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AA MM MM PPPP l t 222
A A M M M M P P l t 2 2
A A M M M P P l t 2 2
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A A M M P l o o t 2
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========================================
V2.00 Demo
Scientific and Technical Graph Plotting Software
for the Commodore Amiga
SciTech Software ©1992
Copyright Information
=====================
This demonstration version of AMPlot2 is copyright of SciTech Software
1992. However, it is freely distributable providing all files are
distributed and the files remain unaltered.
The full version of AMPlot2 allows datasets of any size (limited only by
available memory) and supports PostScript (including EPSF), HPGL and
IFF-DR2D output.
AMPlot2 is available from:
SciTech Software,
23, Stag Leys,
Ashtead,
Surrey.
KT21 2TD.
Tel.: (0372) 275775 (International: +44 372 275772)
AMPlot2 is available for £60.00. Upgrades from AMPlot V1.0 cost £12.00.
AMPlot2 will run on all Amigas with at least 1MByte of memory.
---oooOooo---
Introduction
============
AMPlot2 is a scientific and technical graph plotting program for the
Commodore Amiga designed to produce publication quality output (Amiga is
a trademark of Commodore-Amiga, Inc.). The program is fully compatible
with AmigaDOS V2.0, the enhanced chip set and the Amiga A600 and A3000.
Running AMPlot2
---------------
If the disk on which you are running AMPlot2 is not called `AMPlot2Demo',
you should first double-click on the AMPlot2Assigns icon. Click the
close gadget at the top left of the XIcon window when the installation
has finished.
You should then double click on the appropriate Setup icon, depending
whether you have AmigaDOS 1.3 or 2.0. SetupV2.0 assumes you have the V37+
diskfont.library in your LIBS: directory. This library allows you to use
the scaleable Compugraphic fonts on screen. If you have the file
diskfont.classic in your LIBS: directory, then you already have the V37+
diskfont.library installed. If not, copy diskfont.library to
diskfont.classic and copy the V37+ diskfont.library from the libs
directory of your Extras disk to LIBS:. Click the close gadget at the top
left of the XIcon window when the installation has finished.
If you are using AmigaDOS V1.3 and do not have the Times and Helvetica
fonts installed on your system, you should double click on the Fonts icon.
This will create a temporary fonts directory on your RAM: disk and
install the fonts there from your Extras disk. Click the close gadget at
the top left of the XIcon window when the installation has finished.
From the Workbench, AMPlot2 is run by double-clicking on its icon. A high
resolution interlaced custom screen will be opened in which you will
perform all manipulations of you graph. The screen contains 2 windows.
The upper window is used to display the graph. The lower window is simply
used to output messages from the program. On an NTSC Amiga, the message
window may be obscured by the main window - it will come to the front
when a message is displayed. The message window can be sent to the back by
clicking on the gadget at the top right of the window.
From a CLI, AMPlot2 is started by typing:
AMPlot2
This demonstration version of AMPlot2 limits you to displaying no more
than 10 datapoints and will not allow you to produce plot files.
Consequently the Project/Plot menu item and its sub-items are disabled.
---oooOooo---
Notes
=====
If you are using AmigaDOS V1.3, you may find that the title on the Y-axis
of a graph on screen is cramped up against the Y-axis labels. In addition
large font sizes (>= 24pt) may not render on the screen correctly. These
are bugs in the Times and Helvetica fonts supplied with AmigaDOS V1.3.
They are not problems with AMPlot2. The graphs will be rendered correctly
in hard copy plots and upgrading to AmigaDOS V2.0 will solve the problem
on screen. In addition, AmigaDOS V2.0 allows you to use the superior
Compugraphic fonts on screen. Since these are outline fonts, they can be
scaled much better.
---oooOooo---
Tutorial
========
This tutorial will let you experiment with some of the features of AMPlot2.
Feel free to experiment. There are a number of more advanced features not
described in the tutorial, but covered in the reference section.
---oooOooo---
Reference
=========
This section briefly describes each of the menu functions and requesters
in AMPlot2.
The Menus
---------
Project/Open Read a data file
Project/Save Save a data file
Project/Save As Save a data file
Project/Edit Edit the data file
Project/Plot/PostScript Save an image in PostScript format
Project/Plot/HPGL Save an image in HPGL format
Project/Plot/IFF-DR2D Save an image in IFF-DR2D format.
