Some Charts to Try Online

GraPL has a wide choice of chart types and an even wider range of options and settings. If you just want to try some simple plots, this page will let you experiment on-line, running GraPL on our own server.

If you have IE5 installed, all the charts are rendered using VML (Vector graphics) commands, as this is much faster to transmit, and gives a far higher quality in the browser. VML is supported by IE5.0 and above, but it is possible that you don't have the VML component installed - if so, your browser may make a connection to the Microsoft website to get it (approx 600K download). If you install IE5 from a magazine cover-disk, make sure you check the VML option. If you do not have IE5 available, you can get a demo copy of GraPL from our download page - this comes with a large selection of sample charts to try.

Basic Chart Types

	Piechart The example shows a piechart with keys or 'spider' labelling. You can experiment with exploding the pie sectors by various amounts.
	Barchart Barcharts are the next level of presentation, and are often used interchangeably with piecharts. You can try the effect of horizontal or vertical bars, stacked or grouped, with optional value labels.
	Timeseries Here we have a single set of data values plotted against time. GraPL has a variety of tools to help you visualise patterns in this kind of data - here you can try a simple trendline which can be adjusted to fit the data more or less flexibly. Try setting all options off except Risers and Trend for an interesting presentation.
	XY-Scatter This chart would normally be drawn with markers only, and perhaps a fitted line estimating the relationship between the X and Y values. It could also be used as a timeseries if the data was recorded at irregular intervals.
	Scatter with Teased Data This illustrates an approach to separating categories of data on a scatterplot. You can experiment with the 'Tease' value to get the best effect.
	Polar Plot Polar charts are simply scatter plots where the 'X' axis is wrapped around 360 degrees and the 'Y' axis is the distance from centre. They are often used to compare category data, or for plots where one variable genuinely represents a direction.

Higher-dimensioned Data

	Small Multiples This is often the most effective way of splitting out data by category, and it is well-supported by GraPL. This example shows 4 related timeseries plots as a 2 by 2 trellis.
	Trace Charts Where a set of timeseries are closely related (maybe from a collection of recording probes laid out in a line) a trace or ECG-style of plot is often very effective. You can experiment with the 'overlap' setting which effectively turns up the gain on each line.
	Box and Whisker Charts Boxplots are an excellent tool for making a first analysis of experimental results where you are unsure what patterns you will see. The sample data shows the yields from some famous crop trials, split by farm and year. The 'box' spans the quartiles of the sample, with a line at the median, and the 'whiskers' show the extremes of the data range.
	Kite Charts These are actually a variety of Trace chart, but with symmetrical shading. They are often used by botanists to record a species count or pollen record.

Genuine 3D Charts

	3D Scatter or Cloud Chart This style of chart is appropriate for investigating the results of experiments involving 2 variables, where a third value is measured.
	Response Surface Surface plots are generally used to explore the shape of some mathematical function. In this example a sine and cosine curve have been multiplied to generate an interesting saddle shape.
	Tower Chart Tower charts may be used in place of grouped barcharts where more visual impact is required.

All the charts in these examples can easily be produced from your own data using GraPL. Why not download it and give it a try!