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React Chart Component

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GitHub repository

Online Demo

height-chart-girl-component

You can use the component as-is in a React app, or include it in plain HTML or any other JavaScript framework.

Supported Features

  • Corrected/Chronological age with toggle
  • Zoom with zoom reset (optional prop)
  • Event logging - events associated with measurements
  • Bone ages
  • Mid-parental heights with mid-parental centile lines (at +2 and -2 SDS)

Version 6 new features

  • Rework the data structure to match that from API to prevent persisting data in the component in future
  • BMI SDS lines
  • SDS charts
  • Save to clipboard

New in 6.1

  • Dates included in tooltips
  • clinicianFocus (optional prop) to toggle between advice strings aimed at clinicians or those aimed at families / children & young people
  • Toggle button to allow user to constrain viewable chart to measurements or view the whole chart

Background

Why a Chart library?

In the process of building the API, we realised the difficulty for developers unfamiliar with growth charts to produce one acceptable to clinicians.

For example, charts typically have 9 main centile lines (though there are other formats), each of which can be rendered as a series. However, the UK-WHO chart is made of several growth references, each from different datasets, and it is a stipulation that they must not overlap. This means that for the four datasets which make up UK-WHO, the developer must render 36 separate 'sections' of centile lines, marrying them up correctly.

Even then, there are certain rules which are key, published by the RCPCH project board. These relate to usability of the charts. For example, the 50th centile should be de-emphasised. These and other rules are listed on the Client Specification.

Given the complexity, we decided to create a React component library for developers to use. We designed it to be customisable for direct use, but also as a demonstration for developers wanting to build the charts from the ground up.

For this reason, we have produced a permissively-licensed, open-source React component, which aims to simplify the process of creating a chart from the chart data received from the API. It makes the job of drawing a vector-graphic centile chart much easier.

If you want to see how the library is implemented, we have built a full client for the RCPCHGrowth API in React, which uses this component library, and can be found here.

Why use React?

React is a popular UI library for Javascript. It has endured well and seems like a popular choice for developers. Importantly, unlike some other Javascript frameworks which are primarily designed for Single Page Applications, React doesn't expect to have the entire webpage to itself. It can be used as a small component in any other web page, even if the main framework being used is completely different.

Tell us what you think

Let us know what you think of our design decisions, on this or any other area of the dGC Project, by chatting to us on our dGC Forum .

What about other frameworks/UI libraries?

If you need us to develop a charting component in a different language or framework, we may be able to do this with you or your company. We would need to discuss the requirements and quote for this service. You should be aware that all such RCPCH-developed artefacts will also be open source. We ensure the licensing of open source components is compatible with commercial use.

Contact us

To contact us for this service, email commercial@rcpch.ac.uk.

Getting started

npm i --save @rcpch/digital-growth-charts-react-component-library

Circular import errors

Victory Charts are a dependency (see below), built on top of D3.js. On build, it is likely you will get an error relating to circular dependencies for some files in the d3-interpolate module. This issue is logged here.

Running the Charts Package locally

To run the package locally alongside the React client, there are some extra steps. Since the Chart library and the React client both use React, the Charts will throw an error if you import them in the package.json of your app from a folder on your local machine.

For example, in your React app:

"dependencies": {
    "@rcpch/digital-growth-charts-react-component-library": "file:/Users/FooBar/Development/react/component-libraries/digital-growth-charts-react-component-library",
}

This causes a problem as it leads to 2 versions of React running. To overcome this, in your application:

cd node_modules/react
npm link

In the root folder of your Chart library:

npm link react

Repeat the same for react-dom ensuring all the package versions are the same for your app and the library. The library currently uses version 17.0.2 of React and React-dom.

Now, you can view your changes made live in your app:

npm run build

Refresh your app.

If the invalid hooks error persists, an alternative method is to add the following line to package.json in the library. This removes the node_modules from the build folder:

"scripts": {
        "postinstall": "rm -rf node_modules",
        ...
    },

Structure

This library has been written in Typescript. The main component is RCPCHChart, which takes the following props. Note that each component will only render a single chart type, so if you wanted to render a weight and a height chart, these must be done as two separate instances of the component.

