ASP.NET MVC Chart from CSV Data

CSV data can be used as a data source for Charts. The given example shows how to parse data coming from CSV and render chart. It also includes source code that you can try running locally.

@{
	Layout = null;
}

<!DOCTYPE HTML>
<html>
<head>
<script>
window.onload = function () {

var dataPoints = [];

var chart = new CanvasJS.Chart("chartContainer", {
	animationEnabled: true,
	theme: "light2", // "light1", "light2", "dark1", "dark2"
	title: {
		text: "Alibaba Group Stock Volume, 2015 - 2016"
	},
	subtitles: [{
		text: "Monthly Average"
	}],
	axisX: {
		interval: 3,
		intervalType: "month",
		valueFormatString: "MMM YY"
	},
	axisY: {
		//includeZero: false,
		title: "Volume",
		labelFormatter: addSymbols
	},
	data: [{
		xValueFormatString: "MMM YY",
		dataPoints: dataPoints
	}]
});

$.get("/home/csv", getDataPointsFromCSV);

//CSV Format
//YYYY-MM-DD,Volume
function getDataPointsFromCSV(csv) {
	var csvLines = points = [];
	csvLines = csv.split(/[\r?\n|\r|\n]+/);
	for (var i = 0; i < csvLines.length; i++) {
		if (csvLines[i].length > 0) {
			points = csvLines[i].split(",");
			dataPoints.push({
				x: new Date(
					parseInt(points[0].split("-")[0], 10),
					parseInt(points[0].split("-")[1], 10) - 1, //month starts from 0
					parseInt(points[0].split("-")[2], 10)
				),
				y: parseInt(points[1])
			});
		}
	}
	chart.render();
}

function addSymbols(e) {
	var suffixes = ["", "K", "M", "B"];

	var order = Math.max(Math.floor(Math.log(e.value) / Math.log(1000)), 0);
	if (order > suffixes.length - 1)
		order = suffixes.length - 1;

	var suffix = suffixes[order];
	return CanvasJS.formatNumber(e.value / Math.pow(1000, order)) + suffix;
}

}
</script>
</head>
<body>
<div id="chartContainer" style="height: 370px; width: 100%;"></div>
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://canvasjs.com/assets/script/jquery-1.11.1.min.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://canvasjs.com/assets/script/jquery.canvasjs.min.js"></script>
</body>
</html>                              
using ASPNET_MVC_ChartsDemo.Models;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Web.Mvc;

namespace ASPNET_MVC_ChartsDemo.Controllers
{
	public class HomeController : Controller
	{
		// GET: Home
		public ActionResult Index()
		{
			return View();
		}

		public ContentResult CSV()
		{
			List<DataPoint> dataPoints = new List<DataPoint>();

			dataPoints.Add(new DataPoint(new DateTime(2015, 01, 01), 379540700));
			dataPoints.Add(new DataPoint(new DateTime(2015, 02, 01), 253789800));
			dataPoints.Add(new DataPoint(new DateTime(2015, 03, 01), 388395300));
			dataPoints.Add(new DataPoint(new DateTime(2015, 04, 01), 336969900));
			dataPoints.Add(new DataPoint(new DateTime(2015, 05, 01), 457084600));
			dataPoints.Add(new DataPoint(new DateTime(2015, 06, 01), 248089200));
			dataPoints.Add(new DataPoint(new DateTime(2015, 07, 01), 255413600));
			dataPoints.Add(new DataPoint(new DateTime(2015, 08, 01), 424761000));
			dataPoints.Add(new DataPoint(new DateTime(2015, 09, 01), 454809300));
			dataPoints.Add(new DataPoint(new DateTime(2015, 10, 01), 387429400));
			dataPoints.Add(new DataPoint(new DateTime(2015, 11, 01), 465985100));
			dataPoints.Add(new DataPoint(new DateTime(2015, 12, 01), 313730300));
			dataPoints.Add(new DataPoint(new DateTime(2016, 01, 01), 350835400));
			dataPoints.Add(new DataPoint(new DateTime(2016, 02, 01), 314258500));
			dataPoints.Add(new DataPoint(new DateTime(2016, 03, 01), 231297200));
			dataPoints.Add(new DataPoint(new DateTime(2016, 04, 01), 215798500));
			dataPoints.Add(new DataPoint(new DateTime(2016, 05, 01), 376682300));
			dataPoints.Add(new DataPoint(new DateTime(2016, 06, 01), 373822200));
			dataPoints.Add(new DataPoint(new DateTime(2016, 07, 01), 205076000));
			dataPoints.Add(new DataPoint(new DateTime(2016, 08, 01), 450441900));
			dataPoints.Add(new DataPoint(new DateTime(2016, 09, 01), 420526800));
			dataPoints.Add(new DataPoint(new DateTime(2016, 10, 01), 240008000));
			dataPoints.Add(new DataPoint(new DateTime(2016, 11, 01), 329213700));
			dataPoints.Add(new DataPoint(new DateTime(2016, 12, 01), 218013800));

			string csv = "";

			foreach (DataPoint DataPoint in dataPoints)
			{
				csv += DataPoint.X.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd") + "," + DataPoint.Y.ToString() + "\n";
			}

			return Content(csv);
		}
	}
}                        
using System;
using System.Runtime.Serialization;

namespace ASPNET_MVC_ChartsDemo.Models
{
	//DataContract for Serializing Data - required to serve in JSON format
	[DataContract]
	public class DataPoint
	{
		public DataPoint(DateTime x, double y)
		{
			this.X = x;
			this.Y = y;
		}

		//Explicitly setting the name to be used while serializing to JSON.
		[DataMember(Name = "x")]
		public DateTime X;

		//Explicitly setting the name to be used while serializing to JSON.
		[DataMember(Name = "y")]
		public Nullable<double> Y = null;
	}
}

Related Customization

You can customize the color of each data-point using color property. The width of the data-points can be modified using dataPointWidth property. Some other commonly used customization options include fillOpacity, indexLabel, animationEnabled, theme, etc.