README

PHP library to generate simple charts fast.

PHPFastChart is a fast and simple charting library for PHP 8.1+, ideal for generating charts in web applications and reports.

Features

🚀 Zero dependencies - Only uses PHP's built-in GD extension (SVG is pure PHP)
📊 Multiple chart types - Line, Bar, Pie, Scatter, and Radar charts
🎨 Customizable - Colors, dimensions, and styling options
📁 Multiple formats - PNG, WEBP, and SVG output
✅ PHP 8.1+ - Modern PHP with strict types and readonly properties
🧪 Well tested - PHPUnit tests with high coverage
📝 Documented - Complete PHPDoc for all public APIs

Requirements

PHP 8.1 or higher
GD extension (for PNG/WEBP output)

Installation

composer require codryn/phpfastchart

Quick Start

Basic Line Chart

<?php

require_once __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';

use Codryn\PHPFastChart\Chart\Chart;
use Codryn\PHPFastChart\Chart\ChartType;
use Codryn\PHPFastChart\Configuration\ImageFormat;
use Codryn\PHPFastChart\Data\DataPoint;
use Codryn\PHPFastChart\Data\DataSeries;

// Create a line chart
$chart = new Chart(800, 600, ChartType::Line, ImageFormat::PNG);

// Add data series
$sales = new DataSeries(
    'Monthly Sales',
    [
        new DataPoint(0, 100, 'Jan'),
        new DataPoint(1, 150, 'Feb'),
        new DataPoint(2, 120, 'Mar'),
        new DataPoint(3, 180, 'Apr'),
    ],
    '#3498db'
);

// Configure and generate
$chart
    ->addSeries($sales)
    ->setBackgroundColor('#FFFFFF')
    ->setTitle('Sales Report')
    ->setAxisLabel('x', 'Month')
    ->setAxisLabel('y', 'Sales ($)')
    ->generate('output/chart.png');

Multi-Series Bar Chart with Legend

$chart = new Chart(1000, 600, ChartType::Bar, ImageFormat::SVG);

$series1 = new DataSeries('Product A', [
    new DataPoint(0, 50, 'Q1'),
    new DataPoint(1, 75, 'Q2'),
    new DataPoint(2, 60, 'Q3'),
    new DataPoint(3, 90, 'Q4'),
], '#0066CC');

$series2 = new DataSeries('Product B', [
    new DataPoint(0, 40, 'Q1'),
    new DataPoint(1, 65, 'Q2'),
    new DataPoint(2, 80, 'Q3'),
    new DataPoint(3, 95, 'Q4'),
], '#FF6600');

$chart
    ->addSeries($series1)
    ->addSeries($series2)
    ->setTitle('Quarterly Revenue')
    ->setAxisRange('y', 0, 100)
    ->enableGrid(false, true)
    ->enableLegend(\Codryn\PHPFastChart\Configuration\LegendPosition::TopRight)
    ->generate('output/bar-chart.svg');

Pie Chart

$chart = new Chart(800, 800, ChartType::Pie, ImageFormat::PNG);

$marketShare = new DataSeries('Market Share', [
    new DataPoint(0, 35, 'Product A'),
    new DataPoint(1, 25, 'Product B'),
    new DataPoint(2, 20, 'Product C'),
    new DataPoint(3, 15, 'Product D'),
    new DataPoint(4, 5, 'Others'),
], '#0066CC');

$chart
    ->addSeries($marketShare)
    ->setTitle('Market Share Distribution')
    ->enableLegend(\Codryn\PHPFastChart\Configuration\LegendPosition::Right)
    ->generate('output/pie-chart.png');

Feature Overview

Chart Types

Line Chart - Multi-series line graphs with customizable styles
Bar Chart - Vertical bar charts with grouped series support
Scatter Plot - X/Y coordinate scatter plots for data distribution
Pie Chart - Circular percentage charts (single series)
Radar Chart - Multi-dimensional comparison charts (spider/web charts)

Output Formats

PNG - High-quality raster images (requires GD extension)
WEBP - Modern compressed raster format (requires GD extension)
SVG - Scalable vector graphics (pure PHP, no dependencies)

Customization Features

✅ Colors - Customize background, axes, grid, series colors
✅ Grid Lines - Horizontal/vertical grid with customizable spacing and style
✅ Axis Scaling - Manual or automatic axis ranges with clip modes
✅ Labels - Chart titles, axis labels, data point labels
✅ Legend - Configurable position and styling for multi-series charts
✅ Dimensions - Any size from small thumbnails to 4000×4000 large images

Examples

See the examples/ directory for comprehensive working examples:

Basic Examples

basic-line-chart.php - Simple line chart
bar-chart.php - Bar chart example
scatter-chart-example.php - Scatter plot
pie-chart.php - Pie chart with percentages
radar-chart.php - Radar/spider chart

Feature Examples

format-comparison.php - Generate charts in PNG, WEBP, and SVG
custom-colors.php - Color customization
grid-lines.php - Grid configuration
labels.php - Axis labels and titles
legend-example.php - Legend positioning and styling
axis-scaling.php - Manual and automatic axis ranges

Advanced Examples

advanced-styling-example.php - All features combined
svg-export-example.php - SVG-specific features and advantages

Run examples:

# Run all examples
composer run-examples

# Or run individual examples
php examples/basic-line-chart.php
php examples/advanced-styling-example.php

Note: PNG and WEBP formats require the GD extension. SVG works with pure PHP.

Documentation

Feature Specification - Complete specification for chart generator features
Constitution - Project quality standards and development principles
Examples - Chart specific examples

Development

See CONTRIBUTING.md for development guidelines.

Architecture

The library is structured into several key components:

Chart Types
Output Formats
Customization Features
Core Architecture
Configuration Classes
Utilities
Exception Hierarchy

Performance

PHPFastChart is optimized for performance:

Efficient rendering algorithms
Low memory usage
Fast generation times even for complex charts

Quality Standards

✅ PHPStan Level 10: Strictest static analysis level from PHPSTan 2.1
✅ PSR-12: PHP coding standards compliance
✅ Strict Types: declare(strict_types=1) in all files
✅ TDD: Test-driven development methodology
✅ Type Hints: Full type declarations on all methods
✅ PHPDoc: Complete documentation blocks

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for:

Development workflow
Coding standards
Testing requirements
Pull request process

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for version history and migration guides.

Support

Credits

Created and maintained by Marco for Codryn.

Special thanks to:

The PHP community
PHPUnit, PHPStan, and PHP-CS-Fixer maintainers

Built for the tabletop RPG community 🎲

codryn / phpfastchart

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