MDLSoft.TinyPieChart 1.0.3

MDLSoft.TinyPieChart

A lightweight, dependency-free C# library for creating pie charts and exporting them to JPG/PNG format.

Features

• No external dependencies - Uses only System.Drawing.Common
• .NET Standard 2.0 support - Compatible with .NET Framework 4.8+ and .NET Core
• Simple API - Easy to configure and customize
• Custom colors - Set specific colors for each slice or use auto-generated defaults
• Legend support - Display slice labels and percentages
• Configurable slice labels - Show labels directly on pie slices
• Summary box - Display total, item count, and average values with configurable position
• Percentages display - Show percentage values directly on pie slices
• Multiple export formats - Export to JPG or PNG
• Cross-platform - Works on Windows, Linux, and macOS

Installation

1. Add the MDLSoft.TinyPieChart project to your solution
2. Reference it in your project file or via dotnet add reference

Quick Start

using MDLSoft.TinyPieChart;
using System.Drawing;

// Create a pie chart
var chart = new PieChart { Title = "Sales by Product" };
chart.AddSlice("Product A", 350);
chart.AddSlice("Product B", 280);
chart.ExportToJpg("chart.jpg");

Advanced Usage

Custom Colors

var chart = new PieChart { Title = "Market Share" };

// Add slices with specific colors
chart.AddSlice("Company A", 1500, Color.FromArgb(255, 99, 132));
chart.AddSlice("Company B", 1200, Color.FromArgb(54, 162, 235));
chart.AddSlice("Company C", 800, Color.FromArgb(75, 192, 75));
chart.AddSlice("Others", 500, Color.FromArgb(255, 206, 86));

chart.ExportToJpg("market.jpg");

Advanced Usage

Custom Colors

var chart = new PieChart { Title = "Market Share" };

// Add slices with specific colors
chart.AddSlice("Company A", 1500, Color.FromArgb(255, 99, 132));
chart.AddSlice("Company B", 1200, Color.FromArgb(54, 162, 235));
chart.AddSlice("Company C", 800, Color.FromArgb(75, 192, 75));
chart.AddSlice("Others", 500, Color.FromArgb(255, 206, 86));

chart.ExportToJpg("market.jpg");

Display Labels on Slices

var chart = new PieChart
{
    Title = "Expense Categories",
    ShowLabels = true,      // Display slice labels directly on pie
    ShowPercentages = true, // Also show percentages
    ShowLegend = false      // Hide legend since labels are on slices
};

chart.AddSlice("Housing", 1200, Color.FromArgb(255, 107, 107));
chart.AddSlice("Food", 400, Color.FromArgb(74, 144, 226));
chart.AddSlice("Transport", 300, Color.FromArgb(56, 142, 60));

chart.ExportToJpg("expenses.jpg");

Add a Summary Box with Legend and Percentages

var chart = new PieChart
{
    Title = "Website Traffic",
    ShowSummaryBox = true,
    SummaryBoxPosition = SummaryBoxPosition.TopRight  // Corner position
};

chart.AddSlice("Organic Search", 3500);
chart.AddSlice("Direct", 2100);
chart.AddSlice("Referral", 1800);
chart.AddSlice("Social Media", 1200);

chart.ExportToJpg("traffic.jpg");

The summary box displays:

• Color box - Colored square matching the slice
• Label - Name of the slice
• Percentage - Percentage of total value

Full-Width Summary Box (Top Center)

var chart = new PieChart
{
    Title = "Department Budget",
    ShowLabels = true,
    ShowLegend = false,
    ShowSummaryBox = true,
    SummaryBoxPosition = SummaryBoxPosition.TopCenter  // Spans full width
};

chart.AddSlice("Engineering", 5000);
chart.AddSlice("Sales", 3500);
chart.AddSlice("Marketing", 2500);
chart.AddSlice("Operations", 2000);

chart.ExportToJpg("budget.jpg");

