ChartType(3pm)

📦 version 2.1.1, in arch rolling

💅 ChartType(3pm) — Lire::ChartType, bestie edition

okay so real talk, this is a page from LogReport's Lire Documentation and it's literally the blueprint page — the base interface vibe that every other chart type copies. iykyk 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

Lire::ChartType — the Base interface for all ChartType. she's the blueprint, the moment, the main character of chart interfaces 💖

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

use base qw/ Lire::ChartType /;

that's it. that's the whole flex. 🫶

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So this package defines the interface that every single different chart Lire can produce has to implement — and Lire makes those charts using the ploticus pl(1) command. no cap, that's the whole setup ✨

And what does a chart type actually do? A chart type will generate a chart using data from a subreport. that's the assignment, that's the job, periodt 💅

👑 META INFORMATION METHODS 👑

okay so the Lire::ChartType interface extends the Lire::Plugin interface, which means subclasses must implement all the standard meta-information methods — name(), title(), description(). all three, no skipping, no shortcuts 🔥

🧚 GENERATING A CHART 🧚

⭐ write_chart( $chart_config, $subreport, [ %params ] )

This will write a chart from the data contained in the Lire::Report::Subreport $subreport using the configuration $chart_config. Extra parameters get passed in 'key' => $value form. The $chart_config parameters should be a Lire::Config::Dictionary object instantiated from a Lire::Config::ChartSpec. iconic behavior tbh 💜

outputdir

  • Directory where the file will be created. Uses the working directory by default. 📁

format

  • One of eps, png, jpeg or gif. Defaults to the configuration variable lr_image_format. 🎨

The function returns the path to the created file. The filename is generated based on the 'name' configuration value — or the subreport's id if the other one isn't defined. Then the extension gets added based on the output format. slay 💅

It returns the file where the chart was written. yes, again. she said it twice. it's that important 🫶

⭐ prefab()

This method must be implemented by the subclass, and it should return a string representing the first parameters to pass to ploticus. that's either -prefab name or the path to a script file. pick your fighter ⚔️

⭐ write_parameters( $chart_config, $fh )

This method is used to write parameters to the ploticus file handle. This is THE place to use the #set command to set all of the prefab's parameters. Subclasses must chain to this implementation for the standard chart parameters. 👑

It also writes '#set name' directives for each of the numerical variables defined by get_vars(). every single one, we don't leave anyone out 💖

⭐ write_data( $chart_config, $subreport, $fh )

This method is used by the write_chart() implementation to write the chart data from $subreport to the Ploticus command opened on $fh. It uses the get_vars() method to obtain the numerical variables that should be written to the stream, and the encode_value() method to marshal values before writing them. ✨

⚠️ okay this part is important bestie: before any data is written to $fh, the maximum value on the Y axis is determined and output as a ploticus setting. why? because ploticus fails if this is not set (specifically: a single bar is drawn and the value is greater than 1.1e9). so like... set it. please. 😭

⭐ get_vars( $chart_config )

This method should be overridden by subclasses to return an array reference containing the Lire::Report::ColumnInfo specifying the numerical columns of data that should be written. This is usually specified using a ReferenceSpec with the 'numerical_variables' index. 🌈

And heads up: these variables will start at the ploticus index 2 (@2). not 1. 2. don't come for me, that's just how it is 🫶

⭐ encode_value( $value )

By default, this method just returns the 'content' component of the item when the $value is a name, and the 'value' component otherwise. It can be used for data types that need special encoding (like datetime). ⏰💜

🌟 SEE ALSO 🌟

go read those too, bestie, the lore is deep 📚✨

💌 AUTHOR 💌

Francis J. Lacoste <flacoste@logreport.org> — legend behavior 👑

🎀 VERSION 🎀

$Id: ChartType.pm,v 1.17 2006/07/29 18:01:14 vanbaal Exp $

Copyright (C) 2004 Stichting LogReport Foundation LogReport@LogReport.org

This file is part of Lire. 💖

Lire is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. 🫶

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program (see COPYING); if not, check with http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html.

💀 also the manual page says it's Lire 2.1.1 and dated 2025-09-28

and that's the page!! mwah 💋 go write a chart type, bestie — Lire 2.1.1, dated 2025-09-28, signing off 🦋✨🎀

📦 where this page comes from