Plotchart(n) Plotchart Plotchart(n)
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NAME
Plotchart - Simple plotting and charting package
SYNOPSIS
package require Tcl ?8.4?
package require Tk ?8.4?
package require Plotchart ?1.9.0?
::Plotchart::createXYPlot w xaxis yaxis
::Plotchart::createStripchart w xaxis yaxis
::Plotchart::createTXPlot w timeaxis xaxis
::Plotchart::createXLogYPlot w xaxis yaxis
::Plotchart::createLogXYPlot w xaxis yaxis
::Plotchart::createLogXLogYPlot w xaxis yaxis
::Plotchart::createPolarplot w radius_data
::Plotchart::createWindrose w radius_data sectors
::Plotchart::createIsometricPlot w xaxis yaxis stepsize
::Plotchart::createHistogram w xaxis yaxis
::Plotchart::create3DPlot w xaxis yaxis zaxis
::Plotchart::create3DRibbonPlot w yaxis zaxis
::Plotchart::createPiechart w
::Plotchart::createRadialchart w names scale style
::Plotchart::createBarchart w xlabels yaxis noseries
::Plotchart::createHorizontalBarchart w xaxis ylabel noseries
::Plotchart::create3DBarchart w yaxis nobars
::Plotchart::create3DRibbonChart w names yaxis zaxis
::Plotchart::createBoxplot w xaxis ylabels
::Plotchart::createTimechart w time_begin time_end args
::Plotchart::createGanttchart w time_begin time_end args
::Plotchart::createRightAxis w yaxis
$anyplot title text
$anyplot saveplot filename args
$anyplot xtext text
$anyplot ytext text
$anyplot vtext text
$anyplot xconfig -option value ...
$anyplot yconfig -option value ...
$anyplot background part colour_or_image dir ?brightness?
$anyplot xticklines colour
$anyplot yticklines colour
$anyplot legend series text
$anyplot legendconfig -option value ...
$anyplot balloon x y text dir
$anyplot balloonconfig args
$anyplot plaintext x y text dir
$anyplot plaintextconfig args
$xyplot plot series xcrd ycrd
$xyplot trend series xcrd ycrd
$xyplot rchart series xcrd ycrd
$xyplot interval series xcrd ymin ymax ?ycentr?
$xyplot box-and-whiskers series xcrd ycrd
$xyplot vector series xcrd ycrd ucmp vcmp
$xyplot vectorconfig series -option value ...
$xyplot dot series xcrd ycrd value
$xyplot dotconfig series -option value ...
$xyplot contourlines xcrd ycrd values ?classes?
$xyplot contourlinesfunctionvalues xvec yvec valuesmat ?classes?
$xyplot contourfill xcrd ycrd values ?classes?
$xyplot contourbox xcrd ycrd values ?classes?
$xyplot colorMap colours
$xyplot grid xcrd ycrd
$xyplot xband ymin ymax
$xyplot yband xmin xmax
$xyplot labeldot x y text orient
$polarplot plot series radius angle
$windrose plot data colour
$plot3d plotfunc function
$plot3d plotfuncont function contours
$plot3d gridsize nxcells nycells
$plot3d plotdata data
$plot3d colours fill border
$plot3d ribbon yzpairs
$plot3d plot yzpairs
$xyplot dataconfig series -option value ...
$pie plot data
$pie colours colour1 colour2 ...
$pie explode segment
$radial plot data colour thickness
$pie colours colour1 colour2 ...
$barchart plot series ydata colour ?dir? ?brightness?
$barchart config -option value ...
$barchart plot series xdata colour ?dir? ?brightness?
$barchart config -option value ...
$barchart plot label yvalue colour
$barchart config -option value ...
$ribbon line xypairs colour
$ribbon area xypairs colour
$boxplot plot label values
$timechart period text time_begin time_end colour
$timechart milestone text time colour
$timechart vertline text time
$timechart hscroll scrollbar
$timechart vscroll scrollbar
$ganttchart task text time_begin time_end completed
$ganttchart milestone text time colour
$ganttchart vertline text time
$ganttchart connect from to
$ganttchart summary text args
$ganttchart color keyword newcolor
$ganttchart font keyword newfont
$ganttchart hscroll scrollbar
$ganttchart vscroll scrollbar
$isoplot plot rectangle x1 y1 x2 y2 colour
$isoplot plot filled-rectangle x1 y1 x2 y2 colour
$isoplot plot circle xc yc radius colour
$isoplot plot filled-circle xc yc radius colour
::Plotchart::viewPort w pxmin pymin pxmax pymax
::Plotchart::worldCoordinates w xmin ymin xmax ymax
::Plotchart::world3DCoordinates w xmin ymin zmin xmax ymax zmax
::Plotchart::coordsToPixel w x y
::Plotchart::coords3DToPixel w x y z
::Plotchart::polarCoordinates w radmax
::Plotchart::polarToPixel w rad phi
::Plotchart::pixelToCoords w x y
::Plotchart::pixelToIndex w x y
::Plotchart::determineScale xmin xmax inverted
::Plotchart::determineScaleFromList values inverted
::Plotchart::plotconfig charttype component property value
::Plotchart::createTargetDiagram w limits scale
$target plot series xvalues yvalues
::Plotchart::createPerformanceProfile w max
$performance plot series_and_data_pairs
::Plotchart::plotmethod charttype methodname plotproc
::Plotchart::plotpack w dir args
$anyplot bindplot event command args
$anyplot bindlast series event command
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DESCRIPTION
Plotchart is a Tcl-only package that focuses on the easy creation of xy-plots, barcharts and other common types of graphical presentations.
The emphasis is on ease of use, rather than flexibility. The procedures that create a plot use the entire canvas window, making the layout
of the plot completely automatic.
This results in the creation of an xy-plot in, say, ten lines of code:
package require Plotchart
canvas .c -background white -width 400 -height 200
pack .c -fill both
#
# Create the plot with its x- and y-axes
#
set s [::Plotchart::createXYPlot .c {0.0 100.0 10.0} {0.0 100.0 20.0}]
foreach {x y} {0.0 32.0 10.0 50.0 25.0 60.0 78.0 11.0 } {
$s plot series1 $x $y
}
$s title "Data series"
A drawback of the package might be that it does not do any data management. So if the canvas that holds the plot is to be resized, the
whole plot must be redrawn. The advantage, though, is that it offers a number of plot and chart types:
o XY-plots like the one shown above with any number of data series.
o Stripcharts, a kind of XY-plots where the horizontal axis is adjusted automatically. The result is a kind of sliding window on the
data series.
o Polar plots, where the coordinates are polar instead of cartesian.
o Histograms, for plotting statistical information.
o Isometric plots, where the scale of the coordinates in the two directions is always the same, i.e. a circle in world coordinates
appears as a circle on the screen.
You can zoom in and out, as well as pan with these plots (Note: this works best if no axes are drawn, the zooming and panning rou-
tines do not distinguish the axes), using the mouse buttons with the control key and the arrow keys with the control key.
o Piecharts, with automatic scaling to indicate the proportions.
o Barcharts, with either vertical or horizontal bars, stacked bars or bars side by side.
o Timecharts, where bars indicate a time period and milestones or other important moments in time are represented by triangles.
o 3D plots (both for displaying surfaces and 3D bars)
With version 1.5 a new command has been introduced: plotconfig, which can be used to configure the plot options for particular types of
plots and charts (cf. CONFIGURATION OPTIONS) With version 1.8.3 several new features were introduced, which allow more interactivity (cf.
INTERACTIVE USE)
PLOT CREATION COMMANDS
You create the plot or chart with one single command and then fill the plot with data:
::Plotchart::createXYPlot w xaxis yaxis
Create a new xy-plot (configuration type: xyplot).
widget w (in)
Name of the existing canvas widget to hold the plot.
list xaxis (in)
A 3-element list containing minimum, maximum and stepsize for the x-axis, in this order. For an inverted axis, where the
maximum appears on the left-hand side, use: maximum, minimum and a negative stepsize.
list yaxis (in)
A 3-element list containing minimum, maximum and stepsize for the y-axis, in this order. For an inverted axis, where the
maximum appears at the bottom, use: maximum, minimum and a negative stepsize.
::Plotchart::createStripchart w xaxis yaxis
Create a new strip chart (configuration type: stripchart). The only difference to a regular XY plot is that the x-axis will be auto-
matically adjusted when the x-coordinate of a new point exceeds the maximum.
widget w (in)
Name of the existing canvas widget to hold the plot.
list xaxis (in)
A 3-element list containing minimum, maximum and stepsize for the x-axis, in this order. Note that an inverted x-axis is not
supported for this type of plot.
list yaxis (in)
A 3-element list containing minimum, maximum and stepsize for the y-axis, in this order. For an inverted axis, where the
maximum appears at the bottom, use: maximum, minimum and a negative stepsize.
::Plotchart::createTXPlot w timeaxis xaxis
Create a new time-x-plot (configuration type: txplot). The horizontal axis represents the date/time of the data and the vertical
axis the values themselves.
widget w (in)
Name of the existing canvas widget to hold the plot.
list timeaxis (in)
A 3-element list containing the minimum and maximum date/time to be shown and the stepsize (in days) for the time-axis, in
this order. Note that an inverted time-axis is not supported.
list xaxis (in)
A 3-element list containing minimum, maximum and stepsize for the vertical axis, in this order. For an inverted axis, where
the maximum appears at the bottom, use: maximum, minimum and a negative stepsize.
