How can I create a Google Chart using PHP, MySQL, and JSON?

PHP MySQL Google Chart JSON - Complete Example

As the technology landscape evolves, the ability to visualize data becomes increasingly critical. One powerful tool for data visualization is Google Chart. It enables developers to create a variety of charts, including pie charts, bar charts, and line charts. However, integrating Google Chart with MySQL data sources can pose challenges, particularly when using PHP as the programming language.

This article provides a comprehensive solution for generating Google Charts using PHP and MySQL. We will cover multiple examples illustrating the use of different PHP data access methods:

Example 1: PHP-MySQL-JSON-Google Chart (Non-Ajax)

Usage:

1. Create a MySQL database named "chart."
2. Create a table named "googlechart" with two columns: "weekly_task" and "percentage."
3. Insert example data into the table, ensuring that the "percentage" column contains only numeric values.

Code:

$con = mysql_connect("localhost", "Username", "Password") or die("Failed to connect with database!!!!");
mysql_select_db("Database Name", $con); 
// The Chart table contains two fields: weekly_task and percentage
// This example will display a pie chart. If you need other charts such as a Bar chart, you will need to modify the code a little to make it work with bar chart and other charts
$sth = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM chart");

/*
---------------------------
example data: Table (Chart)
--------------------------
weekly_task     percentage
Sleep           30
Watching Movie  40
work            44
*/

//flag is not needed
$flag = true;
$table = array();
$table['cols'] = array(

    // Labels for your chart, these represent the column titles
    // Note that one column is in "string" format and another one is in "number" format as pie chart only required "numbers" for calculating percentage and string will be used for column title
    array('label' => 'Weekly Task', 'type' => 'string'),
    array('label' => 'Percentage', 'type' => 'number')

);

$rows = array();
while($r = mysql_fetch_assoc($sth)) {
    $temp = array();
    // The following line will be used to slice the Pie chart
    $temp[] = array('v' => (string) $r['Weekly_task']); 

    // Values of each slice
    $temp[] = array('v' => (int) $r['percentage']); 
    $rows[] = array('c' => $temp);
}

$table['rows'] = $rows;
$jsonTable = json_encode($table);
//echo $jsonTable;
?>


  
  <!--Load the Ajax API-->
    <script type="text/javascript" src="https://www.google.com/jsapi"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.8.2/jquery.min.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript">

    // Load the Visualization API and the piechart package.
    google.load('visualization', '1', {'packages':['corechart']});

    // Set a callback to run when the Google Visualization API is loaded.
    google.setOnLoadCallback(drawChart);

    function drawChart() {

      // Create our data table out of JSON data loaded from server.
      var data = new google.visualization.DataTable(<?=$jsonTable?>);
      var options = {
           title: 'My Weekly Plan',
          is3D: 'true',
          width: 800,
          height: 600
        };
      // Instantiate and draw our chart, passing in some options.
      // Do not forget to check your div ID
      var chart = new google.visualization.PieChart(document.getElementById('chart_div'));
      chart.draw(data, options);
    }
    </script>
  

  
    <!--this is the div that will hold the pie chart-->
    <div>
<p><strong>Example 2: PHP-PDO-JSON-MySQL-Google Chart</strong></p>
<p>This example uses PHP Data Objects (PDO) to connect to the database, providing greater flexibility and security.</p>
<p><strong>Code:</strong></p>
<pre class="brush:php;toolbar:false">/*
... (code) ...
*/

try {
    /* Establish the database connection */
    $conn = new PDO("mysql:host=localhost;dbname=$dbname", $username, $password);
    $conn->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION);

    /* Select all the weekly tasks from the table googlechart */
    $result = $conn->query('SELECT * FROM googlechart');

    /*
        ---------------------------
        example data: Table (googlechart)
        --------------------------
        weekly_task     percentage
        Sleep           30
        Watching Movie  10
        job             40
        Exercise        20     


    */


    $rows = array();
    $table = array();
    $table['cols'] = array(

        // Labels for your chart, these represent the column titles.
        /* 
            Note that one column is in "string" format and another one is in "number" format 
            as pie chart only required "numbers" for calculating percentage 
            and string will be used for Slice title
        */

        array('label' => 'Weekly Task', 'type' => 'string'),
        array('label' => 'Percentage', 'type' => 'number')

    );

    /* Extract the information from $result */
    foreach($result as $r) {

        $temp = array();

        // The following line will be used to slice the Pie chart

        $temp[] = array('v' => (string) $r['weekly_task']); 

        // Values of each slice

        $temp[] = array('v' => (int) $r['percentage']); 
        $rows[] = array('c' => $temp);
    }

    $table['rows'] = $rows;

    // convert data into JSON format
    $jsonTable = json_encode($table);
    //echo $jsonTable;
} catch(PDOException $e) {
    echo 'ERROR: ' . $e->getMessage();
}

?>

Example 3: PHP-MySQLi-JSON-Google Chart

This example utilizes MySQLi, an improved version of the MySQL extension, for database interaction.

/*
... (code) ...
*/

/* Establish the database connection */
$mysqli = new mysqli($DB_HOST, $DB_USER, $DB_PASS, $DB_NAME);

if (mysqli_connect_errno()) {
    printf("Connect failed: %s\n", mysqli_connect_error());
    exit();
}

/* Select all the weekly tasks from the table googlechart */
$result = $mysqli->query('SELECT * FROM googlechart');

/*
    ---------------------------
    example data: Table (googlechart)
    --------------------------
    Weekly_Task     percentage
    Sleep           30
    Watching Movie  10
    job             40
    Exercise        20     
*/


$rows = array();
$table = array();
$table['cols'] = array(

    // Labels for your chart, these represent the column titles.
    /* 
        Note that one column is in "string" format and another one is in "number" format 
        as pie chart only required "numbers" for calculating percentage 
        and string will be used for Slice title
    */

    array('label' => 'Weekly Task', 'type' => 'string'),
    array('label' => 'Percentage', 'type' => 'number')

);

/* Extract the information from $result */
foreach($result as $r) {

    $temp = array();

    // The following line will be used to slice the Pie chart

    $temp[] = array('v' => (string) $r['weekly_task']); 

    // Values of the each slice

    $temp[] = array('v' => (int) $r['percentage']); 
    $rows[] = array('c' => $temp);
}

$table['rows'] = $rows;

// convert data into JSON format
$jsonTable = json_encode($table);
//echo $jsonTable;