Project/Paper Sets dimension of the plot
Project/Set Pens Set colour/thickness of the 6 pens
Project/Screen Palette Set the screen palette
Project/Screen To Back Send the AMPlot2 screen to the back
Project/About Display information about the program
Project/Quit Exit from AMPlot2
Style/XY Select line graph style
Style/Scatter Select scatter plot style
Style/Bar Select barchart graph style
Style/Pie Select piechart graph style
Style/Errors Toggle display of error bars
Style/Eject Slice Eject a piechart slice
Style/Line Setup Set details of line and scatter styles
Style/Bar Setup Set details of barchart style
Style/Pie Setup Set details of piechart style
Axes/LogX Toggle log x-axis
Axes/LogY Toggle log y-axis
Axes/Boxed Toggle boxing of axes
Axes/Grid Toggle grid display
Axes/Set Axes Set axis bounds and ticks
Axes/Follow Zero Toggle axis follow zero
Text/Title Set the graph title
Text/Axis Titles Set the axis titles
Text/Axis & Pie Labels Set the axis labels
Text/Key Set the key
Text/Extra Labels Add extra text labels to the graph
Lines/Pen Set the pen for a dataset
Lines/Style/... Set the line style for a dataset
Lines/Fills/... Fill a bar or pie slice
Lines/Fill Control Set details of fill style
Fitting/Regression Simple regression fitting control
Fitting/Robust Toggle robust straight line fitting
Fitting/Fourier Fourier smoothing control
Fitting/Rexx Fit Regression fitting of ARexx function
Rexx/Execute Macro One-off execution of ARexx macro
Rexx/Install Macro Install an ARexx macro
Rexx/Debug Toggle debugging of ARexx commands
File Requesters
---------------
If you are using AmigaDOS V2.0, the system file requester will be used.
Under AmigaDOS V1.3, the Heath file requester will be used.
Paper Requester
---------------
The paper requester allows you to define the dimensions of your plot and,
for PostScript and HPGL plots the offset of the bottom left hand corner
of the graph. In addition the EPSF check-box allows you to control
whether standard PostScript, or EPSF is generated.
Set Pens Requester
------------------
AMPlot2 supports 6 pens. Each pen has an associated colour (for HPGL and
screen display), thickness (for PostScript and IFF-DR2D), datapoint mark
and link setting. This requester allows you to set the colour and
thickness. The datapoint mark and link setting are defined by the Line
Setup requester since they apply only to line graphs and scatter plots.
Screen Palette Requester
------------------------
This requester allows you to select your preferred colours for screen
display. These may be chosen to minimise interlace flicker.
About Requester
---------------
The about requester displays copyright information and the name of the
ARexx port if you have ARexx on your system.
Line Setup Requester
--------------------
The line setup requester allows you to define the datapoint mark
associated with each pen and whether the datapoint marks are linked in
the scatter style. In addition, the width of error bars and the size of
datapoint marks can be set.
Bar Setup Requester
-------------------
The bar setup requester controls the style of barchart display. Barcharts
may be overlayed, grouped, stacked or outline. (Note that grouped and
stacked styles will not be allowed with certain datasets). In the
overlayed style the bars of successive datasets are shrunk by the
percentage specified in this requester and a check box allows you to
shrink the first dataset. In addition this switches on and off shrinkage
of bars in the grouped style. The `fill all bars' checkbox controls
whether fills are applied to the whole dataset or to individual bars.
Pie Setup Requester
-------------------
The pie setup requester allows you to define where the first slice of the
piechart is (0 = right-pointing x-axis, 90 = up-pointing y-axis, etc.).
The percentage by which slices may be ejected is also specified here.
Set Axes Requester
------------------
This requester allows you to define the minimum and maximum values
displayed on each axis and the spacing of ticks and subticks. The `Auto'
gadgets cause the program to calculate the `best' bounds and ticks. The
Clip checkbox causes data outside the specified bounds not to be plotted
while the Sub checkbox switches on and off subticks on both axes. If you
require subticks on one axis only, they should be switched on and the
subtick spacing for the axis where they are not required should be set to
0.0.
Title Requester
---------------
Here, the title for the graph is specified. The position refers to the
bottom centre of the text and may be typed in or a click on the graph will
set the values. The `Centre' gadget calculates the position as half way
across and 90% up the graph. The font and size are also specified here.
Axis Titles Requester
---------------------
Titles for the axes and their fonts are specified here.
Axis/Pie Labels Requester
-------------------------
This requester allows you to set the fonts used for the axis labels and
for labels placed next to slices of a piechart. The precision of the axis
labels may also be set. This is the number of decimal places to be
displayed. If a negative value is given, exponential form is used for the
axis labels. For log axes, only the sign of the precision is taken into
account. The three check boxes allow labelling of the axes to be switched
off and labels on the x-axis to be centred. This can be useful for
barcharts. Clicking the `Bar/Pie Labels' gadget brings up a further
requester.
