In order to use KaleidaGraph, you need the following:
- A Macintosh Plus or newer running at least System 6.0.5.
- A minimum of 1200K bytes of free RAM (Random Access Memory). Additional RAM is recommended and increases KaleidaGraph’s performance.
- A hard disk with approximately 2000K bytes available to store KaleidaGraph and related files.
The shipping version of KaleidaGraph supports the Power Macintosh as well as the 68881 and 68882 floating point math coprocessors.
KaleidaGraph supports the following optional equipment:
- ImageWriter
- StyleWriter
- LaserWriter
- Large Screen Monitors
- Color Monitors
- Any output device that has a Chooser print driver.
* Limitations of Demo
Please be aware that certain features have been disabled or limited. These disabled/limited features include:
• Any Save function has been disabled.
• A banner will be placed on any printed output.
• A banner will be placed on any graph copied to the Clipboard.
• The Create Publisher command has been disabled in the data window. It can be used in the plot window, provided you are running System 7 or later.
Of course, these limitations do not exist in our non-demo (shipping) product.
* Getting Started
Launch KaleidaGraph by either double-clicking on the KaleidaGraph icon or by selecting the icon and choosing Open from the File menu.
When you launch KaleidaGraph there should be two windows; a data window and a Formula Entry window. As each window is clicked, it becomes active. The frontmost window is always the active window. Plots are created, by default, from the frontmost data window.
* On-Line Help
Help may be accessed by choosing Help... from the Apple Menu. The Help dialog describes the features available for each menu item in KaleidaGraph. Scroll the 'Help Topic' list until you see a topic you want to know more about (An example topic might be "Open"). Click on it. A detailed discussion will appear under 'Description'. Click the Done button to close the help dialog and return to the active window.
Note: The menus in the menu bar are available when you are in this dialog. Selecting a menu item (even if it is disabled) will take you to its section of 'Help Topics', automatically.
* The Formula Entry Window
The Formula Entry window is used to analyze and manipulate data in the active (frontmost) data window. Any function you run (ex. c1=c0^2) will always operate on the active data window. At this point, click on the Formula Entry window.
Algebraic formulas can be entered in this window and executed. These formulas can use columns from the data window as part of the calculation and the results can be assigned to another column.
• Click in the Help button (within this window) to display the topics available under Formula Syntax (Operators, Variables, Math Functions, etc.).
• Review these topics by clicking on each and reading their descriptions.
• When you are finished, click Done.
You are now ready to play with Formula Entry.
• Choose New from the File menu. A blank data window will appear.
• Enter some sample data in column 0 (1,2,3,4,5) and column 1 (0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 0.9).
• Choose Formula Entry from the Windows menu.
• Type the following function: c2=(c0 * c1 / 2) + 1
• Click Run. Notice that the results of the calculation are placed in column 2.
Let's create some sample plots with KaleidaGraph.
* Sample Line Plot with Least Squared Error Curve Fit
• Choose Open from the File menu.
• Locate and open the "Sample Data" folder (located in the "Examples Folder").
• Double-click on the file "example #1". This will open the file in a new data window.
Now, let's create a plot using the "example #1" data.
• Go to the Gallery menu and choose Line from the Linear sub-menu.
This will display the variable selection dialog. Notice that the name of the data file and its column titles are displayed in this dialog.
• Select "Time" as the X variable and "Test #1" as the Y variable by clicking in the appropriate radio buttons with your mouse.
• Click in the New Plot button and a Line plot will be created.
The X variable you selected is the independent variable and the Y variable is the dependent variable. By default, the X variable is plotted on the horizontal axis and the Y variable is plotted on the vertical axis.
The title of the plot is taken from the name of the data window. The X and Y axis titles are taken from the column titles of the variables being plotted. The Y variable title is also used in the legend.
Now that the graph has been created, it can be modified very easily. For example, let's remove the vertical grid lines and increase the maximum limit on the Y axis from 7 to 8.
• In order to make these changes, first select Axis Options from the Plot menu.
• Click on the radio button in front of Grids. The dialog will change to show the options that can be selected for the grid lines.
• Click on the pop-up menu to the right of Major and select None. This will remove the vertical grid lines.
