Data from the Web
To start using WarpGraph you need to have some data available that can be used to create a graph/chart. The data needs to be transported over the Internet so the least you should have is a home page where you can upload files.

Of course a file on a home page can only provide static data, probably not that interesting. To get a dynamic chart and display live data you need to be a webmaster with access to both a database and some sort of scripting (e.g. ASP / PHP / Perl / JSP).

This is what WarpGraph looks like running in the UIQ 7.0 Emulator.
WGXD
Whatever data you have and regardless of the way your data is stored (be it a database or a file) WarpGraph needs you to communicate your data in a particular form, namely WGXD. WGXD stands for WarpGraph XML Data.
XML
WGXD follows the rules of XML. Don't be put off if you are not up to speed with this popular standard. There are many XML editors that relieve you from all the nitty gritty of XML. Scroll down for a list of XML editors that you may find useful.

 
DTD
You need to understand one more thing about the data WarpGraph expects to receive. XML can be used to transmit any kind of data. To use XML for a particular application we need to agree on the actual contents. What is it about? This is specified in a meta language called the Document Type Defenition (DTD) language.

Have a look at the DTD for WGXD by clicking the link below:
http://www.warpgear.com/wgxd-1.0.dtd

 
Example
To learn how to create your own WGXD file let's start with an example. When you have downloaded and installed WarpGraph on your cell phone you may discover where the program obtains its data from. To do so choose URL from the WarpGraph menu on your cell phone.

You will find that the URL WarpGraph is set to use defaults to:
http://www.favorez.com/stats/fzstats_xml.php

Click this link now to see what the specified server returns when WarpGraph tries to access it.


This is what the WarpGraph URL screen looks like running in the UIQ 7.0 Emulator. Click the image to zoom in.
XML Validator
To determine whether your WGXD file has a valid format you can use the on-line XML Validation Form by the Scholarly Technology Group. This form offers a handy way to test your data before actually trying it out on your cell phone.

That will help you in two ways. First of all you save on GPRS data transfers which tend to be expensive. But more importantly WarpGraph uses a non-validating XML parser (named NanoXML). This means that the WarpGraph program itself won't tell you much useful in the event your WGXD data is incorrect. Validation was left out of the software to save on the amount of memory the program takes up on your phone.

XML Editors
Here are some links to professional XML editors that may be evaluated free of charge.

Click any of the images on the right.



Plain Text
Mind you that you don't have to own any special editor to create XML files. XML is based on plain text which means you can simply use Windows Notepad to create your WGXD file. You just won't have any syntacs highlighting or other fancy stuff to make life as an XML author more enjoyable.

 
Scripting WGXD
This How To concerns itself with the way WarpGraph works, not with any particular kind of scripting. If you do not know how to script, you are out of luck: no dynamic charting for your WarpGraph installation! Unless you would like to hire us to do it for you that is.

Generally speaking the goal is to use a script to retrieve data from your database and then to make the script output this data into WGXD format.


PHP scripting is being used for the sample data from Favorez.com simply because PHP is the scripting language our servers are equiped with.

Start Options
When you choose Start in the WarpGraph menu you get to choose between four predefined options:

  • Statistics 1
  • Statistics 2
  • Statistics 3
  • last session
These options deliberately have common names because they are intended for you to use as you please. In other words: the options may have a different meaning for different users.

What WarpGraph does when you choose one of the first three options is to feed that information to your script.

Let us assume your script is located at this (imaginary) location:
http://www.mydomain.com/stats/get_wgxd.jsp

Then for Statistics 1 WarpGraph will call:
http://www.mydomain.com/stats/get_wgxd.jsp?s=1

And for Statistics 2 it will call:
http://www.mydomain.com/stats/get_wgxd.jsp?s=2

The last option named last session has a fixed meaning. With this option WarpGraph is instructed to use the data obtained during its last session, without the need to query a server.


This is what the WarpGraph Start screen looks like running in the UIQ 7.0 Emulator. Click the image to zoom in.
Memory Constraints
Keep the WGXD output of your script concise, avoid using superfluous spaces. Smaller files work faster and your cell phone does have its memory limits. On a Sony Ericsson T610 phone the maximum size that can succesfully be fed to WarpGraph is about 3.5 KB. Actually that is quite a lot for just WGXD data!

 
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