Varying column number in dataset

Hi all,

I want to build a chart, using a XML dataset whose column number can vary (I guess the problem would be the same with a SQL query result).
Each column is used to display a line on the chart.
Is it possible for BIRT to handle such a dataset ?

thanks for help

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mwilliams

Hi Patrice,

Can you please explain this further? I don't think I'm fully understanding the issue. Thanks!

Patrice

Hi Michael,

I want to create a chart with several series, each displayed as a line chart, but the number of series is only known at runtime. My XML dataset looks like this :

<xValue>
<yValue>1</yValue>
<yValue>2</yValue>
<yValue>3</yValue>
<xValue>
<xValue>
<yValue>4</yValue>
<yValue>5</yValue>
<yValue>6</yValue>
<xValue>

Each <xValue> contains all the datpoint for a given x but the number of points for each X is unknown before the dataset is received, therefore I want BIRT to be able to display as many line charts as there are <yValue> in each <xValue>.

mwilliams

Patrice,

So, your actual data will look like the following in your dataSet?

X Value Y Value(YSeries#)

X1 Y1
X1 Y2
X1 Y3
X2 Y1
X2 Y2
X2 Y3
etc. etc.

If so, you could create a computed column to count the series. Pseudo code would be the following:

if(x is same as last x){
increment series counter;
output series counter;
}
else{
reset series counter;
output series counter;
}

This should give you:

X Value Y Value Series

X1 Y1 1
X1 Y2 2
X1 Y3 3
X2 Y1 1
X2 Y2 2
X2 Y3 3
etc. etc. etc.

You can then create your line chart with X Value as the X Category, Y Value as the Y Category, and use optional Y Series grouping of Series to separate the series in the chart. If I'm understanding your data correctly, something like this should work. Let me know if I'm way off.

Patrice

Michael,

Actually, my dataset, after being parsed by BIRT, looks like this :

x1 y1 y2 y3...
x2 y1 y2 y3...

and I'd like BIRT to be able to count the number of Y for each X and dynamically create new series if necessary.
A acceptable way to achieve this would be to declare more series than needed and tell BIRT to disable series for which no data were found in dataset at runtime.

mwilliams

Patrice,

Oops, I goofed on the XML. Should have done more than glance I guess. I'll have to look at it the right way and see if I can figure something out. I'll let you know if I do. Good luck!

Patrice

Thanks for your help Michael.

Patrice