::Plotchart::createXLogYPlot w xaxis yaxis
Create a new xy-plot where the y-axis has a logarithmic scale (configuration type: xlogyplot).
The data should be given as for a linear scale, as the logarithmic transformation is taken of internally.
widget w (in)
Name of the existing canvas widget to hold the plot.
list xaxis (in)
A 3-element list containing minimum, maximum and stepsize for the x-axis, in this order. For an inverted axis, where the
maximum appears on the left-hand side, use: maximum, minimum and a negative stepsize.
list yaxis (in)
A 2-element list containing minimum and maximum for the y-axis, in this order. Note that an inverted logarithmic axis is not
supported.
::Plotchart::createLogXYPlot w xaxis yaxis
Create a new xy-plot where the x-axis has a logarithmic scale (configuration type: logxyplot).
The data should be given as for a linear scale, as the logarithmic transformation is taken of internally.
widget w (in)
Name of the existing canvas widget to hold the plot.
list xaxis (in)
A 2-element list containing minimum and maximum for the x-axis, in this order. Note that an inverted logarithmic axis is not
supported.
list yaxis (in)
A 3-element list containing minimum, maximum and stepsize for the y-axis, in this order. For an inverted axis, where the
maximum appears on the left-hand side, use: maximum, minimum and a negative stepsize.
::Plotchart::createLogXLogYPlot w xaxis yaxis
Create a new xy-plot where both the x-axis and the y-axis have a logarithmic scale (configuration type: logxlogyplot).
The data should be given as for a linear scale, as the logarithmic transformation is taken of internally.
widget w (in)
Name of the existing canvas widget to hold the plot.
list xaxis (in)
A 2-element list containing minimum and maximum for the x-axis, in this order. Note that an inverted logarithmic axis is not
supported.
list yaxis (in)
A 2-element list containing minimum and maximum for the y-axis, in this order. Note that an inverted logarithmic axis is not
supported.
::Plotchart::createPolarplot w radius_data
Create a new polar plot (configuration type: polarplot).
widget w (in)
Name of the existing canvas widget to hold the plot.
list radius_data (in)
A 2-element list containing maximum radius and stepsize for the radial axis, in this order.
::Plotchart::createWindrose w radius_data sectors
Create a new windrose diagram. The diagram will consist of concentric circles as defined by the radius_data argument and a number of
sectors (given by the sectors argument). The sectors are drawn in the "nautical" convention, that is: the first is located at the
positive y-axis, the second is to the right and so on in a clockwise direction.
widget w (in)
Name of the existing canvas widget to hold the diagram
list radius_data (in)
A 2-element list, the first element is the maximum radius, the second is the step to be used for the circles.
int sectors
Number of sectors to use (defaults to 16).
::Plotchart::createIsometricPlot w xaxis yaxis stepsize
Create a new isometric plot, where the vertical and the horizontal coordinates are scaled so that a circle will truly appear as a
circle (configuration type: isometric).
widget w (in)
Name of the existing canvas widget to hold the plot.
list xaxis (in)
A 2-element list containing minimum, and maximum for the x-axis, in this order.
list yaxis (in)
A 2-element list containing minimum, and maximum for the y-axis, in this order.
float|noaxes stepsize (in)
Either the stepsize used by both axes or the keyword noaxes to signal the plot that it should use the full area of the wid-
get, to not draw any of the axes.
::Plotchart::createHistogram w xaxis yaxis
Create a new histogram (configuration type: histogram).
widget w (in)
Name of the existing canvas widget to hold the plot.
list xaxis (in)
A 3-element list containing minimum, maximum and stepsize for the x-axis, in this order.
list yaxis (in)
A 3-element list containing minimum, maximum and stepsize for the y-axis, in this order.
::Plotchart::create3DPlot w xaxis yaxis zaxis
Create a new 3D plot.
widget w (in)
Name of the existing canvas widget to hold the plot.
list xaxis (in)
A 3-element list containing minimum, maximum and stepsize for the x-axis, in this order.
list yaxis (in)
A 3-element list containing minimum, maximum and stepsize for the y-axis, in this order.
list zaxis (in)
A 3-element list containing minimum, maximum and stepsize for the z-axis, in this order.
::Plotchart::create3DRibbonPlot w yaxis zaxis
Create a new 3D ribbon plot. It is a simplification of the full 3D plot and allows for the drawing of a ribbon only (the x-axis is
dropped).
widget w (in)
Name of the existing canvas widget to hold the plot.
list yaxis (in)
A 3-element list containing minimum, maximum and stepsize for the y-axis, in this order.
list zaxis (in)
A 3-element list containing minimum, maximum and stepsize for the z-axis, in this order.
::Plotchart::createPiechart w
Create a new piechart (configuration type: piechart).
widget w (in)
Name of the existing canvas widget to hold the plot.
::Plotchart::createRadialchart w names scale style
Create a new radial chart (the data are drawn as a line connecting the spokes of the diagram) (configuration type: radialchart).
widget w (in)
Name of the existing canvas widget to hold the plot.
list names (in)
Names for the spokes.
float scale (in)
Scale value to determine the position of the data along the spokes.
float style (in)
Style of the chart (optional). One of:
o lines - the default: draw the data as independent polylines.
o cumulative - draw the data as polylines where the data are accumulated.
o filled - draw the data as filled polygons where the data are accumulated
::Plotchart::createBarchart w xlabels yaxis noseries
Create a new barchart with vertical bars (configuration type: vertbars). The horizontal axis will display the labels contained in
the argument xlabels. The number of series given by noseries determines both the width of the bars, and the way the series will be
drawn.
If the keyword stacked was specified the series will be drawn stacked on top of each other. Otherwise each series that is drawn will
be drawn shifted to the right.
The number of series determines the width of the bars, so that there is space of that number of bars. If you use a floating-point
number, like 2.2, instead of an integer, like 2, a small gap between the sets of bars will be drawn - the width depends on the frac-
tional part.
widget w (in)
Name of the existing canvas widget to hold the plot.
list xlabels (in)
List of labels for the x-axis. Its length also determines the number of bars that will be plotted per series.
list yaxis (in)
A 3-element list containing minimum, maximum and stepsize for the y-axis, in this order.
int|stacked noseries (in)
The number of data series that will be plotted. This has to be an integer number greater than zero (if stacked is not used).
::Plotchart::createHorizontalBarchart w xaxis ylabel noseries
Create a new barchart with horizontal bars (configuration type: horizbars). The vertical axis will display the labels contained in
the argument ylabels. The number of series given by noseries determines both the width of the bars, and the way the series will be
drawn.
If the keyword stacked was specified the series will be drawn stacked from left to right. Otherwise each series that is drawn will
be drawn shifted upward.
widget w (in)
Name of the existing canvas widget to hold the plot.
list xaxis (in)
A 3-element list containing minimum, maximum and stepsize for the x-axis, in this order.
list ylabels (in)
List of labels for the y-axis. Its length also determines the number of bars that will be plotted per series.
int|stacked noseries (in)
The number of data series that will be plotted. This has to be an integer number greater than zero (if stacked is not used).
::Plotchart::create3DBarchart w yaxis nobars
Create a new barchart with 3D vertical bars (configuration type: 3dbars). The horizontal axis will display the labels per bar. The
number of bars given by nobars determines the position and the width of the bars. The colours can be varied per bar. (This type of
chart was inspired by the Wiki page on 3D bars by Richard Suchenwirth.)
widget w (in)
Name of the existing canvas widget to hold the plot.
list yaxis (in)
A 3-element list containing minimum, maximum and stepsize for the y-axis, in this order.
int nobars (in)
The number of bars that will be plotted.
::Plotchart::create3DRibbonChart w names yaxis zaxis
Create a new "ribbon chart" (configuration type: 3dribbon). This is a chart where the data series are represented as ribbons in a
three-dimensional axis system. Along the x-axis (which is "into" the screen) the names are plotted, each representing a single
series. The first plot command draws the furthest series, the second draws the series in front of that and so on.
widget w (in)
Name of the existing canvas widget to hold the plot.
widget w (in)
Names of the series, plotted as labels along the x-axis
list yaxis (in)
A 3-element list containing minimum, maximum and stepsize for the y-axis (drawn horizontally!), in this order.
list zaxis (in)
A 3-element list containing minimum, maximum and stepsize for the z-axis (drawn vertically), in this order.
int nobars (in)
The number of bars that will be plotted.
::Plotchart::createBoxplot w xaxis ylabels
Create a new boxplot with horizontal boxes (box-and-whiskers). The y-axis is drawn with labels. The boxes are drawn based on the raw
data (see the plot subcommand for this type of plot).
widget w (in)
Name of the existing canvas widget to hold the plot.
list xaxis (in)
A 3-element list containing minimum, maximum and stepsize for the y-axis, in this order.
list ylabels (in)
List of labels for the y-axis. Its length also determines the number of boxes that can be plotted. The labels are also used
in the plot subcommand.
::Plotchart::createTimechart w time_begin time_end args
Create a new timechart (configuration type: timechart). The time axis (= x-axis) goes from time_begin to time_end, and the vertical
spacing is determined by the number of items to plot.
widget w (in)
Name of the existing canvas widget to hold the plot.
string time_begin (in)
The start time given in a form that is recognised by the clock scan command (e.g. "1 january 2004").
string time_end (in)
The end time given in a form that is recognised by the clock scan command (e.g. "1 january 2004").
arguments args (in)
The remaining arguments can be:
o The expected/maximum number of items. This determines the vertical spacing. (If given, it must be the first argument
after "time_end"
o The keyword -barheight and the number of pixels per bar. This is an alternative method to determine the vertical spac-
ing.
o The keyword -ylabelwidth and the number of pixels to reserve for the labels at the y-axis.
