How do I create graphs in Perl on Windows?

Question

How do I use Perl to create graphs?

I'm running scheduled job that creates text reports. I'd like to move this to the next step (for the management) and also create some graphs that go along with this. Is this possible / feasible? It'd be great if I could do this using Office some how.

update: solutions i'm going to investigate in this order

• Spreadsheet::WriteExcel (this seems to now have changed from the last time i investigated this .... wait, this was suggested by the author of the module. cool.)
• GD Graph - this is now available for ActivePerl(wasn't last time i looked)
• SVG
• Open Charts look interesting.
• Chartdirector

Answer 1

GD and GD::Graph are probably your best bets, you can use them to create images that you can then embed into whatever you need.

Answer 2

All of the methods mentioned above are really good, but personally I like SVG::TT::Graph. I really like the power that SVG gives you to draw really nice-looking graphs.