ASCII Art Generator

Generate ASCII art charts and visualizations with customizable styles and colors.

Supported Chart Types

| Type | Trigger Keywords | |------|------------------| | Bar Chart | bar chart, histogram, column chart | | Line Chart | line chart, trend, time series | | Pie Chart | pie chart, distribution, percentage | | Flowchart | flowchart, process, workflow | | Gantt Chart | gantt, timeline, schedule | | Table | table, grid, data table | | Tree | tree, hierarchy, org chart | | Box Plot | box plot, statistical, distribution | | Sparkline | sparkline, mini chart, inline |

Style Presets

| Preset | Characteristics | |--------|-----------------| | minimal | Single-line borders, simple connectors | | classic | Double-line borders, box-drawing characters | | modern | Rounded corners, Unicode symbols | | retro | ASCII-only, vintage style | | elegant | Light/shadow effects, decorative elements |

Color Mapping (Terminal)

| Color | Foreground | Background | Hex | |-------|------------|------------|-----| | Red | ▓▒░ | ▓▒░ | #FF6B6B | | Green | ▓▒░ | ▓▒░ | #51CF66 | | Yellow | ▓▒░ | ▓▒░ | #FCC419 | | Blue | ▓▒░ | ▓▒░ | #339AF0 | | Magenta | ▓▒░ | ▓▒░ | #CC5DE8 | | Cyan | ▓▒░ | ▓▒░ | #22B8CF | | White | ▓▒░ | ▓▒░ | #FFFFFF | | Gray | ▓▒░ | ▓▒░ | #868E96 |

Note: Colors use block characters for density visualization (░ ▒ ▓ █).

Chart Generation Examples

Bar Chart

Data: [Alice: 85, Bob: 92, Carol: 78, Dave: 95]
Style: classic
Color: blue

┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│        Score Distribution           │
├──────┬──────────────────────────────┤
│ Alice    ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░░░░░░░░ 85 │
│ Bob      ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░░░░░░ 92 │
│ Carol    ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░░░░░░░░░░░░ 78 │
│ Dave     ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░░░░ 95 │
└──────┴──────────────────────────────┘

Flowchart

Style: modern
Direction: top-down

    ┌─────────┐
    │  START  │
    └────┬────┘
         │
         ▼
    ┌─────────┐     YES
    │  Check   ├────────┐
    │  Input   │        │
    └────┬────┘        ▼
         │ NO      ┌─────────┐
         ▼         │  ERROR  │
    ┌─────────┐     └─────────┘
    │ Process │
    └────┬────┘
         │
         ▼
    ┌─────────┐
    │   END   │
    └─────────┘

Gantt Chart

Tasks: [Design: 3d, Dev: 5d, Test: 2d]
Style: minimal

Week:    1   2   3   4   5   6   7
        ───────────────────────────
Design  ████████
Dev           ████████████████
Test                          ████

Pie Chart (Text-based)

Segments: [A: 40%, B: 35%, C: 25%]
Style: classic

       ╭─────────────╮
      ╱   ╱     ╲    ╲
    ╱   ╱   B    ╲    ╲
   │   │  ▓▓▓▓▓   │    │
   │ A │ ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ │ C  │
   │   │ ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ │    │
    ╲   ╲   ███   ╱    ╱
      ╲   ╲  ██  ╱    ╱
       ╰─────────────╯
    A = 40%    B = 35%    C = 25%

Configuration Options

width: 80              # Chart width in characters
height: auto           # Auto or fixed height
padding: 1             # Inner padding
title: "Chart Title"   # Optional chart title
labels: true           # Show/hide axis labels
grid: true             # Show/hide grid lines
legend: true           # Show/hide legend
color_scheme: default  # Color scheme preset
border: true           # Show/hide border

ASCII Character Sets

Box Drawing

Single:     | - + | ┌ ┐ └ ┘ ├ ┤ ┬ ┴ ┼
Double:     ║ ═ ║ ╔ ╗ ╚ ╝ ╠ ╣ ╦ ╩ ╬
Mixed:      ┎ ┒ ┖ ┚ ┞ ┦ ┷ ┸ ┺ ┾

Block Characters (for color density)

Light:      ' . : ! * - ═ ╔
Medium:     + o O # @ &
Heavy:      ▓ █

Connectors

Arrows:     > < ^ v │ ─ └ ┘ ├ ┤
Curved:     ) ( [ ] { }

Output Format

Always output ASCII art in code blocks for proper display:

```
[ASCII chart content]
```

Include metadata as comment if needed:

# Title: Score Distribution
# Style: classic
# Date: 2025-01-19
┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│        Score Distribution           │
...

Best Practices

Choose appropriate width: Match content to expected display
Use consistent spacing: Align elements for readability
Select style to match context: Retro for CLI, Modern for web
Limit color usage: 2-3 colors maximum for clarity
Add labels: Always include axis labels and legends
Consider density: Use block characters for visual weight

Edge Cases

Empty data: Show placeholder with "No data" message
Single value: Adapt to show without comparison
Very large values: Normalize or use log scale
Long labels: Truncate or wrap intelligently
Negative values: Handle appropriately per chart type