::Plotchart::createGanttchart w time_begin time_end args
Create a new Gantt chart (configuration type: ganttchart). The time axis (= x-axis) goes from time_begin to time_end, and the ver-
tical spacing is determined by the number of items to plot. Via the specific commands you can then add tasks and connections
between the tasks.
widget w (in)
Name of the existing canvas widget to hold the plot.
string time_begin (in)
The start time given in a form that is recognised by the clock scan command (e.g. "1 january 2004").
string time_end (in)
The end time given in a form that is recognised by the clock scan command (e.g. "1 january 2004").
arguments args (in)
The remaining arguments can be:
o The expected/maximum number of items. This determines the vertical spacing. (If given this way, it must be the first
argument after "time_end")
o The expected/maximum width of the descriptive text (roughly in characters, for the actual space reserved for the text,
it is assumed that a character is about ten pixels wide). Defaults to 20. (If given this way, it must be the second
argument after "time_end").
o The keyword -barheight and the number of pixels per bar. This is an alternative method to determine the vertical spac-
ing.
o The keyword -ylabelwidth and the number of pixels to reserve for the labels at the y-axis.
::Plotchart::createRightAxis w yaxis
Create a plot command that will use a right axis instead of the left axis (configuration type: inherited from the existing plot).
The widget (w) must already contain an ordinary plot, as the horizontal axis and other properties are reused. To plot data using the
right axis, use this new command, to plot data using the left axis, use the original plot command.
widget w (in)
Name of the existing canvas widget to hold the plot.
list yaxis (in)
A 3-element list containing minimum, maximum and stepsize for the y-axis, in this order.
PLOT METHODS
Each of the creation commands explained in the last section returns the name of a new object command that can be used to manipulate the
plot or chart. The subcommands available to a chart command depend on the type of the chart.
General subcommands for all types of charts. $anyplot is the command returned by the creation command:
$anyplot title text
Specify the title of the whole chart.
string text (in)
The text of the title to be drawn.
$anyplot saveplot filename args
Draws the plot into a file, using PostScript.
string filename (in)
Contain the path name of the file to write the plot to.
list args (in)
Optionally you can specify the option -format "some picture format" to store the plot in a different file than a PostScript
file. This, however, relies on the Img package to do the actual job.
Note: Because the window holding the plot must be fully visible before Img can successfully grab it, it is raised first. On
some systems, for instance Linux with KDE, raising a window is not done automatically, but instead you need to click on the
window in the task bar. Similar things happen on Windows XP.
There seems to be something wrong under some circumstances, so instead of waiting for the visibility of the window, the pro-
cedure simply waits two seconds. It is not ideal, but it seems to work better.
$anyplot xtext text
Specify the title of the (horizontal) x-axis, for those plots that have a straight x-axis.
string text (in)
The text of the x-axis label to be drawn.
$anyplot ytext text
Specify the title of the (horizontal) y-axis, for those plots that have a straight y-axis.
string text (in)
The text of the y-axis label to be drawn.
$anyplot vtext text
Draw a vertical label to the y-axis. Note: this requires Tk 8.6 or later, for older versions it does nothing.
string text (in)
Text to drawn to the y-axis
$anyplot xconfig -option value ...
Set one or more configuration parameters for the x-axis. The following options are supported:
format fmt
The format for the numbers along the axis.
ticklength length
The length of the tickmarks (in pixels).
ticklines boolean
Whether to draw ticklines (true) or not (false).
scale scale_data
New scale data for the axis, i.e. a 3-element list containing minimum, maximum and stepsize for the axis, in this order.
Beware: Setting this option will clear all data from the plot.
$anyplot yconfig -option value ...
Set one or more configuration parameters for the y-axis. This method accepts the same options and values as the method xconfig.
$anyplot background part colour_or_image dir ?brightness?
Set the background of a part of the plot
string part
Which part of the plot: "axes" for the axes area and "plot" for the inner part. The interpretation depends on the type of
plot. Two further possibilities are:
o image, in which case a predefined image is loaded into the background of the plot.
o gradient, in which case the background is coloured in different shades of the given colour. The "dir" argument speci-
fies the direction in which the colour gets whiter.
string colour_or_image
Colour for that part or the name of the image if "part" is "image"
string dir
The direction of the gradient. One of: top-down, bottom-up, left-right or right-left.
string brightness
Indicates whether the colour should become brighter (bright) or darker (dark). Defaults to bright
$anyplot xticklines colour
Draw vertical ticklines at each tick location
string colour
Colour of the lines. Specifying an empty colour ("") removes them again. Defaults to "black"
$anyplot yticklines colour
Draw horizontal ticklines at each tick location
string colour
Colour of the lines. Specifying an empty colour ("") removes them again Defaults to "black"
$anyplot legend series text
Add an entry to the legend. The series determines which graphical symbol is to be used. (As a side effect the legend is actually
drawn.)
string series
Name of the data series. This determines the colour of the line and the symbol (if any) that will be drawn.
string text
Text to be drawn next to the line/symbol.
$anyplot legendconfig -option value ...
Set one or more options for the legend. The legend is drawn as a rectangle with text and graphics inside.
background colour
Set the colour of the background (the default colour is white). Set to the empty string for a transparant legend.
border colour
Set the colour of the border (the default colour is white). Set to the empty string if you do not want a border.
canvas c
Draw the legend in a different canvas widget. This gives you the freedom to position the legend outside the actual plot.
position corner
Set the position of the legend. May be one of: top-left, top-right, bottom-left or bottom-right. (Default value is top-
right.)
$anyplot balloon x y text dir
Add balloon text to the plot (except for 3D plots). The arrow will point to the given x- and y-coordinates. For xy-graphs and such,
the coordinates are directly related to the axes; for vertical barcharts the x-coordinate is measured as the number of bars minus 1
and similar for horizontal barcharts.
float x
X-coordinate of the point that the arrow of the balloon will point to.
float y
Y-coordinate of the point that the arrow of the balloon will point to.
string text
Text to be drawn in the balloon.
string dir
Direction of the arrow, one of: north, north-east, east, south-east, south, south-west, west or north-west.
$anyplot balloonconfig args
Configure the balloon text for the plot. The new settings will be used for the next balloon text.
font fontname
Font to be used for the text
justify left|center|right
Way to justify multiline text
textcolour colour
Colour for the text (synonym: textcolor)
background colour
Background colour for the balloon
outline colour
Colour of the outline of the balloon
margin value
Margin around the text (in pixels)
rimwidth value
Width of the outline of the balloon (in pixels)
arrowsize value
Length factor for the arrow (in pixels)
$anyplot plaintext x y text dir
Add plain text to the plot (except for 3D plots). The text is positioned at the given x- and y-coordinates. For xy-graphs and such,
the coordinates are directly related to the axes; for vertical barcharts the x-coordinate is measured as the number of bars minus 1
and similar for horizontal barcharts.
float x
X-coordinate of the text position
float y
Y-coordinate of the text position
string text
Text to be drawn.
string dir
Anchor for the text, one of: north, north-east, east, south-east, south, south-west, west or north-west.
$anyplot plaintextconfig args
Configure the plain text annotation for the plot. The new settings will be used for the next plain text.
font fontname
Font to be used for the text
justify left|center|right
Way to justify multiline text
textcolour colour
Colour for the text (synonym: textcolor)
Note: The commands xconfig and yconfig are currently implemented only for XY-plots and only the option -format has any effect.
For xy plots, stripcharts, histograms and time-x-plots:
$xyplot plot series xcrd ycrd
Add a data point to the plot.
string series (in)
Name of the data series the new point belongs to.
float xcrd (in)
X-coordinate of the new point. (For time-x plots this must be valid date/time that can be read with the clock scan command).
float ycrd (in)
Y-coordinate of the new point.
Note on histograms:
For histograms the x-coordinate that is given is interpreted to be the x-coordinate of the right side of the bar. The first bar starts at
the y-axis on the left. To completely fill the range of the x-axis, you should draw a bar at the maximum x-coordinate.
For xy plots:
$xyplot trend series xcrd ycrd
Draw or update a trend line using the data given sofar.
string series (in)
Name of the data series the trend line belongs to.
float xcrd (in)
X-coordinate of the new data point
float ycrd (in)
Y-coordinate of the new data point
$xyplot rchart series xcrd ycrd
Draw data in the same way as the plot method, but with two lines added that indicate the expected range (+/- 3*standard deviation)
of the data.
string series (in)
Name of the data series the data point belongs to.
float xcrd (in)
X-coordinate of the new data point
float ycrd (in)
Y-coordinate of the new data point
$xyplot interval series xcrd ymin ymax ?ycentr?
Add a vertical error interval to the plot. The interval is drawn from ymin to ymax. If the ycentr argument is given, a symbol is
drawn at that position.
string series (in)
Name of the data series the interval belongs to.
float xcrd (in)
X-coordinate of the interval
float ymin (in)
Minimum y-coordinate of the interval.
float ymax (in)
Maximum y-coordinate of the interval.
float ycentr (in)
Y-coordinate to draw the symbol at (optional)
$xyplot box-and-whiskers series xcrd ycrd
Draw a box and whiskers in the plot. If the argument xcrd is a list of several values and the argument ycrd is a single value, a
horizontal box is drawn with the quartiles determined from the list of values contained in xcrd.
