bx-charts

name	bx-charts
description	Use this skill to create charts and graphs in BoxLang with the bx-charts module: bx:chart, bx:chartseries, bx:chartdata, chart types (bar, line, pie, doughnut, radar, polarArea, area, horizontalbar, scatter, bubble), responsive charts, custom colors, legends, and axis configuration.

bx-charts: Charts & Graphs

Installation

install-bx-module bx-charts
# CommandBox
box install bx-charts

Powered by Chart.js under the hood. Outputs responsive, interactive HTML5 canvas-based charts.

Components

Component	Purpose
bx:chart	Outer chart wrapper — defines layout, size, titles
bx:chartseries	A data series (one series = one dataset/line/set of bars)
bx:chartdata	A single data point (label + value) inside a series

Chart Types

Type	Description
bar	Vertical bar chart
horizontalbar	Horizontal bar chart
line	Line chart
area	Line chart with filled area
pie	Pie chart
doughnut	Doughnut (ring) chart
radar	Radar/spider chart
polarArea	Polar area chart
scatter	Scatter plot
bubble	Bubble chart

---

Basic Bar Chart

<bx:chart title="Monthly Sales" chartWidth="700" chartHeight="400">
    <bx:chartseries type="bar" seriesLabel="Revenue">
        <bx:chartdata item="January"  value="12500">
        <bx:chartdata item="February" value="15200">
        <bx:chartdata item="March"    value="18900">
        <bx:chartdata item="April"    value="14300">
        <bx:chartdata item="May"      value="21000">
    </bx:chartseries>
</bx:chart>

Line Chart

<bx:chart title="Page Views" chartWidth="800" chartHeight="350" showLegend="true">
    <bx:chartseries type="line" seriesLabel="2024">
        <bx:chartdata item="Jan" value="4200">
        <bx:chartdata item="Feb" value="5100">
        <bx:chartdata item="Mar" value="6300">
    </bx:chartseries>
    <bx:chartseries type="line" seriesLabel="2025">
        <bx:chartdata item="Jan" value="5800">
        <bx:chartdata item="Feb" value="7200">
        <bx:chartdata item="Mar" value="8500">
    </bx:chartseries>
</bx:chart>

Pie Chart

<bx:chart title="Browser Share" chartWidth="500" chartHeight="500" showLegend="true">
    <bx:chartseries type="pie">
        <bx:chartdata item="Chrome"  value="65">
        <bx:chartdata item="Firefox" value="12">
        <bx:chartdata item="Safari"  value="18">
        <bx:chartdata item="Edge"    value="5">
    </bx:chartseries>
</bx:chart>

Dynamic Data from Query

var salesQuery = queryExecute(
    "SELECT month_name, total_revenue FROM monthly_sales ORDER BY month_num",
    {},
    { returntype: "array" }
)

<bx:chart title="Sales by Month" chartWidth="900" chartHeight="400" xAxisTitle="Month" yAxisTitle="Revenue ($)">
    <bx:chartseries type="bar" seriesLabel="Revenue">
        <bx:loop array="#salesQuery#" item="row">
            <bx:chartdata item="#row.month_name#" value="#row.total_revenue#">
        </bx:loop>
    </bx:chartseries>
</bx:chart>

Multi-Series Comparison Chart

<bx:chart
    title="Quarterly Performance"
    chartWidth="900"
    chartHeight="400"
    showLegend="true"
    seriesPlacement="cluster"
    xAxisTitle="Quarter"
    yAxisTitle="USD"
>
    <bx:chartseries type="bar" seriesLabel="Actual">
        <bx:chartdata item="Q1" value="125000">
        <bx:chartdata item="Q2" value="148000">
        <bx:chartdata item="Q3" value="162000">
        <bx:chartdata item="Q4" value="190000">
    </bx:chartseries>
    <bx:chartseries type="bar" seriesLabel="Target">
        <bx:chartdata item="Q1" value="120000">
        <bx:chartdata item="Q2" value="145000">
        <bx:chartdata item="Q3" value="170000">
        <bx:chartdata item="Q4" value="200000">
    </bx:chartseries>
</bx:chart>

Responsive Chart

<bx:chart
    title="Responsive Chart"
    chartWidth="100%"
    chartHeight="400"
    responsive="true"
    showBorder="false"
    backgroundColor="transparent"
>
    <bx:chartseries type="area" seriesLabel="Users">
        <bx:chartdata item="Mon" value="320">
        <bx:chartdata item="Tue" value="410">
        <bx:chartdata item="Wed" value="380">
    </bx:chartseries>
</bx:chart>

bx:chart Attribute Reference

Attribute	Description	Default
title	Chart title	—
chartWidth	Width (px or %)	400
chartHeight	Height (px)	400
backgroundColor	Chart background color	white
showLegend	Show legend	false
showBorder	Show border around the chart	true
seriesPlacement	cluster (side-by-side) or stacked	cluster
xAxisTitle	X-axis label text	—
yAxisTitle	Y-axis label text	—
responsive	Enable responsive scaling	false

bx:chartseries Attribute Reference

Attribute	Description
type	Chart type (see table above)
seriesLabel	Legend label for this series
colorList	Comma-separated color list for data points
seriesColor	Color for the entire series

Common Pitfalls

• ✅ bx:chart must always contain at least one bx:chartseries
• ✅ bx:chartseries must always contain bx:chartdata children
• ❌ scatter and bubble charts use { x, y } or { x, y, r } values — not simple value integers
• ✅ Use responsive="true" with chartWidth="100%" for mobile-friendly charts
• ✅ seriesPlacement="stacked" makes all series stack; works with bar, area, line
• ❌ Pie / doughnut charts should have only ONE bx:chartseries — use multiple bx:chartdata items for segments