Bar/Pie Labels Requester
------------------------
This requester allows you to specify text for each bar or pie slice. You
can step through the labels with the `Next' and `Prev' gadgets. The
`Remove' gadget removes all the labels. For large datasets, this requester
will not be displayed since it would not be possible to place all the
labels along the x-axis.
Key Requester
-------------
The key requester allows you to specify some text for each dataset. As
with the `Bar/Pie Labels Requester' you can step through the labels with
the `Next' and `Prev' gadgets. The font for the key is specified here and
the position of the first item is specified (this may be done by clicking
in the graph). The `Remove' gadget will switch off the key. The key will
appear as a set of lines and datapoints, or (for barcharts and piecharts)
a set of shaded swatches next to the text.
Extra Labels Requester
----------------------
This allows any number of arbitrary pieces of text to be added to the
graph. Once again, one can specify the position by clicking on the graph
and one can step through the labels using the `Next' and `Prev' gadgets.
The `Kill' gadget removes a label. The `Kill All' gadget removes all
labels.
Pen Requester
-------------
This asks for a pen number. After clicking the `OK' gadget, you are
required to click on a datapoint. This dataset will then appear in the
specified pen number.
Fill Control Requester
----------------------
This allows you control over fills within the limitation of the display
device. PostScript, EPSF and IFF-DR2D output allows both hatched and
shaded fills while HPGL allows only hatched fills. The screen only shows
shaded fills. The thickness (for PostScript and IFF-DR2D) and spacing of
the hatching may also be specified.
Linear Regression Requester
---------------------------
This allows fitting of a simple polynomial of the form:
y = a + bx^2 + cx^3 + dx^4 + ....
The degree of the polynomial defines the number of terms used. The degree
must be less than 20 and also less than the number of points in the
dataset. If the degree is 2, a straight line will be produced. The
tolerence specifies the accuracy to which the fitting is performed. If
the coefficients are of the same order as the accuracy, a much smaller
value should be specified for the tolerence. The `Write Data' checkbox
causes detailed information on the fitting to be written to a file.
Fourier Smoothing Requester
---------------------------
This allows Fourier smoothing of the dataset to be performed. The
smoothing factor specifies the number of datapoints which are `averaged'
during the smoothing procedure (this need not be an integer).
Rexx Linear Regression Requester
--------------------------------
This allows fitting of polynomials written in ARexx. The requester works
in the same way as the `Linear Regression Requester', but also allows a
file requester to be displayed in which the function macro can be
specified.
---oooOooo---
The Datafile
============
The datafile used by AMPlot2 can be as simple as 2 columns of numbers or
may contain detailed commands to specify the exact format of the graph.
These commands are listed in the Table 1. When you save a graph from
within AMPlot2, these commands are added to the datafile to specify the
exact format of the graph.
---oooOooo---
The ARexx Interface
===================
The ARexx interface for AMPlot2 is very powerful. Almost all functions
available through the Intuition interface are available through ARexx. In
addition, line segments and additional datapoints can be placed on the
graph using ARexx commands. The ARexx interface is also used for fitting
of more complex polynomials using singular value decomposition. Functions
to be fitted are written in ARexx. These commands are detailed in the
Table 1.
---oooOooo---
Tool Types
==========
A number of defaults can be set using icon tooltypes. See your Amiga
manual if you do not know how to set the tooltypes for an icon. Table 2
shows the tooltypes which may be set. These defaults cannot be set if
you run AMPlot2 from a CLI.
