Line Graph, Two Ways by kcsluis

index.html

<!DOCTYPE html>

<head>
	<meta charset="utf-8">
	<title></title>
	<style type="text/css">

	body {
		font-family: sans-serif;
		font-size: 10px;
	}
	.axis path {
		display: none;
	}
	.axis line {
		stroke-width:1px;
		stroke: #ccc;
		stroke-dasharray: 2px 2px;
	}
	.line1 {
		fill: none;
		stroke: #bbb;
		stroke-width: 8px;
	}
	.line2 {
		fill: none;
		stroke: #000;
	}

	</style>
</head>

<body>
</body>

<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/d3/3.5.5/d3.min.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<script>

var margin = {top: 20, right: 20, bottom: 20, left: 40};
var width = 960 - margin.left - margin.right,
		height = 500 - margin.top - margin.bottom;

var svg = d3.select("body").append("svg")
	.attr("width", width + margin.left + margin.right)
	.attr("height", height + margin.top + margin.bottom)
.append("g")
	.attr("transform", "translate(" + margin.left + "," + margin.top + ")");

// write a custom parser to address the format your dates are in
var parseDate = d3.time.format("%Y-%m").parse;

var xScale = d3.time.scale()
	.range([0,width]);
var yScale = d3.scale.linear()
	.range([height,0]);

var xAxis = d3.svg.axis()
	.scale(xScale)
	.orient("bottom");
var yAxis = d3.svg.axis()
	.scale(yScale)
	.tickSize(-width)
	.tickPadding(8)
	.orient("left");

var line = d3.svg.line()
	.x(function(d) { return xScale(d.date); })
	.y(function(d) { return yScale(d.private_job_change); });

d3.tsv("jobs.tsv", ready);

function ready(error, data) {
	if (error) return console.warn(error);

	data.forEach(function(d) {
		d.jobs_change = +d.jobs_change;
		d.private_job_change = +d.private_job_change;
		d.unemployment_rate = +d.unemployment_rate;
		d.date = parseDate(d.month_year);
	});
	
	xScale.domain(d3.extent(data, function (d) { return d.date; }));
	yScale.domain(d3.extent(data, function (d) { return d.private_job_change; }));

	svg.append("g")
		.attr("class", "x axis")
		.attr("transform", "translate(0," + (height) + ")")
		.call(xAxis);

	svg.append("g")
		.attr("class", "y axis")
		.call(yAxis);

	svg.append("path")
		.attr("class", "line1")
		.attr("d", line(data) );
		// "d" is the attribute that sets the path
		// this doesn't preserve data join

	svg.append("path")
		.datum(data)
		.attr("class", "line2")
		.attr("d", line);
		// just like data, but you're only doing one thing (datum)
		// this one does preserve the data join
		// NEITHER use enter. D3 is weird.

};

</script>

jobs.tsv

month_year	jobs_change	private_job_change	unemployment_rate
2008-11	-803	-797	6.8
2008-12	-661	-658	7.3
2009-01	-818	-839	7.8
2009-02	-724	-725	8.3
2009-03	-799	-787	8.7
2009-04	-692	-802	8.9
2009-05	-361	-312	9.4
2009-06	-482	-426	9.5
2009-07	-339	-296	9.5
2009-08	-231	-219	9.6
2009-09	-199	-184	9.8
2009-10	-202	-232	10
2009-11	-42	-42	9.9
2009-12	-171	-120	9.9
2010-01	-40	-40	9.7
2010-02	-35	-27	9.8
2010-03	189	141	9.8
2010-04	239	193	9.9
2010-05	516	84	9.6
2010-06	-167	92	9.4
2010-07	-58	92	9.5
2010-08	-51	128	9.6
2010-09	-27	115	9.5
2010-10	220	196	9.5
2010-11	121	134	9.8
2010-12	120	140	9.4
2011-01	110	119	9.1
2011-02	220	257	9
2011-03	246	261	8.9
2011-04	251	264	9
2011-05	54	108	9
2011-06	84	102	9.1
2011-07	96	175	9.1
2011-08	85	52	9.1
2011-09	202	216	9
2011-10	112	139	8.9
2011-11	157	178	8.7
2011-12	223	234	8.5
2012-01	275	277	8.3
2012-02	259	254	8.3
2012-03	143	147	8.2
2012-04	68	85	8.1
2012-05	87	116	8.2
2012-06	45	63	8.2
2012-07	181	163	8.3
2012-08	142	97	8.1
2012-09	114	104	7.8