How to set up GoogleCharts with cakePHP?

Question

I'm trying to display data in cakePHP with a Google Chart. I downloaded the GoogleCharts plugin on https://github.com/scottharwell/GoogleCharts and put it in my App/Plugin directory. I load all plugins in my application's bootstrap file with

CakePlugin::loadAll(); 

In my Controller, I put

 App::uses('GoogleCharts', 'GoogleCharts.Lib'); 

and

public $helpers = array('GoogleCharts.GoogleCharts');

, so cakePHP is able to detect I will work with this plugin. Of course, I created the GoogleChartHelper.php in App/View/Helper.

Before working with my data, what I want is just to display an example of chart to see if it is working. Which is not! I copied the example of the above-provided link (on github.com), so here is my Controller class:

<?php
App::uses ( 'AppController', 'Controller');
App::uses ('GoogleCharts', 'GoogleCharts.Lib');

    class StatisticsController extends AppController{

    public $helpers = array('GoogleCharts.GoogleCharts');
    public $components = array (
            'Paginator',
            'Session'
        );

    public function index(){
            //Setup data for chart
            $chart = new GoogleCharts();

            $chart->type("LineChart");
            //Options array holds all options for Chart API
            $chart->options(array('title' => "Recent Scores"));
            $chart->columns(array(
                    //Each column key should correspond to a field in your data array
                    'event_date' => array(
                            //Tells the chart what type of data this is
                            'type' => 'string',
                            //The chart label for this column
                            'label' => 'Date'
                    ),
                    'score' => array(
                            'type' => 'number',
                            'label' => 'Score',
                            //Optional NumberFormat pattern
                            'format' => '#,###'
                    )
            ));


        //You can also manually add rows:
        $chart->addRow(array('event_date' => '1/1/2012', 'score' => 55));

        //Set the chart for your view
        $this->set(compact('chart'));
    }
    }

In my View, I put the code

 <div id="chart_div"><?php $this->GoogleChart->createJsChart($chart);?></div>

(without "s" to "GoogleChart" (not like on the download page, where is it written "GoogleCharts"), which took me 3 hours to notice)

My charts should be displayed on the page, but I got the following error:

Warning (512): Method GoogleChartHelper::createJsChart does not exist [CORE\Cake\View\Helper.php, line 192]

(and if I put the "s" in the View, my page displays like without any error but without any chart...)

Am I missing something?

N.B. : I didn't copy the first method given on the github page, because with it a new worst error appears:

Error: Call to a member function find() on null

That method is:

 //Get data from model
    //Get the last 10 rounds for score graph
    $rounds = $this->Round->find(
        'all',
        array(
            'conditions' => array(
                'Round.user_id' => $this->Auth->user('id')
            ),
            'order' => array('Round.event_date' => 'ASC'),
            'limit' => 10,
            'fields' => array(
                'Round.score',
                'Round.event_date'
            )
        )
    );

Please help me, I just want to display some random data in a chart and it should not be complicated (but with cakePHP, everything seems complex)...

Answer 1

The problem is that one step was missing: you have to write

<?php echo $this->fetch('script'); ?>

in View/Layouts/bootstrap.ctp and if you followed all other steps, it should work!