If, instead, the argument ycrd contains a list of several values and the argument xcrd a single value, then a vertical box is drawn
and the quartiles are determined from ycrd. (There must be exactly one list of several values. Otherwise an error is reported.)
The option -boxwidth (default: 10 pixels) determines the width (or height) of the box.
string series (in)
Name of the data series the box-and-whiskers belongs to.
float xcrd (in)
X-coordinate of the box or a list of values.
float ymin (in)
Y-coordinate of the box or a list of values.
$xyplot vector series xcrd ycrd ucmp vcmp
Draw a vector in the plot. The vector can be given as either cartesian coordinates or as length/angle, where the angle is in degrees
and is interpreted according to the mathematical convention or the nautical. (See the vectorconfig subcommand)
string series (in)
Name of the series the vector belongs to. Determines the appearance and interpretation.
float xcrd (in)
X-coordinate of the point where the arrow appears
float ycrd (in)
Y-coordinate of the point where the arrow appears
float ucmp (in)
X-component or the length of the vector
float ycentr (in)
Y-component or the angle of the vector
$xyplot vectorconfig series -option value ...
] Set the vector drawing options for a particular series
string series (in)
Name of the series the vector belongs to.
The options can be one of the following:
colour The colour of the arrow (default: black; synonym: color)
scale value
The scale factor used to convert the length of the arrow into a number of pixels (default: 1.0)
centred onoff
Logical value indicating that the xy-coordinates are to be used as the start of the arrow or as the centre (default: 0; syn-
onym: centered)
type keyword
Interpretation of the vector components. Can be "cartesian" (default), in which case the x- and y-components are expected,
"polar" (the angle 0 coincides with the positive x-axis, 90 coincides with the positive y-axis) or "nautical" (0 is "north"
and 90 is "east").
$xyplot dot series xcrd ycrd value
Draw a dot in the plot. The size and colour is determined by the value and by the options set for the series it belongs to. (See
the dotconfig subcommand)
string series (in)
Name of the series the dot belongs to. Determines size and colour
float xcrd (in)
X-coordinate of the point where the arrow appears
float ycrd (in)
Y-coordinate of the point where the arrow appears
float value (in)
Value determining size and colour
$xyplot dotconfig series -option value ...
] Set the dot drawing options for a particular series
string series (in)
Name of the series the dot belongs to.
The options can be one of the following:
colour The colour of the dot if no scaling is used or the value exceeds the last limit of the classes.
scale value
The scale factor used to convert the value into the radius of the dot in pixels (default: 1.0)
radius value
The default radius of the dots, used if there is no scaling by value (in pixels; default: 3)
scalebyvalue onoff
Determines whether the dots all have the same size or a size depending on the given value (default: on).
outline onoff
Draw a black circle around the dot or not (default: on)
classes list
Set the limits and the corresponding colours. For instance:
$xyplot series1 -classes {0 blue 1 green} -colour red
will cause a blue dot to be drawn for values smaller than 0, a green dot for values larger/equal 0 but lower than 1 and a red
dot for values larger/equal 1.
If there is no list of classes for the particular series, the dots are scaled by the value.
You can combine the colouring by value and the scaling by value by setting a list of classes and setting the scalebyvalue
option on.
$xyplot contourlines xcrd ycrd values ?classes?
Draw contour lines for the values given on the grid. The grid is defined by the xcrd and ycrd arguments. The xcrd argument (resp.
ycrd) is expected to be a matrix, implemented as a list of lists which gives the x-coordinates (resp. y-coordinates) of the grid
cell corners. The function values are given at these corners. The number of rows in xvec (resp. yvec) is ny and each row contains
nx values so that the total number of values in xvec (resp. yvec) is nx * ny. The classes determine which contour lines are drawn.
If a value on one of the corners is missing, the contour lines in that cell will not be drawn.
list xcrd (in)
List of lists, each value is an x-coordinate for a grid cell corner
list ycrd (in)
List of lists, each value is an y-coordinate for a grid cell corner
list values (in)
List of lists, each value is the value at a grid cell corner
list classes (in)
List of class values or a list of lists of two elements (each inner list the class value and the colour to be used). If empty
or missing, the classes are determined automatically.
Note: The class values must enclose the whole range of values. Note: The xcrd argument is generally made of nypoints identi-
cal rows, while each row of ycrd is made with one single value.
$xyplot contourlinesfunctionvalues xvec yvec valuesmat ?classes?
Draw contour lines for the values given on the grid. The grid is defined by the xvec and yvec arguments. Here, xvec (resp. yvec) is
a list of x-coordinates (resp. y-coordinates). The number of values in xvec (resp. yvec) is the number of points in the x-coordinate
(resp. y-coordinate). The function values are given at these corners. The classes determine which contour lines are drawn. If a
value on one of the corners is missing, the contour lines in that cell will not be drawn.
list xcrd (in)
List of x-coordinates in increasing order.
list ycrd (in)
List y-coordinates in increasing order.
list valuesmat (in)
List of lists, each value is the value at a grid cell corner. The total number of values is valuesmat is nx * ny.
list classes (in)
List of class values or a list of lists of two elements (each inner list the class value and the colour to be used). If empty
or missing, the classes are determined automatically.
Note: The class values must enclose the whole range of values.
$xyplot contourfill xcrd ycrd values ?classes?
Draw filled contours for the values given on the grid. (The use of this method is identical to the "contourlines" method).
$xyplot contourbox xcrd ycrd values ?classes?
Draw the cells as filled quadrangles. The colour is determined from the average of the values on all four corners.
$xyplot colorMap colours
Set the colours to be used with the contour methods. The argument is either a predefined colourmap (grey/gray, jet, hot or cool) or
a list of colours. When selecting the colours for actually drawing the contours, the given colours will be interpolated (based on
the HLS scheme).
list colours (in)
List of colour names or colour values or one of the predefined maps:
o grey or gray: gray colours from dark to light
o jet: rainbow colours
o hot: colours from yellow via red to darkred
o cool: colours from cyan via blue to magenta
$xyplot grid xcrd ycrd
Draw the grid cells as lines connecting the (valid) grid points.
list xcrd (in)
List of lists, each value is an x-coordinate for a grid cell corner
list ycrd (in)
List of lists, each value is an y-coordinate for a grid cell corner
$xyplot xband ymin ymax
Draw a light grey band in the plot, ranging over the full x-axis. This can be used to indicate a "typical" range for the data.
float ymin (in)
Lower bound for the band
float ymax (in)
Upper bound for the band
$xyplot yband xmin xmax
Draw a light grey band in the plot, ranging over the full y-axis. This can be used to indicate a "typical" range for the data.
float xmin (in)
Lower bound for the band
float xmax (in)
Upper bound for the band
$xyplot labeldot x y text orient
Draw a label and a symbol in the plot. The label will appear near the symbol. The label will be drawn in grey, so as not to be too
conspicuous.
You can configure the appearance of the symbol by using the data series name "labeldot": $w dataconfig labeldot -colour red -type
symbol -symbol dot
float x (in)
X-coordinate of the symbol to be drawn
float y (in)
Y-coordinate of the symbol to be drawn
string text (in)
Text for the label
string orient (in)
Optional orientation (one of w, e, n, s) defining the position of the label with respect to the symbol. It defaults to w (so
the label appears left of the symbol).
For polar plots:
$polarplot plot series radius angle
Add a data point to the polar plot.
string series (in)
Name of the data series the new point belongs to.
float radius (in)
Radial coordinate of the new point.
float angle (in)
Angular coordinate of the new point (in degrees).
For wind rose diagrams:
$windrose plot data colour
Draw the data contained in the data argument. The data are added to the existing spokes towards the outer circle.
list data (in)
List of data (the length should correspond to the number of sectors)
string colour
Colour in which the new segments will be drawn
For 3D plots:
$plot3d plotfunc function
Plot a function defined over two variables x and y. The resolution is determined by the set grid sizes (see the method gridsize for
more information).
string function (in)
Name of the procedure that calculates the z-value for the given x and y coordinates. The procedure has to accept two float
arguments (x is first argument, y is second) and return a floating-point value.
$plot3d plotfuncont function contours
Plot a function defined over two variables x and y using the contour levels in contours to colour the surface. The resolution is
determined by the set grid sizes (see the method gridsize for more information).
string function (in)
Name of the procedure that calculates the z-value for the given x and y coordinates. The procedure has to accept two float
arguments (x is first argument, y is second) and return a floating-point value.
list contours (in)
List of values in ascending order that represent the contour levels (the boundaries between the colours in the contour map).
$plot3d gridsize nxcells nycells
Set the grid size in the two directions. Together they determine how many polygons will be drawn for a function plot.
int nxcells (in)
Number of grid cells in x direction. Has to be an integer number greater than zero.
int nycells (in)
Number of grid cells in y direction. Has to be an integer number greater than zero.
$plot3d plotdata data
Plot a matrix of data.
list data (in)
The data to be plotted. The data has to be provided as a nested list with 2 levels. The outer list contains rows, drawn in y-
direction, and each row is a list whose elements are drawn in x-direction, for the columns. Example:
set data {
{1.0 2.0 3.0}
{4.0 5.0 6.0}
}
$plot3d colours fill border
Configure the colours to use for polygon borders and inner area.
color fill (in)
The colour to use for filling the polygons.
color border (in)
The colour to use for the border of the polygons.
