RAD Studio, C++ Builder has a free VCL chart component which is called TeeChart standard, and FMX version which is called TeeChart Lite that comes with the RAD Studio officially, including RAD Studio 10.4.x and 11. x versions. For more professional applications, there is TeeChart Pro by Steema has an affordable 2021 pricing list on these options. TeeChart Pro charting component library offers hundreds of Graph styles in 2D and 3D for data visualization, 56 mathematical, statistical, and financial functions for you to choose from together with an unlimited number of axes and 30 Palette components. In addition to TeeChart, Steema company also has TeeGrid and TeeSuite products for the VCL and FMX applications. Please visit their official Steema web page for more details.
In this post, you’ll get answers to these questions:
- What is TeeChart?
- How can I use TeeChart component in VCL applications?
- How can I install TeeChart?
By learning how to make visually stunning windows charts in c++, it will help you to easily build VCL Charts on C++ applications with the use of a C++ IDE.
TeeChart is the easiest component to visualize your data. You can create your data directly or you can use Data Components like FireDAC, MyDAC components and you can use them with LiveBindings. These options allow you to create professional and visually stunning charts for your applications. They are really great to show all details in Windows applications and they are scalable with the size of your window. There are a lot of options in the free VCL version. You can change background color, fonts, titles, and more…
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How to install a powerful free charting component for C++?
If you are developing a VCL application in RAD Studio, C++ Builder or Delphi, there is a free TeeChart that is officially supported by Embarcadero. To use this component, In RAD Studio, go to Tools->Manage Platforms… menu, and choose Additional Options, there TeeChart Standard must be checked as below, if not check it and Apply.
How do I use TChart in a C++ Builder VCL application?
- Create a New C++ Builder VCL Windows Application in RAD Studio
- Goto Palette window, there is TChart component to visualize many kind of chart graphics. Drag it on to form, or If you have a specific area like a panel, rectangle or a tab drag it on to this area. You can Align it by selecting Align->Client selection, you can also set its margins.
- Double click to TChart to create your own Chart.
4. This is the main window to choose Chart Display and to create Series. On the left side you will see categories that you can edit. Let’s add Series in Series category by clicking to “Add…” button.
In out example we use TeeChart Std component that comes with the latest RAD Studio 11. There might be some visual and optional changes if you are using previous versions. You will see a lot of graphical display options Series tab. We can enhance graphical display by using Smooth checked and Style option like Metro etc. While this is a standard version (not a Pro version).
What sort of chart styling options are available in TeeChart?
There are a lot of Style options that you can use.
You can check Functions tab,
Does TeeChart support chart templates?
There is specific Templates tab:,
5. Let’s choose Bar Series, to display bar series. I highly recommend you check Smooth option, and use a compatible graphics with your style (i.e we choose here Metro style) on the form. Pres OK.
It will automatically create a basic bar series with a random data for you. Now If you go to Chart->Data section on the left bar, you will you can add texts to these bars and you can change the values. You can also add values by using down arrow at the end and you can delete rows by using ctrl+del
6. Add month names in your language, change some data or add more and press Close. Now you will this custom chart is displayed on design form.
7. Now we can compile and run the application by pressing F9 to see it on runtime.
On run time, you will see that graphics interacts with mouse movements and you can zoom by drawing rectangles inside. If you set its Align feature to Client you will see your graphics are automatically resizing in appropriate with the window size. As you see we added a very professional graphics to our C++ Builder VCL Windows application without typing any code lines.
8. Close the application and if you are in code view back to form design by pressing F12. To edit our TChart settings, double click to TChart component on the Form and go to 3D section from the left bar. Check 3D, and from Views tab choose Ortho Right and set your other parameters for better view. As you see TChart has a lot of options. Note that you can change bar colors from the Series section.
What sort of chart customization options are there in C++ when using TeeChart?
You can select different colors and bar styles (i.e Cylinder, Pyramid, Cone etc.). Soft color and better background color with some good fonts will help you to make Visual Stunning Windows Charts in C++ Builder.
For even more choices of professional charts and rendering options you can use the latest commercial TeeChart Pro version. Please visit Steema and its 2021 pricing list for the TeeChartPro.
Is there a video showing how to use TeeChart in RAD Studio Delphi and C++ Builder?
There is a new TeeChart video which is released in 2020, that may give you some more details. Please watch this for more details.
Are there any things I should know about TeeChart?
At the beginning, graphics of TeeChart Standard might seem to be fairly basic. However, this is deliberate to try and reduce the learning curve. If you set your options well you can produce some simply beautiful charts even with the free option. TeeChartPro takes that further, enhancing and building on the available options . Note that TeeChart is compatible with all Data Components which means you can use them with your Interbase, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MSSQL and many other supported databases via the FireDAC component set. You can use it with other 3rd party data components with the latest released components like MyDAC among others.
In RAD Studio, C++ Builder there are many ways to display graphics in your exact needs. If you just want to add more professional graphics, use TeeChart Pro or other 3rd party 2D and 3D chart and data visualization components for the professional products. If you like to code more on these things, you can also use bitmaps (TBitmap) to draw your custom drawing into Bitmaps and you can display them easily with Image component. If you want develop custom 3D data graphics, as an option you can also use Viewport3D for the 3D data visualization.
C++ Builder is the easiest and fastest C and C++ IDE for building simple or professional applications on the Windows, MacOS, iOS & Android operating systems. It is also easy for beginners to learn with its wide range of samples, tutorials, help files, and LSP support for code. RAD Studio’s C++ Builder version comes with the award-winning VCL framework for high-performance native Windows apps and the powerful FireMonkey (FMX) framework for cross-platform UIs.
There is a free C++ Builder Community Edition for students, beginners, and startups; it can be downloaded from here. For professional developers, there are Professional, Architect, or Enterprise versions of C++ Builder and there is a trial version you can download from here.