The next step is to change the Y axis limits, which you will also do within this dialog.
• Select the Y axis in the pop-up menu under Axis Settings.
• Click in the radio button in front of Limits. The dialog will change to show the options that can be selected for the axis limits.
• Change the value in the Max field from 7 to 8.
• Click OK and the plot will implement the changes you have made.
The next set of changes involves how the data is represented on the plot. You will use the Plot Style dialog to change the line style, type of marker, and number of markers displayed.
• Select Plot Style from the Plot menu.
• Select a different marker to represent the variable on the plot. The markers are displayed on the left-hand side of the dialog. The first 6 markers in the left column are transparent; all of the others are opaque.
• Change the appearance of the line connecting the markers by clicking on a different line style, line width and/or variable color from the Style, Width, and Color options.
• Click on the Show Markers pop-up menu and select All to display a marker for each data point.
• Click OK and the plot will be re-drawn to reflect the changes that have been made.
The next change is to remove the plot title and the Y axis title.
• If Display Title is checked under the Plot menu, select it with your mouse to turn off this option. This will cause the title "example #1" to disappear.
• If you don't see the Y axis title, hide the Tool palette (by clicking in its close box).
• Using the Selection Arrow, click on the Y axis title. A border will appear around the title when it is selected.
• Press the delete key on the keyboard and the axis title will be removed.
KaleidaGraph allows you to quickly and easily fit a curve to a set of data points. In order to add a curve fit to the plot:
• Select Linear from the Curve Fit menu. This will display a dialog that allows you to select which variables to fit with the Least Squares Error method.
• Select a variable to be fit (in this case "Test #1") by clicking in its checkbox.
• Click OK. The curve fit will be calculated and the curve fit line will be drawn on the plot.
KaleidaGraph also allows you to display the equation that is calculated by the curve fit. To do this:
• Select Display Equation from the Plot menu. The fit’s equation will appear on the plot.
Once the curve fit equation is displayed, the position of the equation can be changed.
• Click on the equation with the Selection Arrow. A frame is drawn around the selected item.
• You can now move the equation to a new position by holding down the mouse button and dragging to another location. The equation will move along with the arrow.
• When the move is complete, click anywhere else in the window and the frame will disappear.
• You can use the same technique to move the legend.
The last modification to the plot will be the addition of error bars. Error bars let you illustrate the amount of error for the plotted data.
• Select Error Bars from the Plot menu.
• Click in the checkbox in the Y Err column to add vertical error bars. A dialog will be displayed so you can choose the type of error to be used.
• Click on the pop-up menu and select Standard Error. Both of the pop-up menus will have Standard Error selected because the Link Error Bars option is checked. Otherwise, it would be possible to have the error bar display one type of error for the positive portion and a different error for the negative portion.
• Click OK and you will return to the Error Bar dialog.
• Click in the Plot button and error bars will be added to the plot.
You have just created a customized plot.
* Sample Column Plot
The problem with most examples is that the data is carefully selected to provide good plots. In this example, the graph you create will have to be modified before it is useful.
• Choose Open from the File menu.
• Locate and open the "Sample Data" folder (located in the "Examples folder").
• Double-click on the file "Housing Starts". This will open the file in a new data window. Notice that the column titled "Year" is left justified. This is because it contains Text, not Numbers. When a text column is used as the X-axis variable (in a column plot), you can have up to 300 labels and an unlimited number of rows (categories) plotted.
Now, let’s create a plot using the "Housing Starts" data.
• Go to the Gallery menu and select Column from the Bar sub-menu.
This will display the variable selection dialog. Notice that the name of the data file and its column titles are displayed in this dialog.
• Select "Month" as the X variable and "1966(K)" as the Y variable by clicking in the appropriate radio buttons with your mouse.
• Click in the New Plot button and a Column plot will be created.
As you can see, this plot needs a few adjustments. The options you will look at show you how to adjust major and minor ticks, axis labels, fill patterns, column spacing, label rotation and column values.
The first set of changes will be made in the Axis Options dialog.
• In the Line plot example, you selected Axis Options from the Plot menu. Another way of getting into the Axis Options dialog is to triple-click on any of the axes.
