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Bar Charts from SQL Data

Bar charts are useful for comparing values between categories.

In this tutorial, the number of security events at each risk level will be displayed as a bar chart.

Step 1 - Create the SQL Query

SELECT

    risk_level,

    COUNT(*) AS total

FROM cyber_security_events

GROUP BY risk_level;

Example result:

risk_level total
Low 15
Medium 8
High 3

Step 2 - Retrieve the Data with PHP

<?php

$sql = "

SELECT

    risk_level,

    COUNT(*) AS total

FROM cyber_security_events

GROUP BY risk_level

";

$result = $pdo->query($sql);

$data = [];

while($row = $result->fetch())
{

    $data[] = [

        $row['risk_level'],

        (int)$row['total']

    ];

}

?>

Step 3 - Create the Chart Container

<div id="chart_div"
     style="width:900px; height:500px;">
</div>

Step 4 - Create the Bar Chart

<script>

google.charts.load(
    'current',
    {'packages':['corechart']}
);

google.charts.setOnLoadCallback(drawChart);

function drawChart()
{

    var data =

        google.visualization.arrayToDataTable([

        ['Risk Level','Events'],

        ...<?php echo json_encode($data); ?>

    ]);


    var options = {

        title:'Security Events by Risk Level',

        legend:{position:'none'}

    };


    var chart =

        new google.visualization.BarChart(

            document.getElementById('chart_div')

        );


    chart.draw(data, options);

}

</script>

Screenshot Placeholderimage-1782085906217.png

Insert screenshot showing the completed bar chart.

Changing the Chart Type

Only one line of code needs to change.

Pie Chart:

new google.visualization.PieChart()

Bar Chart:

new google.visualization.BarChart()

Column Chart:

new google.visualization.ColumnChart()

Line Chart:

new google.visualization.LineChart()

Complete Example

<?php

$sql = "

SELECT

    risk_level,

    COUNT(*) AS total

FROM cyber_security_events

GROUP BY risk_level

";

$result = $pdo->query($sql);

$data = [];

while($row = $result->fetch())
{

    $data[] = [

        $row['risk_level'],

        (int)$row['total']

    ];

}

?>

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html>

<head>

<script src="https://www.gstatic.com/charts/loader.js"></script>

</head>

<body>

<div id="chart_div"
     style="width:900px; height:500px;">
</div>


<script>

google.charts.load(
    'current',
    {'packages':['corechart']}
);

google.charts.setOnLoadCallback(drawChart);

function drawChart()
{

    var data =

        google.visualization.arrayToDataTable([

        ['Risk Level','Events'],

        ...<?php echo json_encode($data); ?>

    ]);


    var options = {

        title:'Security Events by Risk Level',

        legend:{position:'none'}

    };


    var chart =

        new google.visualization.BarChart(

            document.getElementById('chart_div')

        );


    chart.draw(data, options);

}

</script>

</body>

</html>

Next Tutorial

Line Charts from SQL Data

Learn how to display trends and changes over time using a line chart.

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