The Ultimate
Charting Control
Olectra Chart Technical Brief
Olectra Chart is a powerful OCX/ActiveX charting control that provides unrivaled performance and flexibility. Olectra Chart includes distinct 2D and 3D OCXs and DLLs (16 and 32 bit) and can be used in applications built with Visual Basic 4.0, Visual C++ 4.0, Access 95, Borland Delphi 2, PowerBuilder 5.0 and other development environments that support OCXs or ActiveX controls. Olectra Chart comes with a sophisticated C/C++ API with MFC and OWL wrappers for use by C/C++ programmers.
Olectra Chart can display virtually any type of chart from simple bar charts to complex 3D projections. With fast update capabilities and double buffering Olectra Chart provides performance fast enough for real time applications displaying changing data. Olectra Chart also provides extensive printed and on-line documentation as well as over 30,000 lines of sample code to help programmers get started quickly and easily.
Overview
The Ultimate in Control
Olectra Chart gives developers the most control over the properties of their charts. Using the native chart types (bar, surface, plot, pie, stacking bar and area) virtually any type of chart can be created by simply changing the properties of the chart. Each control (2D and 3D) has over 30 objects and hundreds of properties that give developers and end-users greater control over the graph. Chart labels and annotations can be placed anywhere on the graph and axes scale, gridlines, value labels and stroke fonts can all be controlled. Olectra Chart provides dynamic scaling, zooming and rotation, allowing programmers and users to fine tune the view of the chart. 3D chart can be plotted with floor and/or ceiling projections and can be zoned, contoured, or meshed. Zone and contour styles can be controlled to make charts easier to read
Fast and Easy
Olectra Chart comes with 16 charting demos using Visual Basic as well as 11 DLL demos and two Visual C++ demos. Each demo includes its own help file. There are also 40 sample chart files showing various complex chart types including gantt, candle, high-low-close, combination charts, contour maps, 4D bar, 4D surface, ribbon and scatter plots. In total there are over 30 000 lines of sample code to help programmers get started quickly and easily. Olectra Chart also comes with extensive on-line help and extensive printed documentation in the box.
A New Standard in Performance
Olectra Chart provides the fastest charting performance on the market. Olectra Chart's distinct 2D and 3D controls eliminate the overhead of a combined control resulting in faster data acquisition and plotting. Olectra Chart's Fast Update Methods provides even better performance for scrolling strip charts by plotting only the new data without redrawing the entire chart. Refer to the Performance Comparison section to see how Olectra Chart compares to the competition.
Feature/Benefit
Summary
- Distinct 2D and 3D OCXs and DLLs
- Separate 2D and 3D controls are much faster and have a much smaller code footprint than a combined control.
- OCXs and DLLs support both 16 and 32 bit development
- Application development is supported for Windows 3.1, Windows 95 and Windows NT C/C++
- Programming Interfaces
- C/C++ programmers can program directly to Olectra Chart's fully documented object-based C API or MFC and OWL wrappers or they can program to the OCX.
- Demos, Examples and Samples
- 30,000 lines of sample code and over 25 demo programs are included with Olectra Chart. Programmers can get started quickly and easily and can create even complex charts within minutes of opening the box.
- Powerful Enough to Build Virtually any Chart
- Allows for unlimited charting possibilities from simple bar charts to complex 3D projections. Olectra Chart allows programmers to have very fine control over the style, pattern and color of axes, labels, grid and tick marks and titles.
- Fast Update Methods
- When using the fast update methods, only the changed portion of the graph is redrawn resulting in performance fast enough for scrolling strip charts with real-time updates.
- Double Buffering
- Double buffering makes use of an off-screen memory area to help reduce flicker when doing screen updates.
- Built-in Hit Detection
- Provides the location of the user pointer so that drill-downs can be designed.
- Point and Click Interface Available at Development and Runtimes
- Both developers and end-users have maximum flexibility to easily customize charts.
- Built-in Zooming, Scaling and Rotation
- Users can dynamically customize views. These functions can be done by simply dragging the mouse on the graph. Users can view a preview cube or the entire graph during rotation, scaling or zooming.
- Dynamic Time and Date Axis
- The axis are automatically adjusted when windows are resized or data is changed. The axis can scale from years to seconds.
- Chart Labels and Annotations can be Located Anywhere
- Multi-line chart labels are unlimited and can be attached to data displayed in the graph or to graph or pixel co-ordinates.
- Flexible Data Layout
- Regular or irregular data structures can be selected.
- Turntable Auto-Precision Axis
- The axis precision is automatically adjusted to fit the data
- 3D Surface Graphs
- 3D surface graphs can be zoned, contoured, meshed and/or shaded.
Competive Analysis
If you are interested in performance issues you can also look at our performance comparison.
Technical Support
Standard Support
Free 30 day telephone/fax/email support included with the purchase of a new product or any paid product upgrade. The 30 day period commences with the first call. Included in the standard support are the following:
- Toll-free telephone support (in North America).
- Access to updated FAQ on KL Group's Web site.
- Quarterly electronic newsletter
- Technical news flash mailings.
- Access to example files and demonstrations programs on KL Group's web site.
- Access to product updates (minor feature enhancements, bug fixes) from KL Group's FTP/web site.
Gold Support
Gold level support entitles a developer to unlimited phone/fax/email technical support for one year. Telephone support is toll-free in North America. Gold support also includes all of the features included with the Standard support. Gold support is available at an annual cost of $149 per developer.
Gold Support with Subscription
Gold support with subscription includes all of the Standard and Gold support features. Free Update CDs (minor feature enhancements and bug fixes) and free Upgrade CDs will automatically be sent to the subscriber for one year (minimum one Update and Upgrade per year). Gold Support with Subscription is available for $199 per developer annually or $149 if purchased concurrently with Olectra Chart.