Book Image

Google Visualization API Essentials

By : Traci Lynn Ruthkoski
Book Image

Google Visualization API Essentials

By: Traci Lynn Ruthkoski

Overview of this book

There's a lot of data in our world, and visual representations are often the best method of making sense of it all. Yet, it should not take an army of programmers and analysts to create visualizations in order to make data useful. The Google Visualization API is accessible to novice and advanced programmers alike, making data useful to more people."Google Visualization API Essentials" will show you how to create interactive data displays with very little code. The API, combined with Google Spreadsheets and Fusion Tables, is a complete system, from data management to analytical displays. Not only is it simple to learn, but the Google Visualization API can also be viewed as a first step to learning additional Google APIs."Google Visualization API Essentials" uses both methodology overviews and hands-on examples with real data to introduce chart and graph creation on the Google platform. Topics are presented from various aspects, including Google Spreadsheets and Fusion Tables, and Graphic User Interfaces. An overview of the various API development environments available to developers is also covered. Basic and advanced charts, data source connectivity, style formatting, and publishing options are also explored in depth."Google Visualization API Essentials" brings the arsenal of Google Visualizations into the web developer toolkit.
Table of Contents (16 chapters)

Fusion Tables


Google Fusion Tables is a GUI application targeted towards providing a simple data source in combination with a host of standard visualization options. The biggest difference between Fusion Tables and Spreadsheets is that Fusion Tables is a visualization tool first, then a data source, and does not include much calculation functionality. Like Google Spreadsheets, Fusion Tables has its own accompanying API. The API is primarily focused on SQL-like capabilities and usage of Fusion Tables as a data source.

Importing or creating data

To create an empty table or import data into a table, use the method outlined in Chapter 1, Tools and Setup. Select Create | Table in Google Drive. The Import new table wizard will automatically open. Select the type of import or create an empty table. Alternatively, Fusion Tables offers a collection of public data tables that can also be imported. Data is also available in the form of existing user Fusion Tables that have been made available by the...