$plot3d ribbon yzpairs
Plot a ribbon based on the pairs of yz-coordinates. The colours for the ribbon itself and the edge are taken from the colours
option.
list yzpairs (in)
List of pairs of yz-coordinates
For 3D ribbon plots:
$plot3d plot yzpairs
Plot a ribbon based on the pairs of yz-coordinates. The colours for the ribbon itself and the edge are taken from the colours
option.
list yzpairs (in)
List of pairs of yz-coordinates
For xy plots, stripcharts and polar plots:
$xyplot dataconfig series -option value ...
Set the value for one or more options regarding the drawing of data of a specific series.
string series (in)
Name of the data series whose configuration we are changing.
The following options are allowed:
colour c
color c
The colour to be used when drawing the data series.
type enum
The drawing mode chosen for the series. This can be one of line, symbol, or both.
symbol enum
What kind of symbol to draw. The value of this option is ignored when the drawing mode line was chosen. This can be one of
plus, cross, circle, up (triangle pointing up), down (triangle pointing down), dot (filled circle), upfilled or downfilled
(filled triangles).
filled enum
Whether to fill the area above or below the data line or not. Can be one of: no, up or down (SPECIAL EFFECTS)
fillcolour colour
Colour to use when filling the area associated with the data line.
For piecharts:
$pie plot data
Fill a piechart.
list data (in)
A list of pairs (labels and values). The values determine the relative size of the circle segments. The labels are drawn
beside the circle.
$pie colours colour1 colour2 ...
Set the colours to be used.
color colour1 (in)
The first colour.
color colour2 (in)
The second colour, and so on.
$pie explode segment
Explode a segment (that is: move one segment out of the circle). If the segment is indicated as "auto", then you can click on a seg-
ment. This will be exploded instead of any previously exploded segment.
int segment
The segment to be exploded or "auto" if you want to do this interactively.
For radial charts:
$radial plot data colour thickness
Draw a new line in the radial chart
list data (in)
A list of data (one for each spoke). The values determine the distance from the centre of the line connecting the spokes.
color colour (in)
The colour for the line.
int thickness (in)
An optional argument for the thickness of the line.
$pie colours colour1 colour2 ...
Set the colours to be used.
color colour1 (in)
The first colour.
color colour2 (in)
The second colour, and so on.
For vertical barcharts:
$barchart plot series ydata colour ?dir? ?brightness?
Add a data series to a barchart.
string series (in)
Name of the series the values belong to.
list ydata (in)
A list of values, one for each x-axis label.
color colour (in)
The colour of the bars.
string dir (in)
If given, "top-down" or "bottom-up", to indicate the direction in which the colour changes. (If not given, a uniform colour
is used).
string brightness (in)
If given, "bright" or "dark" (defaulting to "bright"). The colour will change to respectively white or black, depending on
the direction.
$barchart config -option value ...
Set options for drawing the bars.
showvalues boolean
Whether to show the values or not (above the bars)
valuefont newfont
Name of the font to use for the values
valuecolour colour
Colour for the values
valueformat format
Format string to use for formatting the values
For horizontal barcharts:
$barchart plot series xdata colour ?dir? ?brightness?
Add a data series to a barchart.
string series (in)
Name of the series the values belong to.
list xdata (in)
A list of values, one for each y-axis label.
color colour (in)
The colour of the bars.
string dir (in)
If given, "left-right" or "right-left", to indicate the direction in which the colour changes. (If not given, a uniform
colour is used).
string brightness (in)
If given, "bright" or "dark" (defaulting to "bright"). The colour will change to respectively white or black, depending on
the direction.
$barchart config -option value ...
Set options for drawing the bars.
showvalues boolean
Whether to show the values or not (to the right of the bars)
valuefont newfont
Name of the font to use for the values
valuecolour colour
Colour for the values
valueformat format
Format string to use for formatting the values
For 3D barcharts:
$barchart plot label yvalue colour
Add the next bar to the barchart.
string label (in)
The label to be shown below the column.
float yvalue (in)
The value that determines the height of the column
color colour (in)
The colour of the column.
$barchart config -option value ...
Set one or more configuration parameters. The following options are supported:
usebackground boolean
Whether to draw walls to the left and to the back of the columns or not
useticklines boolean
Whether to draw ticklines on the walls or not
showvalues boolean
Whether to show the values or not
labelfont newfont
Name of the font to use for labels
labelcolour colour
Colour for the labels
valuefont newfont
Name of the font to use for the values
valuecolour colour
Colour for the values
For 3D ribbon charts:
$ribbon line xypairs colour
Plot the given xy-pairs as a ribbon in the chart
list xypairs (in)
The pairs of x/y values to be drawn (the series is drawn as a whole)
color colour (in)
The colour of the ribbon.
$ribbon area xypairs colour
Plot the given xy-pairs as a ribbon with a filled area in front. The effect is that of a box with the data as its upper surface.
list xypairs (in)
The pairs of x/y values to be drawn (the series is drawn as a whole)
color colour (in)
The colour of the ribbon/area.
For boxplots:
$boxplot plot label values
Add a box-and-whisker to the plot.
string label (in)
The label along the y-axis to which the data belong
list values (in)
List of raw values, the extent of the box and the whiskers will be determined from this list.
For timecharts:
$timechart period text time_begin time_end colour
Add a time period to the chart.
string text (in)
The text describing the period.
string time_begin (in)
Start time of the period.
string time_end (in)
Stop time of the period.
color colour (in)
The colour of the bar (defaults to black).
$timechart milestone text time colour
Add a milestone (represented as an point-down triangle) to the chart.
string text (in)
The text describing the milestone.
string time (in)
Time at which the milestone must be positioned.
color colour (in)
The colour of the triangle (defaults to black).
$timechart vertline text time
Add a vertical line (to indicate the start of the month for instance) to the chart.
string text (in)
The text appearing at the top (an abbreviation of the date/time for instance).
string time (in)
Time at which the line must be positioned.
$timechart hscroll scrollbar
Connect a horizontal scrollbar to the chart. See also the section on scrolling.
widget scrollbar (in)
The horizontal scrollbar that is to be connected to the chart
$timechart vscroll scrollbar
Connect a vertical scrollbar to the chart. See also the section on scrolling.
widget scrollbar (in)
The vertical scrollbar that is to be connected to the chart
For Gantt charts:
$ganttchart task text time_begin time_end completed
Add a task with its period and level of completion to the chart. Returns a list of canvas items that can be used for further manipu-
lations, like connecting two tasks.
string text (in)
The text describing the task.
string time_begin (in)
Start time of the task.
string time_end (in)
Stop time of the task.
float completed (in)
The percentage of the task that is completed.
$ganttchart milestone text time colour
Add a milestone (represented as an point-down triangle) to the chart.
string text (in)
The text describing the milestone.
string time (in)
Time at which the milestone must be positioned.
color colour (in)
The colour of the triangle (defaults to black).
$ganttchart vertline text time
Add a vertical line (to indicate the start of the month for instance) to the chart.
string text (in)
The text appearing at the top (an abbreviation of the date/time for instance).
string time (in)
Time at which the line must be positioned.
$ganttchart connect from to
Add an arrow that connects the from task with the to task.
list from (in)
The list of items returned by the "task" command that represents the task from which the arrow starts.
string text (in)
The text summarising the tasks
list args (in)
One or more tasks (the lists returned by the "task" command). They are shifted down to make room for the summary.
list to (in)
The list of items returned by the "task" command that represents the task at which the arrow ends.
$ganttchart summary text args
Add a summary item that spans all the tasks listed. The graphical representation is a thick bar running from the leftmost task to
the rightmost.
Use this command before connecting the tasks, as the arrow would not be shifted down!
string text (in)
The text summarising the tasks
list args (in)
One or more tasks (the lists returned by the "task" command). They are shifted down to make room for the summary.
$ganttchart color keyword newcolor
Set the colour of a part of the Gantt chart. These colours hold for all items of that type.
string keyword (in)
The keyword indicates which part of the Gantt chart to change:
o description - the colour of the descriptive text
o completed - the colour of the filled bar representing the completed part of a task
o left - the colour for the part that is not yet completed
o odd - the background colour for the odd entries
o even - the background colour for the even entries
o summary - the colour for the summary text
o summarybar - the colour for the bar for a summary
string newcolor (in)
The new colour for the chosen items.
$ganttchart font keyword newfont
Set the font of a part of the Gantt chart. These fonts hold for all items of that type.
string keyword (in)
The keyword indicates which part of the Gantt chart to change:
o description - the font used for descriptive text
o summary - the font used for summaries
o scale - the font used for the time scale
string newfont (in)
The new font for the chosen items.
$ganttchart hscroll scrollbar
Connect a horizontal scrollbar to the chart. See also the section on scrolling.
widget scrollbar (in)
The horizontal scrollbar that is to be connected to the chart
$ganttchart vscroll scrollbar
Connect a vertical scrollbar to the chart. See also the section on scrolling.
widget scrollbar (in)
The vertical scrollbar that is to be connected to the chart
For isometric plots (to be extended):
$isoplot plot rectangle x1 y1 x2 y2 colour
Plot the outlines of a rectangle.
float x1 (in)
Minimum x coordinate of the rectangle to be drawn.
float y1 (in)
Minimum y coordinate of the rectangle.
float x2 (in)
Maximum x coordinate of the rectangle to be drawn.
float y2 (in)
Maximum y coordinate of the rectangle.
color colour (in)
The colour of the rectangle.
