
$chart->set_y_axis( name => 'Sample length (cm)' );

# Insert the chart into the worksheet (with an offset).
$worksheet->insert_chart( 'D2', $chart, 25, 10 );

__END__

This will produce a chart that looks like this:

AUTHOR

John McNamara jmcnamara@cpan.org

COPYRIGHT

Copyright MM-MMX, John McNamara.

All Rights Reserved. This module is free software. It may be used, redistributed and/or modified under the same terms as Perl itself.