How to visualize data online?

Question

I want to be able to do visualization of some raw data, be able to draw different kinds of graphs etc, and be able to post an interactive drawing on my map.

I know that Tableau Public does just this. But I don't have permission to install anything on my windows machine (Don't have admin rights). Is there an online version of tableau public where I can make diagrams online or any alternatives one would like to suggest?

Answer 1

There are a number of different JavaScript based toolkits, in addition to the Google Visualization and Charts APIs.

I find Protovis (which SVG based) to be an excellent middle-ground between toolkits that are too low-level that they're laborous and painful to get going, and too high-level that every chart looks too similar.

The JIT is a Canvas-based approach, and has a number of really interesting visualisation types.

Here's a list of some possibilities:

• http://vis.stanford.edu/protovis/
• http://thejit.org
• http://highcharts.com
• http://g.raphaeljs.com
• http://bluff.jcoglan.com
• http://code.google.com/p/flot
• http://code.google.com/apis/chart/
• http://code.google.com/apis/visualization/documentation/gallery.html
• http://polymaps.org

Answer 2

Maybe this is what you need?

What is the Google Chart API?

The Google Chart API lets you dynamically generate charts with a URL string. You can embed these charts on your web page, or download the image for local or offline use.

Answer 3

You could also use Google Chart Tools.

Answer 4

I was about to suggest Swivel, but they went out of business.

However, that article led me to Many Eyes. It looks like it's a product of IBM research that may fit your needs:

On Many Eyes you can:

1. View and discuss visualizations
2. View and discuss data sets
3. Create visualizations from existing data sets

If you register, you can also:

1. Rate data sets and visualizations
2. Upload your own data
3. Create and participate in topic centers
4. Select items to watch
5. Track your contributions, watchlist, and topic centers
6. See comments that others have written to you