How to set up GoogleCharts with cakePHP? - cakephp

Question

I'm trying to display data in cakePHP with a Google Chart.
I downloaded the GoogleCharts plugin on https://github.com/scottharwell/GoogleCharts and put it in my App/Plugin directory. I load all plugins in my application's bootstrap file with
CakePlugin::loadAll();
In my Controller, I put
App::uses('GoogleCharts', 'GoogleCharts.Lib');
and
public $helpers = array('GoogleCharts.GoogleCharts');
, so cakePHP is able to detect I will work with this plugin. Of course, I created the GoogleChartHelper.php in App/View/Helper.
Before working with my data, what I want is just to display an example of chart to see if it is working. Which is not! I copied the example of the above-provided link (on github.com), so here is my Controller class:
<?php
App::uses ( 'AppController', 'Controller');
App::uses ('GoogleCharts', 'GoogleCharts.Lib');
class StatisticsController extends AppController{
public $helpers = array('GoogleCharts.GoogleCharts');
public $components = array (
'Paginator',
'Session'
);
public function index(){
//Setup data for chart
$chart = new GoogleCharts();
$chart->type("LineChart");
//Options array holds all options for Chart API
$chart->options(array('title' => "Recent Scores"));
$chart->columns(array(
//Each column key should correspond to a field in your data array
'event_date' => array(
//Tells the chart what type of data this is
'type' => 'string',
//The chart label for this column
'label' => 'Date'
),
'score' => array(
'type' => 'number',
'label' => 'Score',
//Optional NumberFormat pattern
'format' => '#,###'
)
));
//You can also manually add rows:
$chart->addRow(array('event_date' => '1/1/2012', 'score' => 55));
//Set the chart for your view
$this->set(compact('chart'));
}
}
In my View, I put the code
<div id="chart_div"><?php $this->GoogleChart->createJsChart($chart);?></div>
(without "s" to "GoogleChart" (not like on the download page, where is it written "GoogleCharts"), which took me 3 hours to notice)
My charts should be displayed on the page, but I got the following error:
Warning (512): Method GoogleChartHelper::createJsChart does not exist
[CORE\Cake\View\Helper.php, line 192]
(and if I put the "s" in the View, my page displays like without any error but without any chart...)
Am I missing something?
N.B. : I didn't copy the first method given on the github page, because with it a new worst error appears:
Error: Call to a member function find() on null
That method is:
//Get data from model
//Get the last 10 rounds for score graph
$rounds = $this->Round->find(
'all',
array(
'conditions' => array(
'Round.user_id' => $this->Auth->user('id')
),
'order' => array('Round.event_date' => 'ASC'),
'limit' => 10,
'fields' => array(
'Round.score',
'Round.event_date'
)
)
);
Please help me, I just want to display some random data in a chart and it should not be complicated (but with cakePHP, everything seems complex)...

Answer 1

The problem is that one step was missing:
you have to write
<?php echo $this->fetch('script'); ?>
in View/Layouts/bootstrap.ctp and if you followed all other steps, it should work!