Sparkline

Sparklines
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Sparklines used inline are typically about the same height as the text around them.

A sparkline is a type of information graphic characterized by its small size and high data density. Sparklines present trends and variations associated with some measurement, such as average temperature or stock market activity, in a simple and condensed way. Several sparklines are often used together as elements of a small multiple.

The term sparkline was proposed by Edward Tufte for "small, high resolution graphics embedded in a context of words, numbers, images".[1] Tufte describes sparklines as "data-intense, design-simple, word-sized graphics".[2] Whereas the typical chart is designed to show as much data as possible, and is set off from the flow of text (as in the following diagram), sparklines are intended to be succinct, memorable, and located where they are discussed.

Contents

Microsoft patent application

On May 7, 2008, Microsoft employees filed a patent application for the implementation of sparklines in Microsoft Excel 2010. The application was published on November 12, 2009,[3] prompting Edward Tufte, the acknowledged inventor of the graphic,[4] to express concern.[5]

Use in software

There are several libraries that support sparklines, among them Sparkline PHP Graphing Library[6] and JFreeChart[7] [8].

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0001OR&topic_id=1
  2. ^ Edward Tufte (2006). Beautiful Evidence. Graphics Press. ISBN 0961392177. 
  3. ^ "Sparklines in the grid". 2009-11-12. http://www.freepatentsonline.com/y2009/0282325.html. Retrieved 2009-11-19. 
  4. ^ "Sparklines in Excel". 2009-07-17. http://blogs.msdn.com/excel/archive/2009/07/17/sparklines-in-excel.aspx. Retrieved 2009-11-20. 
  5. ^ "Microsoft makes patent claim for Sparklines". 2009-11-19. http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0003Y1&topic_id=1. Retrieved 2009-11-19. 
  6. ^ "Sparkline.org". 2005-06-02. http://sparkline.org/. Retrieved 2011-04-15. 
  7. ^ "JFreeChart's website". 2009-04-20. http://www.jfree.org/jfreechart/. Retrieved 2011-04-15. 
  8. ^ "Creating Sparklines with JFreeChart". 2007-01-15. http://left.subtree.org/2007/01/15/creating-sparklines-with-jfreechart/. Retrieved 2011-04-15.