$isoplot plot filled-rectangle x1 y1 x2 y2 colour
Plot a rectangle filled with the given colour.
float x1 (in)
Minimum x coordinate of the rectangle to be drawn.
float y1 (in)
Minimum y coordinate of the rectangle.
float x2 (in)
Maximum x coordinate of the rectangle to be drawn.
float y2 (in)
Maximum y coordinate of the rectangle.
color colour (in)
The colour of the rectangle.
$isoplot plot circle xc yc radius colour
Plot the outline of a circle.
float xc (in)
X coordinate of the circle's centre.
float yc (in)
Y coordinate of the circle's centre.
color colour (in)
The colour of the circle.
$isoplot plot filled-circle xc yc radius colour
Plot a circle filled with the given colour.
float xc (in)
X coordinate of the circle's centre.
float yc (in)
Y coordinate of the circle's centre.
color colour (in)
The colour of the circle.
There are a number of public procedures that may be useful in specific situations: Pro memorie.
COORDINATE TRANSFORMATIONS
Besides the commands that deal with the plots and charts directly, there are a number of commands that can be used to convert world coordi-
nates to pixels and vice versa. These include:
::Plotchart::viewPort w pxmin pymin pxmax pymax
Set the viewport for window w. Should be used in cooperation with ::Plotchart::worldCoordinates.
widget w (in)
Name of the window (canvas widget) in question.
float pxmin (in)
Left-most pixel coordinate.
float pymin (in)
Top-most pixel coordinate (remember: the vertical pixel coordinate starts with 0 at the top!).
float pxmax (in)
Right-most pixel coordinate.
float pymax (in)
Bottom-most pixel coordinate.
::Plotchart::worldCoordinates w xmin ymin xmax ymax
Set the extreme world coordinates for window w. The world coordinates need not be in ascending order (i.e. xmin can be larger than
xmax, so that a reversal of the x-axis is achieved).
widget w (in)
Name of the window (canvas widget) in question.
float xmin (in)
X-coordinate to be mapped to left side of viewport.
float ymin (in)
Y-coordinate to be mapped to bottom of viewport.
float xmax (in)
X-coordinate to be mapped to right side of viewport.
float ymax (in)
Y-coordinate to be mapped to top side of viewport.
::Plotchart::world3DCoordinates w xmin ymin zmin xmax ymax zmax
Set the extreme three-dimensional world coordinates for window w. The world coordinates need not be in ascending order (i.e. xmin
can be larger than xmax, so that a reversal of the x-axis is achieved).
widget w (in)
Name of the window (canvas widget) in question.
float xmin (in)
X-coordinate to be mapped to front side of the 3D viewport.
float ymin (in)
Y-coordinate to be mapped to left side of the viewport.
float zmin (in)
Z-coordinate to be mapped to bottom of viewport.
float xmax (in)
X-coordinate to be mapped to back side of viewport.
float ymax (in)
Y-coordinate to be mapped to right side of viewport.
float zmax (in)
Z-coordinate to be mapped to top side of viewport.
::Plotchart::coordsToPixel w x y
Return a list of pixel coordinates valid for the given window.
widget w (in)
Name of the window (canvas widget) in question.
float x (in)
X-coordinate to be mapped.
float y (in)
Y-coordinate to be mapped.
::Plotchart::coords3DToPixel w x y z
Return a list of pixel coordinates valid for the given window.
widget w (in)
Name of the window (canvas widget) in question.
float x (in)
X-coordinate to be mapped.
float y (in)
Y-coordinate to be mapped.
float y (in)
Z-coordinate to be mapped.
::Plotchart::polarCoordinates w radmax
Set the extreme polar coordinates for window w. The angle always runs from 0 to 360 degrees and the radius starts at 0. Hence you
only need to give the maximum radius. Note: If the viewport is not square, this procedure will not adjust the extremes, so that
would result in an elliptical plot. The creation routine for a polar plot always determines a square viewport.
widget w (in)
Name of the window (canvas widget) in question.
float radmax (in)
Maximum radius.
::Plotchart::polarToPixel w rad phi
Wrapper for a call to ::Plotchart::coordsToPixel, which assumes the world coordinates and viewport are set appropriately. Converts
polar coordinates to pixel coordinates. Note: To be useful it should be accompanied by a matching ::Plotchart::worldCoordinates
procedure. This is automatically taken care of in the creation routine for polar plots.
widget w (in)
Name of the window (canvas widget) in question.
float rad (in)
Radius of the point.
float phi (in)
Angle to the positive x-axis.
::Plotchart::pixelToCoords w x y
Return a list of world coordinates valid for the given window.
widget w (in)
Name of the window (canvas widget) in question.
float x (in)
X-pixel to be mapped.
float y (in)
Y-pixel to be mapped.
::Plotchart::pixelToIndex w x y
Return the index of the pie segment containing the pixel coordinates (x,y)
widget w (in)
Name of the window (canvas widget) in question, holding a piechart.
float x (in)
X-pixel to be mapped.
float y (in)
Y-pixel to be mapped.
Furthermore there is a routine to determine "pretty" numbers for use with an axis:
::Plotchart::determineScale xmin xmax inverted
Determine "pretty" numbers from the given range and return a list containing the minimum, maximum and stepsize that can be used for
a (linear) axis.
float xmin (in)
Rough minimum value for the scaling
float xmax (in)
Rough maximum value for the scaling.
boolean inverted (in)
Optional argument: if 1, then the returned list produces an inverted axis. Defaults to 0 (the axis will be from minimum to
maximum)
::Plotchart::determineScaleFromList values inverted
Determine "pretty" numbers from the given list of values and return a list containing the minimum, maximum and stepsize that can be
used for a (linear) axis.
float values (in)
List of values that will be examined. May contain missing values (empty strings)
boolean inverted (in)
Optional argument: if 1, then the returned list produces an inverted axis. Defaults to 0 (the axis will be from minimum to
maximum)
MISSING VALUES
Often data that need to be plotted contain gaps - in a series of measurement data, they can occur because the equipment failed, a sample
was not collected correctly or for many other reasons. The Plotchart handles these gaps by assuming that one or both coordinates of such
data points are an empty string:
#
# Create the plot with its x- and y-axes
#
set s [::Plotchart::createXYPlot .c {0.0 100.0 10.0} {0.0 100.0 20.0}]
foreach {x y} {0.0 32.0 10.0 {} 25.0 60.0 78.0 11.0 } {
$s plot series1 $x $y
}
The effect varies according to the type of plot:
o For xy-plots, radial plots and strip charts the missing data point causes a gap in the line through the points.
o For barchats, missing values are treated as if a value of zero was given.
o For time charts and Gantt charts missing values cause errors - there is no use for them there.
OTHER OUTPUT FORMATS
Besides output to the canvas on screen, the module is capable, via canvas postscript, of producing PostScript files. One may wonder whether
it is possible to extend this set of output formats and the answer is "yes". This section tries to sum up the aspects of using this module
for another sort of output.
One way you can create output files in a different format, is by examining the contents of the canvas after everything has been drawn and
render that contents in the right form. This is probably the easiest way, as it involves nothing more than the re-creation of all the ele-
ments in the plot that are already there.
The drawback of that method is that you need to have a display, which is not always the case if you run a CGI server or something like
that.
An alternative is to emulate the canvas command. For this to work, you need to know which canvas subcommands are used and what for. Obvi-
ously, the create subcommand is used to create the lines, texts and other items. But also the raise and lower subcommands are used, because
with these the module can influence the drawing order - important to simulate a clipping rectangle around the axes. (The routine DrawMask
is responsible for this - if the output format supports proper clipping areas, then a redefinition of this routine might just solve this).
Furthermore, the module uses the cget subcommand to find out the sizes of the canvas. A more mundane aspect of this is that the module cur-
rently assumes that the text is 14 pixels high and that 80 pixels in width suffice for the axis' labels. No "hook" is provided to customise
this.
In summary:
o Emulate the create subcommand to create all the items in the correct format
o Emulate the cget subcommand for the options -width and -height to allow the correct calculation of the rectangle's position and size
o Solve the problem of raising and lowering the items so that they are properly clipped, for instance by redefining the routine Draw-
Mask.
o Take care of the currently fixed text size properties
SPECIAL EFFECTS
As an example of some special effects you can achieve, here is the code for a plot where the area below the data line varies in colour:
canvas .c -background white -width 400 -height 200
pack .c -fill both
set s [::Plotchart::createXYPlot .c {0.0 100.0 10.0} {0.0 100.0 20.0}]
$s background gradient green top-down
$s dataconfig series1 -filled up -fillcolour white
$s plot series1 0.0 20.0
$s plot series1 10.0 20.0
$s plot series1 30.0 50.0
$s plot series1 35.0 45.0
$s plot series1 45.0 25.0
$s plot series1 75.0 55.0
$s plot series1 100.0 55.0
$s plaintext 30.0 60.0 "Peak" south
The trick is to fill the background with a colour that changes from green at the top to white at the bottom. Then the area above the data
line is filled with a white polygon. Thus the green shading varies with the height of the line.
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
In this version there are a lot of things that still need to be implemented:
o More robust handling of incorrect calls (right now the procedures may fail when called incorrectly):
o The axis drawing routines can not handle inverse axes right now.
o If the user provides an invalid date/time string, the routines simply throw an error.
RESIZING
Plotchart has not been designed to create plots and charts that keep track of the data that are put in. This means that if an application
needs to allow the user to resize the window holding the plot or chart, it must take care to redraw the complete plot.
