Using pChart as framework for rendering graphs in Mahara

[Gregor Anželj]

As discussed at 4th Developer Meeting - pChart may be a suitable framework for rendering graphs in Mahara, e.g. in the admin section.

Available at http://www.pchart.net/
Documentation (with examples) at http://wiki.pchart.net/

pChart is a PHP framework that will help you to create anti-aliased charts or pictures directly from your web server. You can then display the result in the client browser, sent it by mail or insert it into PDFs.

pChart is released under two licensing models. If your application is freely distributed and meet the GPL requirements, you can use pChart for free under the the GNU GPLv3 license.

[François Marier (fmarier)]

While reviewing the license for this library, I found this page:

  http://www.pchart.net/license

which claims that it is under the GPLv3 but then adds a contradictory statement that say that it's not for commercial use unless you get a separate license.

Therefore it is not Open Source and we cannot use it in Mahara.

[Gregor Anželj (gregor-anzelj)]

I don't quite get it....

Are you saying, that Mahara isn't GPL or that it can be comercially used
(the sentence pasted from licence statement: If your application can't meet
the GPL license or is a commercial one)?

Regards,
Gregor

P.S. How about contacting the author(s)? Do you think it would be a good
idea?

2011/9/7 François Marier <email address hidden>

> While reviewing the license for this library, I found this page:
>
> http://www.pchart.net/license
>
> which claims that it is under the GPLv3 but then adds a contradictory
> statement that say that it's not for commercial use unless you get a
> separate license.
>
> Therefore it is not Open Source and we cannot use it in Mahara.
>
> ** Changed in: mahara
> Status: Triaged => Won't Fix
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/721496
>
> Title:
> Using pChart as framework for rendering graphs in Mahara
>
> Status in Mahara ePortfolio:
> Won't Fix
>
> Bug description:
> As discussed at 4th Developer Meeting - pChart may be a suitable
> framework for rendering graphs in Mahara, e.g. in the admin section.
>
> Available at http://www.pchart.net/
> Documentation (with examples) at http://wiki.pchart.net/
>
> pChart is a PHP framework that will help you to create anti-aliased
> charts or pictures directly from your web server. You can then display
> the result in the client browser, sent it by mail or insert it into
> PDFs.
>
> pChart is released under two licensing models. If your application is
> freely distributed and meet the GPL requirements, you can use pChart
> for free under the the GNU GPLv3 license.
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/mahara/+bug/721496/+subscriptions
>

--
----------
Gregor Anželj, prof.
Gimnazija Ledina, Ljubljana

[François Marier (fmarier)]

I have emailed the authors to see if I resolve the contradiction in their licensing.

[Gregor Anželj (gregor-anzelj)]

Can we use Flot instead of pChart (if we can't resolve the contradiction in their licensing).

Flot is released under MIT License and available at http://code.google.com/p/flot/

From their website:

Flot is a pure Javascript plotting library for jQuery. It produces graphical plots of arbitrary datasets on-the-fly client-side. The focus is on simple usage (all settings are optional), attractive looks and interactive features like zooming and mouse tracking.
The plugin works with Internet Explorer 6+, Firefox 2.x+, Safari 3.0+, Opera 9.5+ and Konqueror 4.x+ with the HTML canvas tag (the excanvas Javascript emulation helper is used for IE < 9).

[Gregor Anželj (gregor-anzelj)]

... or maybe eZ Components - Graph component instead of pChart

eZ Components are released under New BSD License: http://ezcomponents.org/introduction/license

More info about eZ Components - Graph component:
- Documentation at http://ezcomponents.org/docs/tutorials/Graph
- Examples at http://ezcomponents.org/docs/api/trunk/Graph_gallery.html
- Download at http://ezcomponents.org/download

[François Marier (fmarier)]

The license for both Flot and eZ Components are fine.

I would say that eZ Components looks like the best fit here because it generates images so the graphs do not require Javascript to be enabled.

Gregor, do you want to file a new bug suggesting that we use eZ Components as a graphing framework? That way, if I hear back from the pChart author about compatibility with the GPLv3, then I'll be able to change the status on this bug and not interfere with the other one.

[Kristina Hoeppner (kris-hoeppner)]

Gregor had filed bug #853662 for eZ Components.

[Aaron Wells (u-aaronw)]

My personal preference currently, would be JQPlot, because it's used by the Piwik project. http://www.jqplot.com/docs/files/usage-txt.html