RCPCHChart component

RCPCHChart component props 
{
title: string,
subtitle: string,
measurementMethod: 'height' | 'weight' | 'ofc' | 'bmi',
sex: 'male' | 'female',
measurementsArray: [Measurement],
reference: 'uk-who' | 'turner' | 'trisomy-21',
width: number,
height: number,
chartStyle: ChartStyle,
axisStyle: AxisStyle,
gridlineStyle: GridlineStyle,
centileStyle: CentileStyle,
sdsStyle?: SDSStyle;
measurementStyle: MeasurementStyle
midParentalHeightData?: MidParentalHeightObject,
enableZoom?: boolean,
chartType?: 'centile' | 'sds',
enableExport: boolean,
exportChartCallback: function(svg: any),
clinicianFocus?: boolean;
}

Measurement interface

The Measurement interface is structured to reflect the JSON Measurement object which is returned by the API. The RCPCHChart component uses the reference prop to determine which chart to render. So far, 3 references are supported: UK-WHO, Turner Syndrome and Down Syndrome. The reference data for the centiles are included in the library in plottable format in the chartdata folder.

Tip

In practice, this means you get the returned JSON from the dGC API, passing it directly in to the component. The component 'knows' how to render this correctly. You don't need to parse, restructure, or even understand the JSON returned from the API: just pass it directly to the component inside an array containing one Measurement object.

The Measurement interface structure is:

Measurement object structure 
export interface Measurement {
    birth_data: {
        birth_date: string;
        estimated_date_delivery: string;
        estimated_date_delivery_string: string;
        gestation_weeks: number;
        gestation_days: number;
        sex: 'male' | 'female';
    };
    child_observation_value: {
        measurement_method: 'height' | 'weight' | 'bmi' | 'ofc';
        observation_value: number;
        observation_value_error?: string;
    };
    measurement_dates: {
        chronological_calendar_age: string;
        chronological_decimal_age: number;
        clinician_decimal_age_comment: string;
        corrected_calendar_age: string;
        corrected_decimal_age: number;
        corrected_gestational_age?: {
            corrected_gestation_weeks?: number;
            corrected_gestation_days?: number;
        };
        lay_decimal_age_comment: string;
        observation_date: Date;
    };
    measurement_calculated_values: {
        chronological_centile: number;
        chronological_centile_band: string;
        chronological_measurement_error?: string;
        chronological_sds: number;
        corrected_centile: number;
        corrected_centile_band: string;
        corrected_measurement_error?: string;
        corrected_sds: number;
        measurement_method: 'height' | 'weight' | 'bmi' | 'ofc';
    };
    plottable_data: {
        centile_data: {
            chronological_decimal_age_data: {
                age_error?: string;
                age_type: 'chronological_age' | 'corrected_age';
                calendar_age: string;
                centile_band: string;
                clinician_comment: string;
                lay_comment: string;
                observation_error?: string;
                observation_value_error?: string;
                x: number;
                y: number;
                b: number;
                bone_age_type?: 'greulich-pyle' | 'tanner-whitehouse-ii' | 'tanner-whitehouse-iii' | 'fels' | 'bonexpert';
                bone_age_label?: string;
                bone_age_centile: number;
                bone_age_sds?: number;
                events_text?: string[];
            };
            corrected_decimal_age_data: {
                age_error: null;
                age_type: 'chronological_age' | 'corrected_age';
                calendar_age: string;
                centile_band: string;
                clinician_comment: string;
                lay_comment: string;
                observation_error?: string;
                observation_value_error?: string;
                x: number;
                y: number;
                b: number;
                bone_age_type?: 'greulich-pyle' | 'tanner-whitehouse-ii' | 'tanner-whitehouse-iii' | 'fels' | 'bonexpert';
                bone_age_label?: string;
                bone_age_centile: number;
                bone_age_sds?: number;
                events_text?: string[];
            };
        };
        sds_data: {
            chronological_decimal_age_data: {
                age_error?: string;
                age_type: 'chronological_age' | 'corrected_age';
                calendar_age: string;
                centile_band: string;
                clinician_comment: string;
                lay_comment: string;
                observation_error?: string;
                observation_value_error?: string;
                x: number;
                y: number;
                b: number;
                bone_age_type?: 'greulich-pyle' | 'tanner-whitehouse-ii' | 'tanner-whitehouse-iii' | 'fels' | 'bonexpert';
                bone_age_label?: string;
                bone_age_centile: number;
                bone_age_sds?: number;
                events_text?: string[];
            };
            corrected_decimal_age_data: {
                age_error?: string;
                age_type: 'chronological_age' | 'corrected_age';
                calendar_age: string;
                centile_band: string;
                clinician_comment: string;
                lay_comment: string;
                observation_error?: string;
                observation_value_error?: string;
                x: number;
                y: number;
                b: number;
                bone_age_type?: 'greulich-pyle' | 'tanner-whitehouse-ii' | 'tanner-whitehouse-iii' | 'fels' | 'bonexpert';
                bone_age_label?: string;
                bone_age_centile: number;
                bone_age_sds?: number;
                events_text?: string[];
            };
        };
    };
    bone_age: {
        bone_age?: number;
        bone_age_type?: 'greulich-pyle' | 'tanner-whitehouse-ii' | 'tanner-whitehouse-iii' | 'fels' | 'bonexpert';
        bone_age_centile?: number;
        bone_age_sds?: number;
        bone_age_text?: string;
    };
    events_data: {
        events_text?: string[];
    };
}

