Using Data Loader plugin to load external data in CSV or JSON formats

Description

By default all amCharts libraries accept data in JSON format. It needs to be there when the web page loads, defined in-line or loaded via custom code.

This plugin introduces a native wrapper that enables automatic loading of data from external data data sources in CSV and JSON formats.

Most of the times you will just need to provide a URL of the external data source - static file or dynamically generated - and it will do the rest.

Important notice

Due to security measures implemented in most of the browsers, the external data loader will work only when the page with the chart or map is loaded via web server.

So, any of the examples loaded locally (file:///) will not work.

The page needs to be loaded via web server (http://) in order to work properly.

Loading data from another domain than the web page is loaded is possible but is a subject for Access-Control-Allow-Origin policies defined by the web server you are loading data from.

For more about loading data across domains use the following thread:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1653308/access-control-allow-origin-multiple-origin-domains

Usage

1) Include the minified version of file of this plugin. I.e.:

<script src="amcharts/plugins/dataloader/dataloader.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>

(this needs to go after all the other amCharts includes)

2) Add data source properties to your chart configuration.

Regular (Serial, Pie, etc.) charts:

AmCharts.makeChart( "chartdiv", {
  ...,
  "dataLoader": {
    "url": "data.json",
    "format": "json"
  }
} );

Stock chart:

AmCharts.makeChart( "chartdiv", {
  ...,
  "dataSets": [{
    ...,
    "dataLoader": {
      "url": "data.csv"
      "format": "csv",
      "delimiter": ",",       // column separator
      "useColumnNames": true, // use first row for column names
      "skip": 1               // skip header row
    }
  }]
} );

That's it. The plugin will make sure the files are loaded and dataProvider is populated with their content before the chart is built.

Some formats, like CSV, will require additional parameters needed to parse the data, such as "separator".

If the "format" is omitted, the plugin will assume JSON.

IMPORTANT NOTE: for date-based data, the chart always expects the data points to come in ordered in ascending order. Having it any other way may and probably will result in visual anomalies.

Complete list of available dataLoader settings

Property	Default	Description
async	true	If set to false (not recommended) everything will wait until data is fully loaded
complete		Callback function to execute when loader is done
delimiter	,	[CSV only] a delimiter for columns (use t for tab delimiters)
error		Callback function to execute if file load fails
format	json	Type of data: json, csv
load		Callback function to execute when file is successfully loaded (might be invoked multiple times)
noStyles	false	If set to true no styles will be applied to "Data loading" curtain
postProcess		If set to function reference, that function will be called to "post-process" loaded data before passing it on to chart
showErrors	true	Show loading errors in a chart curtain
showCurtain	true	Show curtain over the chart area when loading data
reload	0	Reload data every X seconds
reverse	false	[CSV only] add data points in revers order
skip	0	[CSV only] skip X first rows in data (includes first row if useColumnNames is used)
timestamp	false	Add current timestamp to data URLs (to avoid caching)
useColumnNames	false	[CSV only] Use first row in data as column names when parsing

Using in JavaScript Stock Chart

In JavaScript Stock Chart it works exactly the same as in other chart types, with the exception that dataLoader is set as a property to the data set definition. I.e.:

var chart = AmCharts.makeChart("chartdiv", {
  "type": "stock",
  ...
  "dataSets": [{
    "title": "MSFT",
      "fieldMappings": [{
        "fromField": "Open",
        "toField": "open"
      }, {
        "fromField": "High",
        "toField": "high"
      }, {
        "fromField": "Low",
        "toField": "low"
      }, {
        "fromField": "Close",
        "toField": "close"
      }, {
        "fromField": "Volume",
        "toField": "volume"
      }],
      "compared": false,
      "categoryField": "Date",
      "dataLoader": {
        "url": "data/MSFT.csv",
        "format": "csv",
        "showCurtain": true,
        "showErrors": true,
        "async": true,
        "reverse": true,
        "delimiter": ",",
        "useColumnNames": true
      }
    }
  }]
});

Can I also load event data the same way?

Sure. You just add a eventDataLoader object to your data set. All the same settings apply.

Translating into other languages

Depending on configuration options the plugin will display a small number of text prompts, like 'Data loading...'.

Plugin will try matching chart's language property and display text prompts in a corresponding language. For that the plugin needs to have the translations.

Some of the plugin translations are in lang subdirectory. Simply include the one you need.

If there is no translation to your language readily available, just grab en.js, copy it and translate.

The structure is simple:

'The phrase in English': 'Translation'

The phrase in English must be left intact.

When you're done, you can include your language as a JavaScript file.

P.S. send us your translation so we can include it for the benefits of other users. Thanks!

Requirements

This plugin requires at least 3.13 version of JavaScript Charts, JavaScript Stock Chart or JavaScript Maps.