Get most out of your Charts in APEX

Who doesn't love charts? I still have to see these persons... in fact I know some developers who got a salary raise because they made the life of their manager easy by including some nice charts in their APEX applications! So read on and get your salary raise in the next months!

APEX 3.0 included already charts way back in 2007, but with the APEX 4.0 release, the charts are taken to another level. Behind the scenes the APEX Development team included the AnyChart 5 engine where before (in APEX 3.x) they used the AnyChart 3 engine.
In APEX 4.0, charts are just on another level! You get so many more options declarative (through the APEX screens) and they look so much nicer. The APEX-team did a really good job. They also allow you to extend the charts for any other feature that is not available declarative by customizing the XML (in Chart Attributes set Use Custom XML to Yes).

If you wonder what the new AnyChart 5 charting engine can do, have a look at the Chart Gallery.
If you are searching for example how to implement these and see some of them in action in APEX, you can have a look at Hilary Farrell examples page. She explains nicely all the steps you have to do to implement a certain feature. You can also have a look for other examples on the AnyChart for APEX website.

If that is not enough to get your salary raise... you definitely want to have a look at all the other chart types AnyChart 5 provides! Oracle didn't license all the chart types in APEX, so although you might be able to change the XML so it uses a different type, it's not licensed correctly.
That is why APEX Evangelists and AnyChart worked together on AnyChart for APEX, which provides you with a valid license to use any chart type you want. There are now two versions available: AnyChart for APEX 3.x and AnyChart for APEX 4.0. The last one includes some plugins to make your life even easier! E.g. it comes with a Bubble Chart plugin so you can include that chart type very easily. You can download a free trial on the APEX Evangelists website once you are logged in.


Another great product from AnyChart is AnyStock. Also for this new charting engine we worked together with AnyChart to create an AnyStock for APEX product. If you want to do Time-based or Financial-based charting, you definitely want to have a look at the demo. Also for this product we offer a free trial on the APEX Evangelists website under Solutions > AnyStock for APEX.


So start making use from the charting capability in APEX or you might already do, so then you can enhance it even nicer ... and if you get that raise, put a comment on this blog post!