The code below is a simple example of how to do that:
package require Plotchart
grid [canvas .c -background white] -sticky news
grid columnconfigure . 0 -weight 1
grid rowconfigure . 0 -weight 1
bind .c <Configure> {doResize}
proc doPlot {} {
#
# Clean up the contents (see also the note below!)
#
.c delete all
#
# (Re)draw the bar chart
#
set p [::Plotchart::createBarchart .c {x y z} {0 100 10} 3]
$p plot R {10 30 40} red
$p plot G {30 40 60} green
}
proc doResize {} {
global redo
#
# To avoid redrawing the plot many times during resizing,
# cancel the callback, until the last one is left.
#
if { [info exists redo] } {
after cancel $redo
}
set redo [after 50 doPlot]
}
Please note: The code above will work fine for barcharts and many other types of plots, but as Plotchart keeps some private information for
xy plots, more is needed in these cases. This actually requires a command "destroyPlot" to take care of such details. A next version of
Plotchart may have that.
Alternatively, you can use the xyplot package which is built on top of Plotchart. This package supports zooming in and zooming out, as well
as resizing the plot as a whole. Here is a small demonstration program:
# xyplot_demo.tcl --
# Demonstration of the xyplot package
#
package require xyplot
set xydata1 {}
set xydata2 {}
set xydata3 {}
set xydata4 {}
for { set i 0 } { $i < 1024 } { incr i } {
lappend xydata1 [expr {$i-1000}] [expr {$i * sin($i/4096.0*3.1415*2) * (sin($i/256.0*3.1415*2))}]
lappend xydata2 [expr {$i-1000}] [expr {$i * sin($i/4096.0*3.1415*2) * (sin($i/256.0*3.1415*2) + 0.25 * sin($i/256.0*3.1415*6))}]
lappend xydata3 [expr {$i-1000}] [expr {$i * sin($i/4096.0*3.1415*2) * (sin($i/256.0*3.1415*2) + 0.25 * sin($i/256.0*3.1415*6) + 0.0625 * sin($i/256.0*3.1415*10))}]
lappend xydata4 [expr {$i-1000}] [expr {$i * sin($i/4096.0*3.1415*2) * (sin($i/256.0*3.1415*2) + 0.25 * sin($i/256.0*3.1415*6) + 0.0625 * sin($i/256.0*3.1415*10) + 0.015625 * sin($i/256.0*3.1415*14))}]
}
set xyp [xyplot .xyp -xformat "%5.0f" -yformat "%5.0f" -title "XY plot testing" -background gray90]
pack $xyp -fill both -expand true
set s1 [$xyp add_data sf1 $xydata1 -legend "Serie 1 data" -color red]
set s2 [$xyp add_data sf2 $xydata2 -legend "Serie 2 data" -color green]
set s3 [$xyp add_data sf3 $xydata3 -legend "Serie 3 data" -color blue]
set s4 [$xyp add_data sf4 $xydata4 -legend "Serie 4 data" -color orange]
set xyp2 [xyplot .xyp2 -xticks 8 -yticks 4 -yformat %.2f -xformat %.0f]
pack $xyp2 -fill both -expand true
set s1 [$xyp2 add_data sf1 $xydata1]
set s2 [$xyp2 add_data sf2 $xydata2]
set s3 [$xyp2 add_data sf3 $xydata3]
set s4 [$xyp2 add_data sf4 $xydata4]
Zooming in is done by selecting a rectangle with the left mouse button pressed. Zooming out is done by pressing the right mouse button. If
you resize the window, the canvases inside are resized too. If you zoom in, you can scroll the plot via the scrollbars that are automati-
cally attached.
ZOOMING IN
As the Plotchart package does not keep track of the data itself, rescaling an existing plot - for instance when zooming in - would have to
be done by redefining the plot and redrawing the data. However, the canvas widget offers a way out by scaling and moving items, so that
zooming in becomes a bit simpler.
Whether zooming is indeed useful, depends on the type of plot. Currently it is defined for XY-plots only. The method is called "rescale"
and simply redraws the axes and scales and moves the data items so that they conform to the new axes. The drawback is that any symbols are
scaled by the same amount. The rescale method works best for plots that only have lines, not symbols.
The method works very simply:
$p rescale {newxmin newxmax newxstep} {newymin newymax newystep}
CONFIGURATION OPTIONS
The command plotconfig can be used to set all manner of options. The syntax is:
::Plotchart::plotconfig charttype component property value
Set a new value for the property of a component in a particular chart or plot type or query its current value. Each argument is
optional.
string charttype (in)
The type of chart or plot (see the configuration type that is mentioned for each create command). If not given or empty, a
list of chart types is returned. If it is given, the properties for that particular type are used.
string component (in)
The component of the plot/chart: leftaxis, rightaxis, background, margin and so on. If not given or empty, a list of compo-
nents is returned. If it is given, the properties for that particular component will be set for that particular type of
chart.
string property (in)
The property of the component of the plot/chart: textcolor, thickness of the axis line, etc. If not given or empty, a list of
properties is returned. If it is given, that particular property for that particular component will be set for that particu-
lar type of chart.
string value (in)
The new value for the property. If empty, the current value is returned. If the value is "default", the default value will
be restored.
Note, that in some cases an empty value is useful. Use "none" in this case - it can be useful for colours and for formats.
Below is a more detailed list of the components and properties:
o Axes come in a wide variety:
o leftaxis, rightaxis, topaxis, bottomaxis for the plots with a rectangular shape.
o xaxis, yaxis and zaxis are used for the 3D plots
o axis, this represents the radial and tangential axes of a polar plot
All axes have the following properties:
o color - the colour of the line and the tickmarks
o thickness - the width of the line of the axis itself, not the tickmarks
o ticklength - the length of the tickmarks in pixels. A positive value is outward, a negative value is inward.
o font - the font for the labels and the text at the axis
o format - the format for rendering the (numerical) labels. For the time axis it is the format for a date and time.
o textcolor - the colour for the labels and the text.
o The margin is important for the layout. Currently only the rectangular plots allow the margins to be set: left, right, top and bot-
tom. The values are in pixels.
o The text component is meant for any text appearing via the plaintext subcommand. The properties are: textcolor, font and anchor
(positioning of the text relative to the given coordinates).
o The background has two properties: outercolor, the colour outside of the actual plot, and innercolor, the colour inside the plot.
(Note: only "outercolor" has now been implemented).
o The legend has three properties: background, border and position. See the legend subcommand for the meaning.
See the examples in plotdemos7.tcl for it use.
SCROLLING FOR TIMECHARTS AND GANTT CHARTS
For two types of plots automatic scrolling management has been implemented: timecharts and Gantt charts. The subcommands hscroll and
vscroll associate (existing) scrollbars to the plot, in much the same way as for text and canvas widgets.
Once the association is made, the scrollbars are automatically updated if:
o You add an item with a period wider than the current one.
o You add a vertical line for a time beyond the current bounds.
o You add an extra item beyond the number that was used to create the chart.
For instance:
package require Plotchart
canvas .c -width 400 -height 200
scrollbar .y -orient vertical
scrollbar .x -orient horizontal
grid .c .y -sticky news
grid .x -sticky news
source plotchart.tcl
set s [::Plotchart::createTimechart .c "1 january 2004" "31 december 2004" 4]
$s period "Spring" "1 march 2004" "1 june 2004" green
$s period "Summer" "1 june 2004" "1 september 2004" yellow
$s vertline "1 jan" "1 january 2004"
$s vertline "1 apr" "1 april 2004"
$s vertline "1 jul" "1 july 2004"
$s vertline "1 oct" "1 october 2004"
$s vertline "1 jan" "1 january 2005"
$s vertline "1 apr" "1 april 2005"
$s vertline "1 jul" "1 july 2005"
$s milestone "Longest day" "21 july 2004"
$s milestone "Longest day 2" "21 july 2004"
$s milestone "Longest day 3" "21 july 2004"
$s milestone "Longest day 4" "21 july 2004"
$s milestone "Longest day 5" "21 july 2004"
$s milestone "Longest day 6" "21 july 2004"
$s title "Seasons (northern hemisphere)"
$s vscroll .y
$s hscroll .x
The original extent of the chart is from 1 january 2004 to 31 december 2004. But because of the addition of vertical lines in 2005 and more
items than was specified at the creation of the chart, both the horizontal and the vertical scrollbar will be enabled.
SPECIALISED PLOTS
Most of the plot and chart types described above have a fairly general use and you simply prepares the data to be plotted yourself. This
section describes several plot types that are more specialised, in the sense that they have specific purposes and you pass raw data that
are then processed in the plotting routines.
Currently there are the following types:
o Target diagrams are used to assess the capacity of numerical models to reproduce measurement data. They are described in detail in:
Jason K. Joliff et al.
Summary diagrams for coupled hydrodynamic-ecosystem model skill assessment
Journal of Marine Systems 76 (2009) 64-82
DOI: 10.1016/j.jmarsys.2008.05.014
o Performance profiles are used for comparing the performance of numerical methods or implementations thereof with each other. For
more information:
Desmond Higham and Nicholas Higham
Matlab Guide
SIAM, 2005, Philadephia
Most of the general methods for XY-plots work for these plots as well, but their creation and the methods to plot the data are very spe-
cific.
::Plotchart::createTargetDiagram w limits scale
Create a new target diagram with circles indicating specific limits. The x-axis represents the unbiased "root-mean-square differ-
ence" (typically varying between -1 and 1) and the y-axis represents the normalised bias.
