wanted: a simple graphing app

[cb911]

hi,

i'm just looking for a simple app that can make a graph.

all i want is a "weight" value on the Y axis, with dates along the X axis. of course - having some hella sweet eye-candy would be awesome. 😀 (after all - this is OS X we're talking about...)

now this would need to be updated weekly... so ease of use is a good thing.

i've tried NeoOfficeJ already (the OS X port of OpenOffice) but that whole spreadsheet > graph workflow really bugs me. surely there is an easier way to make a graph? even if i did that method... you'd need to make a new graph each time you input new data. 🙄

does anyone have a solution for this? i hope i've explained this properly enough... please ask if i can elaborate on this. and most importantly - if anyone's got some ideas as to how i can have a simple, weekly updatable graph workflow... please let me know. 🙂

 

[munkle]

Have you tried Grapher (located in your utilities folder)? It looks fairly complicated but I've been told that it is indeed a great app. Perhaps a tad overkill in this situation though.

If you've got Keynote, it is quite simple to make nice looking graphs in that.

 

[MisterMe]

hi,

i'm just looking for a simple app that can make a graph.

all i want is a "weight" value on the Y axis, with dates along the X axis. of course - having some hella sweet eye-candy would be awesome. 😀 (after all - this is OS X we're talking about...)

now this would need to be updated weekly... so ease of use is a good thing.

i've tried NeoOfficeJ already (the OS X port of OpenOffice) but that whole spreadsheet > graph workflow really bugs me. surely there is an easier way to make a graph? even if i did that method... you'd need to make a new graph each time you input new data. 🙄

does anyone have a solution for this? i hope i've explained this properly enough... please ask if i can elaborate on this. and most importantly - if anyone's got some ideas as to how i can have a simple, weekly updatable graph workflow... please let me know. 🙂

It would help if you told us which field you are working in. Each charting app tends to be designed to accomodate some fields better than others. You will find several excellent graphing/charting applications on VersionTracker.

 

[wordmunger]

Well, whatever your problems are with OpenOffice, you most certainly can change the data and have it reflected in the graph. You wouldn't need to create a new graph every week. If you want to save the old graphs, just use the "save as" function, then create a new one by changing the data on the old one.

 

[mkrishnan]

i've tried NeoOfficeJ already (the OS X port of OpenOffice) but that whole spreadsheet > graph workflow really bugs me. surely there is an easier way to make a graph? even if i did that method... you'd need to make a new graph each time you input new data. 🙄

FWIW, if you have a situation where you are using a spreadsheet program (hypothetically) to make a graph or a set of graphs, and the structure of the data is always the same (so that, for instance, each time you do this represents a new month's data, or somesuch, but all the axes and variables are the same), then, if you paste or enter the new data over the old data, the existing chart automatically updates -- you don't need to make a new graph every time you have new data. So, for instance, if you create this month's report, then save it under a new filename and enter the new data over the old data will generate plots for next month without further direct interaction with the charts.

But I'm not going to try to convince you to use a spreadsheet if you don't want to.... 😉

Can you say more about what your "workflow" requirements are, please? That might help.

 

[cb911]

hrm... i may just keep using NeoOffice then. i've never used spreadsheet type apps in the past, so i guess i don't know alot of the things you can do with them. 😛

i did look at Grapher - but that seems for mathematical graphs? this is just for home use, nothing maths related at all. i'm bodybuilding so what the weight is - it's my body weight and the weights i use the gym. i just want to be able to easily graph my progress. perhaps there's some weight management app out there that is designed for this?

i think, ideally - it would be good to have a calendar system where i could just log the weight in an interface like iCal, and then have it automatically update the graph. and being able to view, fortnightly, monthly, yearly graphs with a click would be great as well.

does this sound like anything people have come accross? well i'll have a look on VT, but i think the majority of graphing apps are maths based. and thanks for the help all. 🙂

 

[tjwett]

both Keynote and Pages allow you to create basic graphs that are nice looking .