ESPlot

⚠️ Experimental - This project is experimental and not feature complete, but the base functionality works.

ESPlot is a data visualization library that combines TypeScript/Node.js chart creation with a native desktop viewer. It allows you to programmatically generate charts using a simple API and display them in a dedicated viewer application.

This package is part of the Weave monorepo and can be built using the centralized build system from the project root.

How It Works

ESPlot consists of two main components:

1. Core Library (TypeScript/Node.js): Provides functions for creating charts (bar charts, word clouds, etc.) using Chart.js
2. Viewer (Go): A native desktop application that displays the generated charts in real-time

The workflow is:

1. Your TypeScript/Node.js code calls chart functions like barChart()
2. The library bundles the chart code using Vite
3. The bundled code is sent to the viewer via HTTP
4. The viewer displays the chart in a native window
5. Multiple charts can be viewed with tabs

Setup

Quick Start

The easiest way to use ESPlot is to add it as a dependency to your project. The pre-built viewer binaries are included in the package:

npm install @arcmantle/esplot
# or with pnpm
pnpm add @arcmantle/esplot
# or with yarn
yarn add @arcmantle/esplot

Then you can directly start creating charts:

import { barChart } from '@arcmantle/esplot';

await barChart(
  { year: 2020, count: 10 },
  { year: 2021, count: 20 },
  { year: 2022, count: 15 }
);

Development Setup

If you want to build from source or contribute to the project:

Prerequisites

• Node.js with TypeScript support
• Go (latest version recommended)
• pnpm (recommended package manager for the monorepo)

Building from Source

ESPlot is part of a larger monorepo. You can build it from the project root:

# From the monorepo root, build the ESPlot package
pnpm build-package @arcmantle/esplot

# Or build all packages
pnpm build

Building Individual Components

If you need to build components separately:

# Navigate to the ESPlot package directory
cd packages/core/esplot

# Build the TypeScript library and viewer binaries
pnpm build

# Or build components individually:
pnpm build-ts                    # TypeScript library only
pnpm build-viewer-windows        # Windows viewer binary
pnpm build-viewer-macos          # macOS viewer binary

Running the Demo

# Make sure the package is built first
pnpm build

# Run the demo
node demo/index.ts

Usage

import { barChart } from '@arcmantle/esplot';

// Create a bar chart
await barChart(
  { year: 2020, count: 10 },
  { year: 2021, count: 20 },
  { year: 2022, count: 15 }
);

The chart will automatically open in the ESPlot viewer window.

Features

• Real-time chart display in native desktop window
• Multiple chart support with tabbed interface
• Built on Chart.js for rich visualization capabilities
• TypeScript support with simple API
• Cross-platform (Windows and macOS)

Current Chart Types

• Bar charts
• Word clouds (experimental)