Re: Plotting in a MetaCard window ? Has anyone done it ?

Alan Hewat, ILL Grenoble (starnet!apple!ill.fr!hewat)
15 Mar 1994 09:01:27 +0000

sweeneyb@puzzler.nichols.com (Boyd Sweeney) writes:
> I've also been using gnuplot for my plotting needs. I've even added
>the capability for the user to set fonts, labels and ranges. I open
>gnuplot as a process instead of using shell() though. This method
>avoids the creation of any temporary files, since I read the postscript
>output directly from the process. Are you creating temporary files when
>using shell()?
> I've downloaded xmgr, but haven't looked at its 'batch' capabilities.
>How does it compare to gnuplot?

I have been mainly trying to learn how to use xmgr, and have only
looked briefly at gnuplot, so don't know enough to compare. Xmgr is
a large impressive motif application that can 'do everything' except that
no attempt is made at 2D or 3D plots as with gnuplot. With xmgr I can pipe
in the results of another application (myApp) without creating any temporary
files with;
put shell("myApp | xmgr -pipe")
By piping xmgr commands from myApp as well as the data, I can change axes,
labels, etc on the fly. Now I have to learn how to pipe commands from MC
to myApp so that I can control plotting and re-plotting from my own interface.

A naive question - what do you do to "open a process instead of using shell()" ?

> I attempted to create a few simple plots with the MetaCard graphics,
>but decided that it would be too complicated to construct what I needed.

> I believe that someone has developed a library from an older version
>of gnuplot. An enterprising person with lots of time on his hands might
>use this library to create a set of MetaCard externals. I'd sure be
>interested in helping test the results it they did. Hint, hint... :^)

Time is something I don't have anymore, but if I could formulate the problem
and the solution was cost effective, I might find someone to do it. The
alternative at present is to use IDL/PV~Wave for 2D plots and Iris Inventor
for 3D.

Alan Hewat, ILL Grenoble, FRANCE (hewat@ill.fr) Fax (France=33).76.48.39.06