• The first change is the same as it was for the Line plot example. Make sure the X axis is selected in the pop-up menu under Axis Settings.
• Click on the radio button in front of Grids. The dialog will change to show the options that can be selected for the grid lines.
• Click on the pop-up menu to the right of Major and select None.
Now you will remove the tick marks on the X axis.
• Click on the radio button in front of Ticks. The dialog will change to show the options that can be selected for the major and minor ticks.
• Click on the pop-up menu under Major and select None.
The next change also involves the tick marks, but this time on the Y axis.
• Select the Y axis from the pop-up menu under Axis Settings.
• Choose Out from both the Major and Minor menus.
The next step is to change the Y axis limits from 140 to 160.
• Click in the radio button in front of Limits. The dialog will change to show the options that can be selected for the limits.
• Change the value in the Max field from 140 to 160.
The last change in this dialog involves changing the Y axis labels to display every other label.
• Click in the Labels radio button.
• Select Every Nth from the pop-up menu.
• Change the value in the field below the menu from 1 to 2.
• Click OK to leave the dialog and the plot will be re-drawn to reflect all of the changes that were made while in the Axis Options dialog.
Now you want to change the fill pattern using the Plot Style dialog.
• In the Line plot example, you selected Plot Style from the Plot menu. Another way of getting into the Plot Style dialog is to triple-click on the small square in the legend which is filled with the same pattern as the columns.
• You can now choose a different fill pattern for the columns. Click on one of the fill patterns and a frame will appear around that pattern to show that it is selected.
• Click OK to leave the dialog.
Now you will increase the amount of space between the columns.
• Select Plot Extras from the Format menu.
• Change the Column Offset percentage from 20 to 40%.
• Click OK to exit the dialog and the plot will be re-drawn.
In this section, you are going to remove both of the axis titles and rotate the X axis labels so that they no longer overlap. In the first example, you removed the axis titles by selecting them and then pressing the delete key. Now you will remove them with the Eraser from the Tool palette.
• Select the Eraser tool from the palette by clicking on it.
• Move it on top of the X axis title, "Month," and press the mouse button.
• Use the same procedure to remove the Y axis title, "1966 (K)."
• In order to rotate the X axis labels, you need to choose the Selection Arrow from the Tool palette.
• Move the arrow over one of the X axis labels and double-click. Notice that this dialog has its own set of menus.
• Choose 90 Degree Rotation from the Format menu.
• Also select Right Justify from the Format menu so that the rotated labels will line up evenly.
• Click OK to get back to the plot window.
• Click on one of the X axis labels with the Selection Arrow. A frame is drawn around the labels.
• You can now move them closer to the axis by holding down the mouse button and dragging to another location.
• When the move is complete, click anywhere else in the window and the frame will disappear.
• If the labels are not completely visible, click on one of the axes and drag the plot until there is enough room for the axis labels. The labels will move along with the plot.
This section shows how to add data values to the Column plot. Before adding values, let‘s move the legend to the upper right corner of the plot.
• Click on the legend with the Selection Arrow. A frame is drawn around the selected item.
• You can now move the legend to a new position by holding down the mouse button and dragging to another location.
• When the move is complete, click anywhere else in the window and the frame will disappear.
In order to place data values on the plot:
• Select Add Values from the Plot menu. The values are placed at the top of each column.
• The values can be moved as a group by clicking on one of the values with the Selection Arrow. A large frame will appear around all of the values.
• This frame can be moved to a new location by holding down the mouse button and dragging to a new location.
• Click anywhere outside of the frame and the values will be re-drawn.
The Column plot is now complete.
* Sample Plot
KaleidaGraph has several features that are designed to help you manage your data and graphics. To generate a graph, you first create one or more data windows, and then plot the data. Once the graph is created, you can save your final plot.
The goal of this section is to demonstrate that by saving a KaleidaGraph graphic document with the data, (the default with Save and Save As), a complete set of style and data information is stored in the graphic document. The graphic style, plot layout, error bars, curve fits, original data and applicable posted notes are all embedded in the final graphic document.
Let’s open an example graphic document, called "Single-Sided Error Plot" (located in the "Plots" folder, within the "Examples folder").
