## What's new in FusionCharts v3?
FusionCharts v3 boasts of a plethora of new features over the previous versions. Listed below are a few of the major ones.
| New Chart Types
| FusionCharts v3 introduces a lot of new chart types like: Scroll Charts - Column 2D, Line 2D and Area 2D Spline Charts Spline Area Charts Logarithmic Axis Charts 2D Multi-chart Single Y Combination Chart. 2D Multi-chart Dual Y Combination Chart. This chart be used to plot 9 types of chart: Column (Primary Y) + Line (Secondary Y) Combination Column (Primary Y) + Area (Secondary Y) Combination Column (Primary Y) + Column (Secondary Y) Combination Area (Primary Y) + Line (Secondary Y) Combination Area (Primary Y) + Column (Secondary Y) Combination Area (Primary Y) + Area (Secondary Y) Combination Line (Primary Y) + Line (Secondary Y) Combination Line (Primary Y) + Column (Secondary Y) Combination Line (Primary Y) + Area (Secondary Y) Combination 3D Stacked Column Line Dual Y Combination Chart Advanced Candle-stick chart with support for line, bar and volume columns Drag-able Column and Line Charts for advanced simulation scenarios
| Few of the the above listed charts are not in the standard FusionCharts v3 pack. e.g., Spline, Logarithmic & Drag-able charts are part of PowerCharts pack, which can be purchased separately..
| Easy but advanced integration with JavaScript
| FusionCharts v3 offers advanced options to integrate charts with AJAX applications or JavaScript modules. You can update charts on client side, invoke JavaScript functions as hotspot links, or make dynamic calls for XML data without involving any page refreshes. You can also specify a DOMId for each chart and have it register with JavaScript. The chart can then keep JavaScript functions posted about it's activities.
| Visual XML Generator Utility
| FusionCharts v3 introduces a new visual XML and chart Generator utility which helps you easily build your XML data for the charts. You can manually enter data in a grid to form XML or convert your existing data from spreadsheets / CSV Files / tables into XML data.
| STYLE Element
| FusionCharts v3 introduces Styles to help you apply font, effects and animations to various objects of the chart. Styles lends a simple mechanism, using which you can easily control the visual layout of charts.
| Maps Supported
| FusionCharts v3 introduces maps in PowerMaps pack. The PowerMaps Pack is a collection of 61 Flash based vector maps used to show different types of data related to geographical divisions. Suitable for use in websites and applications, each map exposes its properties using an XML API. Setting up a map for use barely takes a few minutes and doesn't involve any modification of source code. All you need to do is feed the data in XML file and you're ready to go. Please note that PowerMaps is an additional plug in FusionCharts v3, and not present in standard license. You need to purchase it separately.
| Built in Adobe Flash 8 using ActionScript 2
| FusionCharts v3 is coded in Flash 8 and ActionScript 2 to fully utilize the new and advanced features of Flash 8 like dynamic tweening, filters, better speed, advanced OOP structures etc.
| New Debug Mode
| FusionCharts v3 introduces a debug mode for each chart. The debug mode helps you to look into what's happening in the chart behind the scenes. You can see how the chart is initializing, getting its data and interacting with JavaScripts. Various errors generated are also shown in this. So, whenever you see an error on the chart now, all you need to do is switch to debug mode and fix it up.
| Gradient Support
| FusionCharts v3 supports gradients for most of chart objects like background, canvas, data plot etc. Many new charts support a single attribute use3DLighting to allow advanced lighting and gradient effects on the chart for better visuals.
| Palette Support
| FusionCharts v3 introduces Palettes to help you quickly select colors themes for your chart. Starting v3, you can select one of the five pre-defined palettes to change look of your chart. You wouldn't need to specify any hex color codes when using palettes.
| Dashed Line Support
| Starting FusionCharts v3, you can use dashed lines to plot: Data (Columns, Lines, Pies etc.) Grid Divisional Lines Trend Lines Vertical separator lines You can also specify the dash properties like dash length, gap etc.
| Multiple display modes for data labels
| In FusionCharts v3, a lot of options have been introduced to allow for better x-axis label control. You can now WRAP, STAGGER or ROTATE the x-axis labels.
| Rotated value boxes & dynamic placement options
| The data value text fields can now be rotated to avoid cluttering. Also, in case of column charts, you can select whether to place the value textboxes inside the columns or outside. If there is no space, FusionCharts v3 will automatically adjust positions.
| Number scale support
| FusionCharts v3 introduces number scaling and better control over number formatting.
| Automatic Divisional Line Numbering
| FusionCharts v3 introduces automatic divisional line numbering and placement to best position them on the chart.
| Better printing support
| The context menu of the chart now includes a new item "Print Chart", which offers standard cross-browser printing support.
| More control over dynamic resizing
| v3 introduces two mode of chart resizing - exactFit and noScale. noScale uses pixel based resizing. In exactFit mode, you can resize the chart based on percentage. Also, exactFit mode allows dynamic scaling, when the container object (browser, table, DIV etc.) is resized.
| Advanced pie and doughnut charts
| The pie and doughnut charts of FusionCharts v3 offers advanced end-user interactivity options like dynamic slicing, rotation, links etc. Also, Smart Labels have now been introduced in pie/doughnut charts.
| Better Legend
| FusionCharts v3 introduces a better looking and interactive legend for the multi-series/combination charts. You can customize a lot of the properties for the legend of each chart.
| Advanced drill down features
| The chart items can now link to new window, pop-up, frames or self window.
| Vertical division lines between any two data points.
| In axis charts, you can now opt for vertical division lines between any two sets of data. This particularly helps when you're plotting data for say 2 yrs and you want a visible separator between the two years' data on chart.
| Entire chart as a hotspot
| Starting v3, the entire chart can now act as a single hotspot.
| Custom tool tip for each data plot item
| You can now set your own tool tip text for each data plot item.
| Multiple language support for application messages
| You can now easily customize the chart to show application messages (loading chart, loading data, rendering chart etc..) in your own language. To do so, you need to specify the messages in chart source and re-compile
| And lots more...