# graphing - best approach? (Google Chart API, Flash, RMagick...?) **URL:** \ **Category:** rubyonrails-talk\ **Created:** [April 22, 2008, 8:30pm UTC](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/t/graphing-best-approach-google-chart-api-flash-rmagick/28403 "2008-04-22T20:30:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Greg\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f475e1/32.png) [@Greg\_H](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/u/Greg_H)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 8:30pm UTC](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/t/graphing-best-approach-google-chart-api-flash-rmagick/28403/1 "2008-04-22T20:30:10Z")
Hi, I want to include some graphs in my RoR application. Any recommendation re where I should jump. I’ve already gone through an RMagick installation for other purposes. Want it to be relatively straight forward, but also want the graphs to have a high level of finishing. Possible options? - Google Chart API - [http://code.google.com/apis/chart/](http://code.google.com/apis/chart/) - Rails Gruff - [http://code.google.com/apis/chart/](http://code.google.com/apis/chart/) (RMagick based / plugin) - Flash based approach perhaps: What approach do you recommend for a RoR developer? Tks ---
**Author:** ![Stedwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Stedwick](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/u/Stedwick)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 8:42pm UTC](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/t/graphing-best-approach-google-chart-api-flash-rmagick/28403/2 "2008-04-22T20:42:19Z")
I would like to give my vote up for the Google charts API. It's pretty simple and it's really fast. I use it for this site: [http://brocoum.com/voter/](http://brocoum.com/voter/) ---
**Author:** ![Philip\_Hallstrom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Philip\_Hallstrom](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/u/Philip_Hallstrom)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 8:43pm UTC](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/t/graphing-best-approach-google-chart-api-flash-rmagick/28403/3 "2008-04-22T20:43:24Z")
> Hi, I want to include some graphs in my RoR application. Any recommendation re where I should jump. I've already gone through an RMagick installation for other purposes. Want it to be relatively straight forward, but also want the graphs to have a high level of finishing. > > Possible options? \* Google Chart API - [http://code.google.com/apis/chart/](http://code.google.com/apis/chart/) \* Rails Gruff - [http://code.google.com/apis/chart/](http://code.google.com/apis/chart/) (RMagick based / plugin) \* Flash based approach perhaps: - [Open Flash Chart – Teeth Grinder UK](http://teethgrinder.co.uk/open-flash-chart/) - [http://www.fusioncharts.com/](http://www.fusioncharts.com/) [costs $$] I just used the open-flash-chart for some work. It went pretty well. The library is a little confusing to use at first... seems a pretty straight port of the PHP library, not as "ruby-ish", but it did what I needed it to do and looks nice. Didn't look at google's charting as it wasn't an option for business reasons... I thought I'd read some where that gruff wasn't being updated. Maybe that was scruffy though. I don't really remember... -p ---
**Author:** ![Craig\_White1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Craig\_White1](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/u/Craig_White1)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 8:52pm UTC](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/t/graphing-best-approach-google-chart-api-flash-rmagick/28403/4 "2008-04-22T20:52:35Z")
> \> Hi, \> I want to include some graphs in my RoR application. Any recommendation re \> where I should jump. I've already gone through an RMagick installation for \> other purposes. Want it to be relatively straight forward, but also want \> the graphs to have a high level of finishing. \> \> Possible options? \> \* Google Chart API - [http://code.google.com/apis/chart/](http://code.google.com/apis/chart/) \> \* Rails Gruff - [http://code.google.com/apis/chart/](http://code.google.com/apis/chart/) (RMagick based / \> plugin) \> \* Flash based approach perhaps: \> - [Open Flash Chart – Teeth Grinder UK](http://teethgrinder.co.uk/open-flash-chart/) \> - [http://www.fusioncharts.com/](http://www.fusioncharts.com/) [costs $$] > > I just used the open-flash-chart for some work. It went pretty well. The library is a little confusing to use at first... seems a pretty straight port of the PHP library, not as "ruby-ish", but it did what I needed it to do and looks nice. > > Didn't look at google's charting as it wasn't an option for business reasons... > > I thought I'd read some where that gruff wasn't being updated. Maybe that was scruffy though. I don't really remember... ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f475e1/32.png) [@Greg\_H](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/u/Greg_H)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 9:44pm UTC](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/t/graphing-best-approach-google-chart-api-flash-rmagick/28403/5 "2008-04-22T21:44:18Z")
just found a rails plugin for the Goggle API. [http://agilewebdevelopment.com/plugins/gc4r](http://agilewebdevelopment.com/plugins/gc4r) Anyone used it? Looks good. ---
**Author:** ![ncancelliere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9f8e36/32.png) [@ncancelliere](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/u/ncancelliere)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 11:22pm UTC](https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/t/graphing-best-approach-google-chart-api-flash-rmagick/28403/6 "2008-04-22T23:22:11Z")
I personally like Gruff, then Google Chart API ... in that order. If you already have RMagick then I'd go with Gruff. My two cents. Nicholas