Full-Width Summary Box (Bottom Center)

var chart = new PieChart
{
    Title = "Product Sales",
    ShowLabels = false,
    ShowLegend = false,
    ShowSummaryBox = true,
    SummaryBoxPosition = SummaryBoxPosition.BottomCenter  // Spans full width at bottom
};

chart.AddSlice("Product A", 4200);
chart.AddSlice("Product B", 3800);
chart.AddSlice("Product C", 2900);
chart.AddSlice("Product D", 2100);
chart.AddSlice("Product E", 1800);

chart.ExportToJpg("sales.jpg");

API Reference

PieChart Class

Properties

• Title (string) - The title of the pie chart (default: "Pie Chart")
• Width (int) - Width in pixels (default: 800, minimum: 300)
• Height (int) - Height in pixels (default: 600, minimum: 300)
• ShowLegend (bool) - Display legend with labels and percentages (default: true)
• ShowPercentages (bool) - Display percentage values on slices (default: true)
• ShowLabels (bool) - Display slice labels directly on pie slices (default: false)
• ShowSummaryBox (bool) - Display summary box with totals and averages (default: false)
• SummaryBoxPosition (SummaryBoxPosition) - Position of the summary box (default: TopRight)
• SliceCount (int) - Read-only property returning the number of slices

Methods

• AddSlice(string label, float value, Color? color = null) - Add a single slice
• AddSlices(params PieSlice[] slices) - Add multiple slices at once
• Clear() - Remove all slices
• ExportToJpg(string filePath) - Export chart to JPG file
• ExportToPng(string filePath) - Export chart to PNG file

SummaryBoxPosition Enum

• TopLeft - Summary box in top-left corner
• TopRight - Summary box in top-right corner (default)
• BottomLeft - Summary box in bottom-left corner
• BottomRight - Summary box in bottom-right corner
• TopCenter - Full-width summary box at top
• BottomCenter - Full-width summary box at bottom

PieSlice Class

Constructor

PieSlice(string label, float value, Color? color = null)

• label - The label/name for the slice
• value - The numeric value (must be positive)
• color - Optional color; if not provided, a default color will be assigned

Properties

• Label (string) - The label for this slice
• Value (float) - The numeric value of the slice
• Color (Color?) - The color of the slice (nullable)

Color Palette

If colors are not explicitly provided, the library uses this default palette (cycles for more than 10 slices):

1. Red (#FF6384)
2. Blue (#36A2EB)
3. Green (#4BC04B)
4. Yellow (#FFCE56)
5. Purple (#9966FF)
6. Orange (#FF9F40)
7. Grey (#C7C7C7)
8. Indigo (#5366FF)
9. Magenta (#FF63FF)
10. Cyan (#00C8C8)

Configuration Options

Display Options

Summary Box Positions

• TopLeft - Upper-left corner with vertical legend items
• TopRight - Upper-right corner with vertical legend items (default)
• BottomLeft - Lower-left corner with vertical legend items
• BottomRight - Lower-right corner with vertical legend items
• TopCenter - Top spanning full width with horizontal legend items
• BottomCenter - Bottom spanning full width with horizontal legend items

The summary box displays each slice with:

• Color box matching the slice color
• Slice label text
• Percentage of total value

Requirements

• .NET Standard 2.0 or higher
• .NET Framework 4.8+ or .NET Core 2.0+
• System.Drawing.Common (included as dependency)

Error Handling

The library validates input:

• PieSlice value must be positive - Throws ArgumentException if value ⇐ 0
• Cannot export empty chart - Throws InvalidOperationException if no slices are added
• Minimum chart dimensions - Width and Height are automatically adjusted to minimum 300px

Examples

The library includes 12 sample demonstrations:

1. Simple pie chart with default colors
2. Custom colors
3. Using PieSlice objects
4. Budget allocation
5. PNG export format
6. Labels displayed on slices
7. Summary box (top-right corner)
8. Summary box with labels (bottom-left corner)
9. Summary box at top center (full width)
10. Summary box at bottom center (full width)
11. Corner summary box with legend items
12. Full-width summary at bottom with many items

Run the sample with:

cd MDLSoft.TinyPieChart.Sample
dotnet run

All examples generate JPG/PNG files demonstrating:

• Various positioning options (corners and full-width)
• Legend display with color boxes and percentages
• Different combinations of labels, percentages, and legend
• Chart dimensions and positioning

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Support

If you encounter any issues or have questions, please open an issue on GitHub.