Chart.js — drawing an arbitrary vertical line
Update - this answer is for Chart.js 1.x, if you are looking for a 2.x answer check the comments and other answers.
You extend the line chart and include logic for drawing the line in the draw function.
Preview
HTML
<div>
<canvas id="LineWithLine" width="600" height="400"></canvas>
</div>
Script
var data = {
labels: ["JAN", "FEB", "MAR", "APR", "MAY", "JUN", "JUL", "AUG", "SEP", "OCT", "NOV", "DEC"],
datasets: [{
data: [12, 3, 2, 1, 8, 8, 2, 2, 3, 5, 7, 1]
}]
};
var ctx = document.getElementById("LineWithLine").getContext("2d");
Chart.types.Line.extend({
name: "LineWithLine",
draw: function () {
Chart.types.Line.prototype.draw.apply(this, arguments);
var point = this.datasets[0].points[this.options.lineAtIndex]
var scale = this.scale
// draw line
this.chart.ctx.beginPath();
this.chart.ctx.moveTo(point.x, scale.startPoint + 24);
this.chart.ctx.strokeStyle = '#ff0000';
this.chart.ctx.lineTo(point.x, scale.endPoint);
this.chart.ctx.stroke();
// write TODAY
this.chart.ctx.textAlign = 'center';
this.chart.ctx.fillText("TODAY", point.x, scale.startPoint + 12);
}
});
new Chart(ctx).LineWithLine(data, {
datasetFill : false,
lineAtIndex: 2
});
The option property lineAtIndex controls which point to draw the line at.
Fiddle - http://jsfiddle.net/dbyze2ga/14/
Sharing my solution for chartjs.org version 2.5. I wanted to use a plugin, to make the implementation reusable.
const verticalLinePlugin = {
getLinePosition: function (chart, pointIndex) {
const meta = chart.getDatasetMeta(0); // first dataset is used to discover X coordinate of a point
const data = meta.data;
return data[pointIndex]._model.x;
},
renderVerticalLine: function (chartInstance, pointIndex) {
const lineLeftOffset = this.getLinePosition(chartInstance, pointIndex);
const scale = chartInstance.scales['y-axis-0'];
const context = chartInstance.chart.ctx;
// render vertical line
context.beginPath();
context.strokeStyle = '#ff0000';
context.moveTo(lineLeftOffset, scale.top);
context.lineTo(lineLeftOffset, scale.bottom);
context.stroke();
// write label
context.fillStyle = "#ff0000";
context.textAlign = 'center';
context.fillText('MY TEXT', lineLeftOffset, (scale.bottom - scale.top) / 2 + scale.top);
},
afterDatasetsDraw: function (chart, easing) {
if (chart.config.lineAtIndex) {
chart.config.lineAtIndex.forEach(pointIndex => this.renderVerticalLine(chart, pointIndex));
}
}
};
Chart.plugins.register(verticalLinePlugin);
Usage is simple then:
new Chart(ctx, {
type: 'line',
data: data,
label: 'Progress',
options: options,
lineAtIndex: [2,4,8],
})
The code above inserts red vertical lines at positions 2,4 and 8, running through points of first dataset at those positions.