---oooOooo---
Tables
======
Table 1: AMPlot Datafile and ARexx Commands
--------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commands applicable to Commands which
---------------------- do not cause the
DataFile ARexx graph to replot
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Data
-----
NEWSET x
COLUMNS <n> x
NDATA <n> x
Output
------
SIZE <x> <y> x x x
OFFSET <x> <y> x x x
EPSF x x x
NOEPSF x x
Pens
----
PEN <pen> x x x
STYLE <style> x x x
SETPEN <pen> <colour> <thickness> x x
PALETTE <scrpen> <r> <g><b> x x x
Styles
------
XY x x
SCATTER x x
BAR x x
PIE x x
ERRORS x x
NOERRORS x x
DATAPOINT <pen> <mark> <join> x x
EWIDTH <width> x x
MARKSIZE <size> x x
OVERLAYED x x
GROUPED x x
STACKED x x
OUTLINE x x
EJECT <slicenum> x x
UNEJECT <slicenum> x
SHRINK <val> x x
SHRFIRST x x
NOSHRFIRST x
PSTART <degrees> x x
EJBY <percent> x x
HATCH x x x
SHADE x x x
HTHICK <thick> x x x
HSPACE <space> x x x
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commands applicable to Commands which
---------------------- do not cause the
DataFile ARexx graph to replot
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fills
-----
FALL x
NOFILLALL x x
FILL <num> <x> <y> x x
PFILL <num> <angle> x x
Axes
----
LOGX x x
LOGY x x
BOXED x x
NOBOXED x
GRID x x
NOGRID x
BOUNDS <xmin> <xmax> <ymin> <ymax> x x
TICKS <x> <y> x x
CLIP x x
NOCLIP x x
SUBTICKS <x> <y> x x
SUBON x x
SUBOFF x x
CALCBOUNDS x
CALCTICKS x
FZERO x x
NOFZERO x
Labels and Titles
-----------------
TITLE <str> <x> <y> x x
TFONT <font> <size> x x
XLABEL <str> x x
YLABEL <str> x x
LFONT <font> <size> x x
XTFONT <fonr> <size> x x
YTFONT <font> <size> x x
XLFONT <font> <size> x x
YLFONT <font> <size> x x
XLAB x
NOXLAB x x
YLAB x
NOYLAB x x
CENTXLAB x x
NOCENTXLAB x
PRECISION <xprec> <yprec> x x
BPLAB <n> <text> x x
BPLOFF x
BPLON x
KEYPOS <x> <y> x x
KEYFONT <font> <size> x x
KEYTEXT <n> <text> x x
LABEL <n> <str> <x> <y> <font> <size> x x
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commands applicable to Commands which
---------------------- do not cause the
DataFile ARexx graph to replot
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fitting
-------
REGRESS <n> x x
TOL <n> x x
REGWRITE x x x
NOREGWRITE x x
NOREGRESS x
REXXFIT <n> <path/macro> x x
RTOL <n> x x
REXXWRITE x x x
NOREXXWRITE x x
NOREXXFIT x
ROBUST x x
NOROBUST x
FOURIER <n> x x
NOFOURIER x
MACRO <path/macro> x
Extra ARexx Commands
--------------------
MARK <x> <y> <num> x
DRAW <x> <y> [<x> <y>] x
OPEN <file> x
SAVE <file> x
PSPLOT <file> x
HPGLPLOT <file> x
DR2DPLOT <file> x
QUIT x
GETVAR <type> [<arraypos>] <variable> x
DATASET <dsetnum> x
EMPTY <xmin> <xmax> <ymin> <ymax> x
SETVAR <val> x
CBOUNDS <xmin> <xmax> <ymin> <ymax> x
ENDPLOT x x
ENDMACRO x x
AUTOON x x
AUTOOFF x x
REPLOT x
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 2: Icon Tooltypes
-----------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tooltype Function
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Size=<x> <y> Set default output dimensions
Offset=<x> <y> Set default output offset
HPGLMargin=<x> <y> Define HPGL paper margins
Title=<Font> <Size> Default title font and size
XTitle=<Font> <Size> Default X-axis title font and size
YTitle=<Font> <Size> Default Y-axis title font and size
XLabel=<Font> <Size> Default X-axis label font and size
YLabel=<Font> <Size> Default Y-axis label font and size
Key=<Font> <Size> Default Key font and size
Extralabel=<Font> <Size> Default Extra label font and size
Hatching=ON|OFF Use hatching or shading
HatchControl=<thick> <space> Thickness and spacing of hatching
Pen0=<R> <G> <B> Pen colours
Pen1=<R> <G> <B>
Pen2=<R> <G> <B>
Pen3=<R> <G> <B>
DIR=<directory> Default directory
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---oooOooo---
Plotting
========
AMPlot2 supports PostScript, EPSF, HPGL and IFF-DR2D plotting formats.
Public domain HPGL and PostScript interpreters are available on the Fish
Disks (Numbers 467 and 518 respectively). These allows plots to be produced
at the maximum resolution of any Preferences supported printer. The
commercial PixelScript (Pixelations, Inc.) and SaxonScript (Saxon
Industries) may also be used with AMPlot2.
---oooOooo---
Acknowledgements
================
SciTech Software acknowledges the use of Charlie Heath's file requester
and the palette requester from the copyrighted, but freely distributable
`The Amiga Programmer's Suite Book 1' by R. J. Mical which is available
on Fish Disk 107.
The requester and menu interface was written using the STSLib gadget and
menu library which is available from SciTech Software for £20.00.