Create Excel chart programmatically in PHP

Question

Do you have any idea on how to create a chart in an Excel sheet programmatically from PHP ?

I know you can invoke the Excel COM object, but the server is running on

Answer 1

I think it's not a bad idea to use PHPs GD library like these

WS Charts

Bar graph tutorial

or JpGraph, I'm not sure of the internals but there is free PHP5 and PHP4 versions available

Answer 2

I don't believe that using Excel is the best way of generating a chart. Typically, with ASP.net, you would either write your own chart rendering, or you would use an external component to do this (liberal definition).

My suggestions:

1. Pipe the data into gnuplot, customize it and grab the output
2. Get a third party widget to send the data into and handle the user interaction (Highly recommended)
3. Write your own chartting control (free from licensing issues, but not worth the annoyances unless you really like doing graphics your self)

Answer 3

Give Google Charts API a go.

Aonther option you could look at is RRD tool, see here

HTH

Answer 4

Google Charts is a nice idea. I would use built-in PHP draw functions to generate a chart, though.