Choosing a chart technology
Table 8‑1 provides information that can help you decide which chart format to use in a report.
Table 8‑1 Features available in BIRT, Flash, and HTML5 charts
Feature | BIRT | Flash | HTML5 |
Displays in the Actuate BIRT viewers | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Displays in PDF | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Displays in other document formats, such as DOC, PPT, XLS, as a static image | ✓ | | ✓ |
Supported on mobile devices | ✓ | limited | ✓ |
Provides animation | | ✓ | ✓ |
BIRT charts and HTML5 charts support the maximum number of chart types in BIRT Studio. If you are creating a meter chart, or a stock chart, you must choose to create a BIRT chart, because these type of charts are not supported by Flash or HTML5 technologies. To select a chart type that is available in both Flash and HTML5 technologies, such as doughnut or pie charts, selecting HTML5 is an advantage for users who want to export the chart to other output formats, or view the chart on a mobile device.