Introduction
In this article, we will see in detail how to draw our own bar chart for ASP.NET Core Blazor Web Application using HTML5 Canvas Blazor Extensions.
If you are new to ASP.NET Core Blazor means then check my article https://www.codeproject.com/Articles/5253709/All-you-need-to-know-on-Blazor-app-and-create-ASP
Here, I have planned to write a series of articles. In each article, I will explain in detail about how to draw your own chart for ASP.NET Core Blazor Web Application using HTML5 Canvas Blazor Extensions.
In this series, we will see one by one in detail starting from:
- Dynamic Bar Chart using Blazor Canvas Extensions
- Dynamic Line Chart using Blazor Canvas Extensions
- Dynamic Bar & Line Chart using Blazor Canvas Extensions
- Dynamic Bubble Chart using Blazor Canvas Extensions
Background
Using the Code
Step 1: Create ASP.NET Core Blazor Server Application
After installing all the prerequisites listed above, click Start >> Programs >> Visual Studio 2019 >> Visual Studio 2019 on your desktop. Click New >> Project.
Select Blazor App and click Next button.
Select your project folder and enter your Project name and then click Create button.
Select Blazor Server App.
After creating ASP.NET Core Blazor Server Application, wait for a few seconds. You will see the below structure in solution explorer.
In the Data folder, we can add all our Models, DBContext Class, Services and Controller, we will see that in this article.
In the Pages folder, we can add all our component files.component file, all should have the .razor extension with the file name.
In the Shared folder, we can add all left menu form NavMenu.razor files and change the main content from the MainLayout.razor file.
In the _Imports.razor file, we can see all set of imports have been added in order to use in all component pages.
In the App.razor file, we will add our main component to be displayed by default when run in browser.Appsertings.json can be used to add the connection string.
Startup.cs file is an important file where we add all our endpoints example like Controller end points, HTTP Client, add services and dbcontext to be used in startup Configuration method.
Run to Test the Application
When we run the application, we can see that the left side has navigation and the right side contains the data. We can see as the default sample pages and menus will be displayed in our Blazor web site. We can use the pages or remove it and start with our own page.
Step 2: Install the Packages
To use the Blazor Canvas Extension in our Blazor Application, we need to install the below packages:
Right click the solution and click on the Manage Nuget package. Search for all the packages and install all the needed packages like the below image:
After installing the package, we can confirm it from Dependencies Packages.
Note: Add the blazor.extensions.canvas.js file.
Open the _Host.cshtml file and add the below code inside the head tag.
<script src="_content/Blazor.Extensions.Canvas/blazor.extensions.canvas.js"></script>
Step 3: Create Model Class
Next, we need to create the Model class for using in our application for binding the Item name and Item count in the Bar Chart.
Right click the Data folder and create new class file as “ItemMaster.cs”.
In the class, we add the property field name that is the same as the code below:
public String ItemName { get; set; }
public int SaleCount { get; set; }
Creating Service Class
Next, we create the ItemMasterService class in order to bind the result in chart with sample Item details with the Item Name and Sale Count per each item. For this, we right click on the Data folder and click on Add New Item to add our ItemMasterService class.
In this class, we create a method to get the ItemMaster details with sample 5 records of Items with item Name and Sale count per item as random values.
public class ItemMasterService
{
public Task<ItemMaster[]> GetItemMasters()
{
var rng = new Random();
int ivale = 0;
return Task.FromResult(Enumerable.Range(1, 5).Select(index => new ItemMaster
{
ItemName = "itm" + rng.Next(1, 100),
SaleCount = rng.Next(20, 100),
}).ToArray());
}
}
Step 4: Add the Service to the Startup.cs
We need to add the services created by us to the Startup.cs ConfigureServices method.
services.AddSingleton<ItemMasterService>();
Step 5: Working with Client Project
First, we need to add the Razor Component page.
Add Razor Component
To add the Razor Component page, right click the Pages folder from the Client project. Click on Add >> New Item >> Select Razor Component >> Enter your component name. Here, we have given the name as DrawingSample.razor.
Note all the component files need to have the extensions as .razor.
In Razor Component Page, we have three parts of code as first is the Import part where we import all the references and models for using in the component, HTML design and data bind part and finally, we have the function part to call all the web APIs to bind in our HTML page and also to perform client-side business logic to be displayed in Component page.
Import Part
First, we import all the needed support files and references in our Razor View page. Here, we have first imported our Model class to be used in our view and also imported Blazor Canvas Extension for drawing our own chart control for Blazor applications.
@page "/drawingsample"
@using Blazor.Extensions.Canvas
@using Blazor.Extensions;
@using Blazor.Extensions.Canvas.Canvas2D;
@using ClazorCharts.Data
@inject ItemMasterService MasterService
HTML Design and Data Bind Part
Next, we design our DrawingSample details page to display the Bar Chart with item name and Sales count per item. Here, we have added the Blazor Extension HTML5 canvas in our Blazor HTML design part for drawing the bar chart.
<h3>Shanu - Draw Bar Chart using Blazor Canvas Extensions</h3>
<hr />
<BECanvas Width="500" Height="500" @ref="_canvasReference"></BECanvas>
Function Part
Function part to get the Service result and bind the result in array and to draw and plot the values for displaying the bar chart.
Here, first we declare the ItemsArray to bind the result of Item Master in BarChart.
Next we create a string array as pirChartColor to draw each bar with different color from the array.
In OnInitializedAsync, we get the ItemMasterService result and bind the result in the ItemsArrys.
In OnAfterRenderAsync method, we draw the Bar Chart using C# draw objects to the Canvas.
@code {
private Canvas2DContext _context;
protected BECanvasComponent _canvasReference;
ItemMaster[] itemsArrys;
private static readonly string[] pirChartColor = new[]
{
"#3090C7", "#BDEDFF", "#F9B7FF", "#736AFF", "#78C7C7",
"#B048B5", "#4E387E","#7FFFD4", "#3EA99F", "#EBF4FA", "#F9B7FF", "#8BB381",
};
protected override async Task OnInitializedAsync()
{
itemsArrys = await MasterService.GetItemMasters();
}
protected override async Task OnAfterRenderAsync(bool firstRender)
{
int lastend = 0;
int xSpace = 10;
int XvalPosition = xSpace;
int maxDataVal = itemsArrys.Max(row => row.SaleCount);
int widthcalculation =
(Convert.ToInt32(_canvasReference.Width) - 100) / itemsArrys.Length;
int chartHeight = Convert.ToInt32(_canvasReference.Height) - 40;
this._context = await this._canvasReference.CreateCanvas2DAsync();
int colorval = 0;
// Draw the axises
await this._context.BeginPathAsync();
await this._context.MoveToAsync(xSpace, xSpace);
// first Draw Y Axis
await this._context.LineToAsync(xSpace, chartHeight);
// Next draw the X-Axis
}
}
}
Navigation Menu
Now we need to add this newly added DrawingSample Razor page to our left Navigation. For adding this, open the Shared Folder and open the NavMenu.cshtml page and add the menu.
<li class="nav-item px-3">
<NavLink class="nav-link" href="DrawingSample">
<span class="oi oi-list-rich" aria-hidden="true"></span> Bar Chart
</NavLink>
</li>
Build and Run the Application
Points of Interest
In this sample, we have used the simple method to display the barchart within 0 to 100 range values. In order to use for any scale, we can find the ratio of each bar and draw the chart. Also, we can extend this chart to draw the Legend and other details. As this is our own Chart, we can add any functions as per our requirements.
History
- 3rd January, 2020: BlazorChartSrc.zip
