On Sun, 2004-02-01 at 17:16, C Y wrote:
> --- James Amundson <amundson@fnal.gov> wrote:
> > I am not interested in creating a more generalized interface to
> > plotting programs at the present time. If someone else is
> > interested in doing such a thing, I will not try to stop him/her.
>
> I'm a bit confused as to what people mean by a "generalized" interface.
> Most plotting programs have syntax and options specific to themselves,
> as I understand it - how general can any interface be?
Most plotting packages allow the user to
1) Set the range of an axis
2) Set the label of an axis
3) Change the symbol and/or line associated with a data set
4) Change the title of the figure
5) ...
That's the sort of general system I don't want to build into maxima at
this time.
> > I would like to see better plotting in the future, but I would
> > first have to see a plotting package that compelled me to switch
> > from gnuplot. I actually hate gnuplot, I just hate it less than
> > everything else. I am eagerly awaiting a superior replacement.
>
> Out of curosity, what thing(s) do you hate most about gnuplot, and what
> would you most like to see in a new package?
I could fill a book with the answer to this question. Here are a few
highlights:
1) It is 2004. When I see something I want to change in a graphic, I
should be able to click on it and change it. That does not mean that I
want to lose the ability to interact with a graphic programatically.
2) Gnuplot's output to various "terminals" varies considerably. I
should be able to get screen output and the equivalent postscript file.
The only way to do that right now is to always use the postscript
terminal and render the results using ghostscript. The non-postscript
terminals are too crude.
3) Gnuplot has a complicated internal state that can be neither queried
nor easily reset.
4) The syntax for the plot command includes a zillion arguments, most
of which are named. Even though the arguments are named, they must occur
in the proper order. Oi.
5) There are times when I need to generate multiple similar figures.
For aesthetic reasons, I would like their axes to have the same physical
dimensions, even though the labels and numbers vary. I do not know how
to do this with gnuplot.
I'll stop now. If anyone is interested in starting a plotting project, I
would certainly like to discuss the design.
--Jim