The styling components allow the user to customise elements of the chart. Chart styles control the chart and the tooltips.

Styling options available through ChartStyle 
interface ChartStyle{
    backgroundColour?: string, 
    width?: number, 
    height?: number,
    padding?: requires {left?: number, right?: number, top?: number, bottom?: number},
    titleStyle?: requires {name?: string, colour?: string, size?: number, weight?: 'bold' | 'italic' | 'regular'}
    subTitleStyle?: requires {name?: string, colour?: string, size?: number, weight?: 'bold' | 'italic' | 'regular'},,
    tooltipBackgroundColour?: string,
    tooltipStroke?: string,
    tooltipTextStyle?: requires {name?: string, colour?: string, size?: number, weight?: 'bold' | 'italic' | 'regular'}
    termFill?: string,
    termStroke?: string,
    infoBoxFill?: string,
    infoBoxStroke?: string
    infoBoxTextStyle?: requires {name?: string, colour?: string, size?: number, weight?: 'bold' | 'italic' | 'regular'}
    toggleButtonInactiveColour: string // relates to the toggle buttons present if age correction is necessary
    toggleButtonActiveColour: string
    toggleButtonTextColour: string
}

Note for the tooltips and infobox text sizes, these are strokeWidths, not point sizes as the text here is SVG.

Axis Styles

Axis styles control axes and axis labels 
interface AxisStyle{
    axisStroke?: string, 
    axisLabelTextStyle?: requires {name?: string, colour?: string, size?: number, weight?: 'bold' | 'italic' | 'regular'}
    tickLabelTextStyle?: requires {name?: string, colour?: string, size?: number, weight?: 'bold' | 'italic' | 'regular'}
}

Gridline Styles

Gridline styles allow/hide gridlines and control line width, presence of dashes, colour 
interface GridlineStyle{
gridlines?: boolean, 
    stroke?: string, 
    strokeWidth?: number, 
    dashed?: boolean
}

Centile Styles

Centile styles control the width and colour of the centile and SDS lines 
interface CentileStyle{
    sdsStroke?: string,
    sdsStrokeWidth?: string,
    centileStroke?: string, 
    centileStrokeWidth?: number, 
    delayedPubertyAreaFill?: string,
    midParentalCentileStroke?: number;
    midParentalCentileStrokeWidth?: number;
    midParentalAreaFill?: string;
}

SDS Styles

SDS styles control the colour and width of the SDS lines. As all measurement methods are rendered on a single chart, the user is offered the option of different colours for each measurement method (height, weight, head circumference(OFC) and body mass index (BMI)). If no SDS style is supplied, the centile line colour is used with an opacity applied to each measurement.