• Double-click on "Single-Sided Error Plot" from the Finder, or select Open from the File menu in KaleidaGraph and select this document. A new plot window will be displayed containing the plot.
As you can see, error bars are included in the plot. This particular plot was saved with its data embedded in the plot. This allows changes to be made to the plot without extracting the data.
• With the sample plot frontmost, select Extract Data from the Plot menu. The data used to create the plot will be displayed.
The title of the window begins with the same name as the original data file, "Test data". Additionally, a time and date stamp is appended to the name, identifying when the data was archived in the plot. The data is still linked to the plot window, so nothing with regard to the error bars, etc. has changed.
* Replotting Saved Plots
A special comment should be made about replotting variables to graphs that have been saved out to disk and reopened later. When a graph is reopened and active (frontmost on the screen), if you select a plot type other than Template from the Gallery menu, the variables you are limited to choosing among are from the data windows used when the plot was originally created (extractable data windows that are still archived within the plot).
This feature keeps the desktop from being cluttered with dozens of data windows. It also serves to group a plot's data with it, while allowing a plot to be replotted with the same or different data.
Let's say that you like your graphic, but want to plot new data to it.
If you want to just delete or ignore extractable data, the simplest way to plot new data to the current plot is to select Template from the Gallery menu. You will be presented with a variable selection dialog, and any open/extracted data windows will be available.
* Formula Scripts
KaleidaGraph supports an internal set of scripting commands in the Posted Note of Formula Entry. These commands allow you to automate the process of opening and closing data windows, creating plots and exporting plots to a printer or the Clipboard. Scripts are particularly useful if you repeatedly open the same type of text files, perform the same set of data manipulations and generate the same types of plots. The scripting commands are described in the Help file.
The "Scripts" folder contains a sample formula script. This sample script imports a text data file, manipulates the data, and creates two plots. You can build on this script in order to streamline the process of creating and printing plots. The script is listed below and is followed by an explanation of how it works and how to execute it.
#SET_DIRECTORY
directory = ""
#END
#DATAFILE
file = ":Examples folder:Sample Text Data:example - text"
delimiter = tab
skip = 0
read_titles = TRUE
del_number = 0
#END
#FORMULA
c3 = (c1 + c2) /2;
name("Mean Values", c3);
#END
#SCRIPT
plot_type = line
begin_group
title = "Test Data Plot"
legend = "Test #1"
legend = "Test #2"
x = 0
y = 1
y = 2
end_group
begin_group
title = "Test Data Plot - Mean"
legend = "Mean of Test Data"
x = 0
y = 3
end_group
#END
- Explanation of the Script
The Set Directory portion sets the default directory. (In this case, it is set to be the application directory.)
The Datafile portion of the script locates and imports the text file specified in the path name. If the string is left blank (i. e., " "), the Open dialog will appear and you can select which file to import. The text file is imported using the settings for delimiter type, number of lines to skip, reading titles and the number of delimiters between columns.
The Formula portion is used to perform some calculations on the imported data. This formula calculates the average for the two Test columns and stores the results in column 3. It also makes "Mean Values" the title of column 3.
The last portion of the script is used to generate the plots. The first line determines the plot type.
The plots are created from the settings in the group portions of the script. A separate plot is created for each group. The plot title and legend are determined from the text strings given. The variables are selected for plotting by setting x and y equal to the desired column numbers, in this case columns 0, 1, and 2 for the first plot and columns 0 and 3 for the second plot.
- Executing the Formula Script
In order to run the sample script:
• Choose Formula Entry from the Windows menu.
• Click on the Posted Note icon in the lower left corner of the Formula Entry window.
• In the text editor that is displayed, click on the Open button.
• Locate and open the "Sample Formula Script" file in the "Scripts" folder.
• Click OK to leave the text editor and return to Formula Entry.
• Click Run and watch KaleidaGraph open the data and create the plots.
Note: This script is set up to operate automatically provided the data files and their folders have been installed and have not been renamed or moved. Otherwise, the data file will not be located and an error dialog will be displayed.
* Quitting KaleidaGraph
To close the KaleidaGraph application and return to the desktop, select Quit from the File menu. A dialog will be displayed so you can specify what should be saved. (Only the Style can be saved from the demo version.)