Data points closer to the origin represent better results than data points further away.
widget w (in)
Name of the existing canvas widget to hold the plot.
list limits (in)
List of radii for the circles that represent the limits (for instance: 0.5 and 0.7)
double scale (in)
Scale for the axes - defaults to 1, but if the model results are a poor fit, then that may be too small a value. Both axes
are scaled in the same way.
$target plot series xvalues yvalues
The plot method takes two series of data of the same length, the first one representing the model results, the second one represent
the measurements or, more general, the data that need to be reproduced.
string series (in)
Name of the series (it will be plotted as a symbol that is configured via the $target dataconfig command (see the XY-plot
equivalent for an explanation)
list xvalues (in)
List of model results (missing values are represented as empty strings)
list yvalues (in)
List of measured values (missing values are represented as empty strings; only if both the x and the y values are given, is
the pair used in the computations)
::Plotchart::createPerformanceProfile w max
Create a diagram to show the performance of various numerical methods (or solvers). The idea is to first run these methods on a set
of problems and measure their performance. The smaller the number the better. Then these methods are compared via a so-called per-
formance profile: the data are scaled and ordered, such that the best method ends up highest.
Because of the nature of the plot all data must be given at once.
widget w (in)
Name of the existing canvas widget to hold the plot.
float max (in)
Maximum value for the x-axis (the x-axis is the scaled performance of the series).
$performance plot series_and_data_pairs
Plot the data for each given method. The data are identified by the series name and the appearance is controlled via prior datacon-
fig subcommand.
list series_and_data_pairs (in)
List of series names and data. All data must be given at once.
The command plotmethod can be used to add new methods for a particular plot or chart type. It is intended to help you develop specialised
graphical displays.
::Plotchart::plotmethod charttype methodname plotproc
Adds a new method for the given plot or chart type. The method is implemented by the command or procedure given in the plotproc
argument. The procedure will be called with two extra arguments, the name of the created plot and the canvas widget that contains
(see the example below).
string charttype (in)
The type of plot or chart that the new method should be added to.
string methodname (in)
Name of the method to be used.
string plotproc (in)
Name of the command or procedure that implements the method.
Here is a trivial example of how to use this:
#
# The custom method "doodle" always adds the text "DOODLE"
# to the plot
#
proc doodle {p w x y} {
$p plaintext $x $y "DOODLE"
}
::Plotchart::plotmethod xyplot doodle doodle
#
# Use it
pack [canvas .c]
set p [::Plotchart::createXYPlot .c {0 100 10} {0 20 5}]
$p doodle 40 10
CONTROL DISPLAYS
TODO
ARRANGING MULTIPLE PLOTS IN A CANVAS
The command plotpack allows you to copy the contents of a plot into another canvas widget. This canvas widget does not act as a composite
plot, but it can be saved as a PostScript file for instance: Note: the command simply takes a snapshot of the plots/charts as they are at
that moment.
::Plotchart::plotpack w dir args
Copy the contents of the plots/charts into another widget, in a manner similar to the pack geometry manager.
widget w (in)
The name of the canvas widget to copy the plots/charts into
string dir (in)
The direction of the arrangement - top, left, bottom or right
list args (in)
List of plots/charts to be copied.
For example:
set p1 [createXYPlot ...]
set p2 [createBarchart ...]
... fill the plots ...
toplevel .t
pack [canvas .t.c2 -width ...]
#
# Copy the two plots above each other in the new canvas
#
plotpack .t.c2 top $p1 $p2
INTERACTIVE USE
Plotchart has several features for interactive use (cf. NOTES ON TAGS):
o The legend can be moved around by pressing mouse button 1 in the legend's box and keeping it down.
o You can use the bindplot and bindlast commands to define actions that are to be taken when the user clicks on an element of the plot
or chart. (see below, see also the sample code in plotdemos12.tcl)
o Piecharts can show an "exploded" segment that you can select with mouse button 1.
If you require different forms of interaction, not covered by Plotchart itself, you can use the tags on the various canvas elements to
define other bindings.
The bindplot and bindlast are defined as follows:
$anyplot bindplot event command args
Register a command that will be run whenever the given event occurs in the plot.
string event
The event that you want to bind the command to
string command
Name of the command/procedure that you want to run. The following arguments are prefixed: the x- and y-coordinates of the
point in the plot (the world coordinates!), so that the procedure has the signature:
cmd $xworld $yworld $string1 $string2 $string3
assuming the argument "command" is: {cmd A B C}
$anyplot bindlast series event command
Register a command that will be run when the event occurs within the neighbourhood of the last point added to the given series. (You
can use directly after inserting a data point. All such commands will remain active).
string event
The event that you want to bind the command to
list command
Name of the command/procedure that you want to run. The following arguments are prefixed: the x- and y-coordinates of the
point in the plot (the world coordinates!), so that the procedure has the signature:
cmd $xworld $yworld $string1 $string2 $string3
assuming the argument "command" is: {cmd A B C}
Here is an example - show the values of the data points in an annotation (from the sample code in plotdemos12.tcl):
#
# Procedure for showing an annotation
#
proc showAnnotation {xcoord ycoord plot w} {
$plot balloon $xcoord $ycoord "Data point: [format "%.3f, %.3f" $xcoord $ycoord]" north
after 2000 [list removeAnnotation $w]
}
#
# Procedure for erase an annotation
#
proc removeAnnotation {w} {
# Use the tags to remove all annotations
$w delete BalloonText
$w delete BalloonFrame
}
#
# Create a simple plot and a label
#
pack [canvas .c -bg white] [label .l -textvariable coords]
set p [::Plotchart::createXYPlot .c {0 1000 200} {0 10 1}]
$p dataconfig series1 -type both -symbol cross
foreach x {1 2 5 10 20 50 100 200 500 1000} {
$p plot series1 $x [expr {log($x)}]
#
# Show the annotation for each data point
#
$p bindlast series1 <Enter> [list showAnnotation $p %W]
}
NOTES ON TAGS
The implementation of Plotchart relies heavily on the canvas's ability to identify graphical objects by tags and to change the drawing
order of the objects. This section documents the tags that are used.
(Note: the tags are not always used consistently - see the notes appearing with the various tags. This section describes the current
state.)
General graphical objects:
o mask - Used to manipulate the opaque rectangles that ensure data outside the viewport are not shown.
o topmask, horizmask, vertmask - specialised tags, used for scrollable plots.
o title - Used for title strings. BalloonText, BalloonFrame - Used to manipulate balloon text. PlainText - Used to manipulate ordi-
nary text without any decoration. background - Tag used for gradient and image backgrounds (and for gradient-filled bars). xaxis,
yaxis - Tags used for all objects related to horizontal or vertical axes. (also: both for numerical axes and axes with labels as in
barcharts). Note, however, that the text along the axes has no particular tag. raxis - Tag used for all objects related to a right
axis. taxis - Tag used for all objects related to a time axis. axis3d - Tag used for 3D axes xtickline, ytickline - Tags used for
ticklines. legend, legengb, legendobj - Tags used for the legend. The latter is used to manipulate the legend as a whole. leg-
end_series - Tag used to control the appearance of the legend entry ("series" should be replaced by the series name).
XY-plots (all types of axes):
o data - The general tag to identify graphical objects associated with data. data_seriesname - The tag specific to a data series
("seriesname" should be replaced). band - The horizontal or vertical band drawn with the xband otr yband subcommands have this tag
by the actual name).
Items such as labelled dots only have the "data" tag.
Piecharts:
o segment_segmentnumber - The tag identifying the segment, the string "segmentnumber" should be replaced by the actual number. This
tag is used to explode the segments.
Barcharts:
Barcharts use the same tags as xy-plots (but for gradient-filled bars the data_seriesname is not used).
Histograms and isometric plots:
Currently the only tag used is "data".
Time-charts:
As these plots are scrollable, several tags are used specific to the scrolling: vertscroll, horizscroll, below, lowest, above, timeline,
tline. Each item also has a tag of the form "item_number", where "number" is to be replaced by the actual sequence number of the item.
Gantt charts:
In addition to the tags described for the time-charts, the following tags are used: description, completed, summary and summarybar.
Radial charts and polar plots:
Currently the radial lines indicating the grid have no tags. The graphical objects associated with data only have the "data" tag.
Windroses:
Only the tag data_number is currently used ("number" should be replaced by the sequence number of the data, starting at 0.
Contour and isoline plots:
No tags are used.
3D plots and 3D ribbon plots:
No tags are used for the data objects, only for the axes.
Charts decorated with 3D effects:
The following tags are used to identify various types of graphical objects: platform, background, d, u, ticklines.
The text associated with the bars has no tags. The ribbon lines and areas have no tags either.
TODO - SOME PRIVATE NOTES
I have the following wishlist:
o Isometric plots - allow new items to be implemented easily.
o A general 3D viewer - emphasis on geometry, not a ray-tracer.
o Several improvements for boxplots:
o Height of the box scales with the logarithm of the number of points
o Marker line to indicate a "current" value
o Box drawn from quantiles
KEYWORDS
3D bars, 3D surfaces, bar charts, charts, coordinate transformations, coordinates, graphical presentation, isometric plots, pie charts,
plotting, polar plots, strip charts, time charts, xy-plots
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 2010 Arjen Markus <arjenmarkus@users.sourceforge.net>
plotchart 1.9.0 Plotchart(n)