NAME
Text::Graph - Perl module for generating simple text-based graphs.
VERSION
This document describes "Text::Graph" version 0.82.
SYNOPSIS
use Text::Graph;
my $graph = Text::Graph->new( 'Bar' );
print $graph->to_string( $dataset, labels => $labels );DESCRIPTION
Some data is easier to analyze graphically than in its raw form. In many cases, however, a full-blown multicolor graphic representation is overkill. In these cases, a simple graph can provide an appropriate graphical representation.
The Text::Graph module provides a simple text-based graph of a dataset. Although this approach is not appropriate for all data analysis, it can be useful in some cases.
Functions
new
The list below describes the parameters.
minval - Minimum value cutoff. All values below minval are considered equal to minval. The default value for minval is 0. Setting the minval to
undefcausesText::Graphto use the minimum of values as minval.maxval - Maximum value cutoff. All values above maxval are considered equal to maxval. The default value for maxval is
undefwhich causesText::Graphto use the maximum of values as maxval.maxlen - Maximum length of a histogram bar. This parameter is used to scale the histogram to a particular size. The default value for maxlen is (
maxval - minval + 1).marker - Character to be used for the highest point on each bar of the histogram. The default value for marker is '*'.
fill - Character to be used for drawing the bar of the histogram, except the highest point. The default value for fill is the value of marker.
log - Flag determining if the graph is logarithmic or linear. The default value for log is 0 for a linear histogram.
showval - Flag determining if the value of each bar is displayed to the right of the bar. The default value for showval is 0, which does not display the value.
separator - String which separates the labels from the histogram bars. The default value of separator is ' :'.
right - Flag which specifies the labels should be right-justified. By default, this flag is 0, specifying that the labels are left justified.
get_marker
The get_marker method returns the marker associated with this graph.
get_fill
The get_fill method returns the fill character used for this graph.
is_log
The is_log method returns a flag telling whether this is a logarithmic graph (true) or linear graph (false).
get_maxlen
The get_maxlen method returns the maximum length of the graph this value is used to scale the graph.
get_maxval
The get_maxval method returns the maximum value cutoff defined for this graph. A value of undef means the graph is not cut off.
get_minval
The get_minval method returns the minimum value cutoff defined for this graph. A value of undef means the graph is not cut off.
get_separator
The get_separator method returns the string used to separate the labels from the graph.
is_right_justified
The get_separator method returns true if the labels are right justified, false otherwise.
show_value
The show_value method returns true if the actual values are shown next to the bars, false otherwise.
make_lines
The make_lines method converts a dataset into a list of strings representing the dataset. The make_lines takes either a Text::Graph::DataSet object or the parameters needed to construct such an object. If used in array context, it returns an array of bars. If used in scalar context, it returns a reference to an array of bars.
make_labelled_lines
The make_lines method converts a dataset into a list of strings representing the dataset. The make_lines takes either a Text::Graph::DataSet object or the parameters needed to construct such an object. Unlike make_lines, each line in this returned list is labelled as described in the Text::Graph::DataSet object. If used in array context, it returns an array of bars. If used in scalar context, it returns a reference to an array of bars.
to_string
The to_string method creates a displayable Graph for the supplied dataset. The Graph is labelled as specified in the DataSet. The to_string method accepts all of the same parameters as make_lines.
Examples
Bar Graph of an Array
use Text::Graph;
my $graph = Text::Graph->new( 'Bar' );
print $graph->to_string( [1,2,4,5,10,3,5],
labels => [ qw/aaaa bb ccc dddddd ee f ghi/ ],
);Generates the following output:
aaaa :
bb :*
ccc :***
dddddd :****
ee :*********
f :**
ghi :****Line Graph of an Array
use Text::Graph;
my $graph = Text::Graph->new( 'Line' );
print $graph->to_string( [1,2,4,5,10,3,5],
labels => [ qw/aaaa bb ccc dddddd ee f ghi/ ],
);Generates the following output:
aaaa :
bb :*
ccc : *
dddddd : *
ee : *
f : *
ghi : *Bar Graph of an Anonymous Hash
use Text::Graph;
my $graph = Text::Graph->new( 'Bar' );
print $graph->to_string( { a=>1, b=>5, c=>20, d=>10, e=>17 } );Generates the following output:
a :
b :****
c :*******************
d :*********
e :****************Bar Graph of an Anonymous Hash in Reverse Order
use Text::Graph;
use Text::Graph::DataSet;
my $graph = Text::Graph->new( 'Bar' );
my $dataset = Text::Graph::DataSet->new ({ a=>1, b=>5, c=>20, d=>10, e=>17 },
sort => sub { sort { $b cmp $a } @_ });
print $graph->to_string( $dataset );Generates the following output:
e :****************
d :*********
c :*******************
b :****
a :Bar Graph of Part of an Anonymous Hash
use Text::Graph;
use Text::Graph::DataSet;
my $graph = Text::Graph->new( 'Bar' );
my $dataset = Text::Graph::DataSet->new ({ a=>1, b=>5, c=>20, d=>10, e=>17 },
labels => [ qw(e b a d) ]);
print $graph->to_string( $dataset );Generates the following output:
e :****************
b :****
a :
d :*********Filled Line Graph With Advanced Formatting
use Text::Graph;
use Text::Graph::DataSet;
my $dataset = Text::Graph::DataSet->new ([1,22,43,500,1000,300,50],
[ qw/aaaa bb ccc dddddd ee f ghi/ ]);
my $graph = Text::Graph->new( 'Line',
right => 1, # right-justify labels
fill => '.', # change fill-marker
log => 1, # logarithmic graph
showval => 1 # show actual values
);
print $graph->to_string( $dataset );Generates the following output:
aaaa : (1)
bb :.* (22)
ccc :..* (43)
dddddd :....* (500)
ee :.....* (1000)
f :....* (300)
ghi :..* (50)SEE ALSO
perl(1).
ACKNOWLEDMENTS
Thanks to Jerry D. Hedden for pointing out a few inconsistencies in the code. Sorry for taking so long to get back to the module to fix it.
AUTHOR
G. Wade Johnson, gwadej@cpan.org
COPYRIGHT
Copyright 2002-2014 G. Wade Johnson
This module is free software; you can distribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.
perl(1).