File: vendors/chart.js/docs/03-Line-Chart.md

title: Line Chart anchor: line-chart

Introduction

A line chart is a way of plotting data points on a line. Often, it is used to show trend data, and the comparison of two data sets.

<div class="canvas-holder">

<canvas width="250" height="125"></canvas>

</div>

Example Usage

var myLineChart = new Chart(ctx, {
	type: 'line',
	data: data,
	options: options
});

Alternatively a line chart can be created using syntax similar to the v1.0 syntax

var myLineChart = Chart.Line(ctx, {
	data: data,
	options: options
});

Data Structure

The following options can be included in a line chart dataset to configure options for that specific dataset.

All point* properties can be specified as an array. If these are set to an array value, the first value applies to the first point, the second value to the second point, and so on.

Property | Type | Usage --- | --- | --- data | See data point section | The data to plot in a line label | String | The label for the dataset which appears in the legend and tooltips xAxisID | String | The ID of the x axis to plot this dataset on yAxisID | String | The ID of the y axis to plot this dataset on fill | Boolean | If true, fill the area under the line lineTension | Number | Bezier curve tension of the line. Set to 0 to draw straightlines. Note This was renamed from 'tension' but the old name still works. backgroundColor | Color | The fill color under the line. See Colors borderWidth | Number | The width of the line in pixels borderColor | Color | The color of the line. borderCapStyle | String | Cap style of the line. See MDN borderDash | Array<Number> | Length and spacing of dashes. See MDN borderDashOffset | Number | Offset for line dashes. See MDN borderJoinStyle | String | Line joint style. See MDN pointBorderColor | Color or Array<Color> | The border color for points. pointBackgroundColor | Color or Array<Color> | The fill color for points pointBorderWidth | Number or Array<Number> | The width of the point border in pixels pointRadius | Number or Array<Number> | The radius of the point shape. If set to 0, nothing is rendered. pointHoverRadius | Number or Array<Number> | The radius of the point when hovered pointHitRadius | Number or Array<Number> | The pixel size of the non-displayed point that reacts to mouse events pointHoverBackgroundColor | Color or Array<Color> | Point background color when hovered pointHoverBorderColor | Color or Array<Color> | Point border color when hovered pointHoverBorderWidth | Number or Array<Number> | Border width of point when hovered pointStyle | String, Array<String>, Image, Array<Image> | The style of point. Options are 'circle', 'triangle', 'rect', 'rectRot', 'cross', 'crossRot', 'star', 'line', and 'dash'. If the option is an image, that image is drawn on the canvas using drawImage.

An example data object using these attributes is shown below.

var data = {
	labels: ["January", "February", "March", "April", "May", "June", "July"],
	datasets: [
		{
			label: "My First dataset",
			fill: false,
			lineTension: 0.1,
			backgroundColor: "rgba(75,192,192,0.4)",
			borderColor: "rgba(75,192,192,1)",
			borderCapStyle: 'butt',
			borderDash: [],
			borderDashOffset: 0.0,
			borderJoinStyle: 'miter',
			pointBorderColor: "rgba(75,192,192,1)",
			pointBackgroundColor: "#fff",
			pointBorderWidth: 1,
			pointHoverRadius: 5,
			pointHoverBackgroundColor: "rgba(75,192,192,1)",
			pointHoverBorderColor: "rgba(220,220,220,1)",
			pointHoverBorderWidth: 2,
			pointRadius: 1,
			pointHitRadius: 10,
			data: [65, 59, 80, 81, 56, 55, 40],
		}
	]
};

The line chart usually requires an array of labels. This labels are shown on the X axis. There must be one label for each data point. More labels than datapoints are allowed, in which case the line ends at the last data point. The data for line charts is broken up into an array of datasets. Each dataset has a colour for the fill, a colour for the line and colours for the points and strokes of the points. These colours are strings just like CSS. You can use RGBA, RGB, HEX or HSL notation.

The label key on each dataset is optional, and can be used when generating a scale for the chart.

Data Points

The data passed to the chart can be passed in two formats. The most common method is to pass the data array as an array of numbers. In this case, the data.labels array must be specified and must contain a label for each point.

The alternate is used for sparse datasets. Data is specified using an object containing x and y properties. This is used for scatter charts as documented below.

Scatter Line Charts

Scatter line charts can be created by changing the X axis to a linear axis. To use a scatter chart, data must be passed as objects containing X and Y properties. The example below creates a scatter chart with 3 points.

var scatterChart = new Chart(ctx, {
	type: 'line',
	data: {
		datasets: [{
			label: 'Scatter Dataset',
			data: [{
				x: -10,
				y: 0
			}, {
				x: 0,
				y: 10
			}, {
				x: 10,
				y: 5
			}]
		}]
	},
	options: {
		scales: {
			xAxes: [{
				type: 'linear',
				position: 'bottom'
			}]
		}
	}
});

Chart Options

These are the customisation options specific to Line charts. These options are merged with the global chart configuration options, and form the options of the chart.

Name | Type | Default | Description --- | --- | --- | --- showLines | Boolean | true | If false, the lines between points are not drawn

You can override these for your Chart instance by passing a member options into the Line method.

For example, we could have a line chart display without an X axis by doing the following. The config merge is smart enough to handle arrays so that you do not need to specify all axis settings to change one thing.

new Chart(ctx, {
	type: 'line',
	data: data,
	options: {
		scales: {
			xAxes: [{
				display: false
			}]
		}
	}
});

We can also change these defaults values for each Line type that is created, this object is available at Chart.defaults.line.

Stacked Charts

Stacked area charts can be created by setting the Y axis to a stacked configuration. The following example would have stacked lines.

var stackedLine = new Chart(ctx, {
	type: 'line',
	data: data,
	options: {
		scales: {
			yAxes: [{
				stacked: true
			}]
		}
	}
});