Following are descriptions of some popular types of charts you can create using JSCHART format:

• Line charts. Line charts are useful for emphasizing the movement or trend of numeric data over time, since they allow a viewer to trace the evolution of a particular point by working backwards or interpolating. Highs and lows, rapid or slow movement, or a tendency toward stability are all types of trends that are well suited to a line chart.

  Line charts can also be plotted with two or more scales to suggest a comparison of the same value, or set of values, in different time periods. The number of scales your chart has depends on the type of chart you select. For details, see Controlling Chart Type Using LOOKGRAPH.

• Bar charts. A bar or column chart plots numeric data by displaying rectangular blocks against a scale. The length of a bar corresponds to a value or amount. Viewers can develop a clear mental image of comparisons among data series by distinguishing the relative heights of the bars. Use a bar chart to display numeric data when you want to present distributions of data. You can create horizontal as well as vertical bar charts.
• Pie charts. A pie chart emphasizes where your data fits in relation to a larger whole. Keep in mind that pie charts work best when your data consists of several large sets. Too many variables divide the pie into small segments that are difficult to see. Use color or texture on individual segments to create visual contrast.
• Scatter charts. Scatter charts show the relationship between two different numeric measures. Scatter plots give you a sense of trends, concentrations, and outliers that pinpoint where to focus further investigation efforts.
• Area charts. Area charts are similar to line charts except that the area between the data line and the zero line (or axis) is usually colored or textured. Area charts allow you to stack data on top of each other. Stacking allows you to highlight the relationship between data series, showing how some data series approach or shadow a second series.
• 3D charts. 3D charts add dimension to your presentation. Dimensionality allows your viewers to recognize trends based on two or more data sets. 3D charts also add impact to your presentation.
• Polar charts. A polar chart is a circular form of scatter plot in which each point is defined by an angle and distance from the center of the chart.
• Radar charts. A radar chart is a circular form of line or area chart. Radar charts work well with any data that are cyclical, such as the months of a year.
• Stock charts. A stock chart plots the trend or changes in financial instruments over time.
• Bubble charts. A bubble chart is an enhanced scatter plot in which the size of each marker is proportional to the value of a third measure.
• Spectral charts. A spectral chart, also known as a heatmap, is a table in which the color of each cell is dependent on the value in the cell.
• Other charts. Many additional chart types are available with the LOOKGRAPH parameter, including waterfall charts (which are used for understanding how an initial value is affected by a series of intermediate positive or negative values).
• HTML5-specific charts. Some chart types are only available with FORMAT JSCHART. Among these are map charts (both choropleths that use color to differentiate between value groups, and proportional symbol maps that use the size of a bubble as the differentiator), tagclouds (which display a word in a size proportional to its frequency), and treemaps (which display hierarchical data as a set of nested rectangles).

For a complete list of the types of charts you can create and the syntax for generating each type, see Controlling the Chart Type.