SDS Styles 
interface SDSStyle {
    lineStrokeWidth?: number;
    heightStroke?: string;
    weightStroke?: string;
    ofcStroke?: string;
    bmiStroke?: string;
}

Measurement Styles

Measurement styles control the plotted data points: colour, size and shape. Corrected ages are always rendered as crosses. Circles for chronological ages are preferred. On the SDS charts, measurement points are grey by default, with the measurement method in focus highlighted by rendering as a line. Points which are not highlighted can be emphasised on mouse hover, with the highlighted colour being set by the highlightedMeasurementFill prop.

Measurement Styles 
interface MeasurementStyle{
    measurementFill?: string,
    highLightedMeasurementFill?: string;
}

Mid-Parental Height

midParentalHeightData: This is the return value from the RCPCH API and takes the structure:

midParentalHeightData 
export interface MidParentalHeightObject {
    mid_parental_height?: number;
    mid_parental_height_sds?: number;
    mid_parental_height_centile?: number;
    mid_parental_height_centile_data?: Reference[]
    mid_parental_height_upper_centile_data?: Reference[]
    mid_parental_height_lower_centile_data?: Reference[]
    mid_parental_height_lower_value?: number
    mid_parental_height_upper_value?: number
}

This returns a mid-parental height, mid-parental SDS and centile, along with the centile data if the user wishes to plot a mid-parental centile. The structure of the Reference and Centile interfaces is:

Reference and Centile interface structures 
export interface Reference {
    [name: string]: ISexChoice
}

export interface ICentile {
    centile: number,
    data: IPlottedCentileMeasurement[],
    sds: number
}

export interface IPlottedCentileMeasurement {
    "l": string | number,
    "x": number,
    "y": number
}

export interface ISexChoice {
    male: IMeasurementMethod,
    female: IMeasurementMethod
}

export interface IMeasurementMethod{
    height?: ICentile[],
    weight?: ICentile[],
    bmi?: ICentile[],
    ofc?: ICentile[],
}

Centile data are returned from the RCPCH API in this same structure, though no API call is made from this component - all the centile data for all the references is included.

enableZoom

enableZoom: a boolean optional prop which defaults to false. If true, the user can press and mouse click to zoom in or out once measurements are being displayed. A reset zoom button also appears.

chartType

chartType: a string mandatory prop and must be one of 'centile' | 'sds'. It toggles between centile and SDS charts.

enableExport

enableExport: a boolean optional prop, defaults to false. If true, exportChartCallback must be implemented and a copy-paste button is rendered below the chart.

exportChartCallBack

exportChartCallback callback function implemented if enableExport is true. It receives an SVG element. This can be saved in the client to clipboard by converting to canvas using HTML5. An example implementation of this is here in our demo client.

clinicianFocus

clinicianFocus: a boolean optional prop which defaults to false. If true, the advice strings that are reported to users in tooltips are more technical and aimed at clinicians familiar with centile charts. If false, the advice strings will be less technical and more suitable for parents, guardians, carers or other laypersons.

Requests for additional functionality in props

In time, more props can be added if users request them. If you have requests, please post issues on our GitHub or get involved to contribute as below.

Contributing

See Contributing for information on how to get involved in the project.

You can get in touch with the primary developers to talk about the project using any of the methods on our contact page.

Acknowledgements

This Typescript library was built from the starter created by Harvey Delaney

The charts are built using Victory Charts for React. We tried several chart packages for React, but we chose Victory because of their documentation and their ability to customise components.

Licensing

The chart data bundled in the component is subject to copyright and is owned by the RCPCH. If you wish to use this software commercially, please contact the RCPCH so we can ensure you have the correct license for use.

This chart component software is released under the MIT license. License: MIT