Chapter 7: Quick Plots

This chapter presents quick plots that are collections of DISLIN routines to display data with one command.

The following rules are applied to quick plots:

Quick plots call DISINI automatically if it is not called before. METAFL ('XWIN') will be used in quick plots if METAFL is not used before.
On X Window terminals, there are no calls to ENDGRF and DISFIN in quick plots, they let DISLIN in level 2 or 3. If the variable %ERASE is set to 0, following quick plots will overwrite the graphics window without erasing the window.
On other terminals such as VGA screens, quick plots are terminated with DISFIN to get back to the text mode.

Additional note:

All quick plots have corresponding widget interfaces that can be executed with the command
disgcl quick plot
where quick plot is the name of a quick plot. The widget interfaces for quick plots expect data in the form of data files described in chapter 8, 'Data Files'.

7.1 The PLOT Command

The command PLOT makes a quick plot of two or more floating point arrays.

The call is: PLOT xray1, yray1 [,xray2, yray2, ... , xrayn, yrayn]

xray1, yray1 are floating point arrays.

Example: x = falloc (100)
plot x, sin (x), x, cos (x)

7.2 The SCATTR Command

The command SCATTR makes a quick plot of two or more floating point arrays where the points are marked with symbols.

The call is: SCATTR xray1, yray1 [,xray2, yray2, ... , xrayn, yrayn]

xray1, yray1 are floating point arrays.

7.3 The PLOT3 Command

The command PLOT3 makes a 3-D colour plot.

The call is: PLOT3 xray, yray, zray

xray, yray, zray are floating point arrays containing X-, Y- and Z-coordinates.

7.4 The PLOT3R Command

The command PLOT3R makes a 3-D colour plot where the data are specified as rectangles.

The call is: PLOT3R x1ray, y1ray, x2ray, y2ray, zray

x1ray, y1ray are floating point arrays containing X- and Y- coordinates of rectangle corners.

x2ray, y2ray are floating point arrays containing the opposite rectangle corners.

zray is a floating point array containing Z-coordinates.

7.5 The SURF3 Command

The command SURF3 makes a 3-D colour plot of a matrix. The columns of the matrix will be plotted as rows.

The call is: SURF3 zmat [,xray [, yray]]

zmat is a two-dimensional floating point array with m rows and n columns.

xray is a floating point array with the dimension m. It will be used to position the rows of zmat. If xray is missing, an array with the values { 0.5, 1.5, ..., m - 0.5} will be used.

yray is a floating point array with the dimension n. It will be used to position the columns of zmat. If yray is missing, an array with the values { 0.5, 1.5, ..., n - 0.5} will be used.

7.6 The SURFACE Command

The command SURFACE makes a surface plot of a matrix.

The call is: SURFACE zmat [,xray, yray]

zmat is a two-dimensional floating point array with nx rows and ny columns.

xray is a floating point array with the dimension nx. It will be used to position the rows of zmat. If xray is missing, an array with the values {0., 1., ..., nx - 1} will be used.

yray is a floating point array with the dimension ny. It will be used to position the columns of zmat. If yray is missing, an array with the values {0., 1., ..., ny - 1} will be used.

7.7 The SURSHADE Command

The command SURSHADE makes a shaded surface plot of a matrix.

The call is: SURSHADE zmat [,xray, yray]

7.8 The CONTOUR Command

The command CONTOUR makes a contour plot of a matrix.

The call is: CONTOUR zmat [,xray, yray, zlvray]

or: CONTOUR zmat, zlvray

7.9 The CONSHADE Command

The command CONSHADE makes a shaded contour plot of a matrix.

The call is: CONSHADE zmat [,xray, yray, zlvray]

or: CONSHADE zmat, zlvray

7.10 Scaling of Quick Plots

Normally, quick plots are scaled automatically in the range of the data. This behaviour can be changed if certain variables are defined.

The variables for the X-axis are:

If the system variables %XMIN and %XMAX are defined, the X-axis will be scaled automatically in the range %XMIN, %XMAX.
If the system variables %XMIN, %XMAX, %XOR and %XSTEP are defined, the scaling and labeling of the X-axis is completly defined by the user.
If the system variable %XAUTO is defined and set to 1, the variables %XMIN, %XMAX, %XOR and %XSTEP will be ignored and scaling will be done automatically in the range of the data.

Analogue:

Y-axis, Z-axis.

Additional note:

For logarithmic scaling, the parameters must be exponents of base 10.

7.11 Quick Plot Variables

There is a set of variables that can modify the appearance of quick plots. The corresponding DISLIN routines are given in parenthesis.

%X defines the X-axis title (NAME).

%Y defines the Y-axis title (NAME).

%Z defines the Z-axis title (NAME).

%T1 defines line 1 of the axis system title (TITLIN).

%T2 defines line 2 of the axis system title (TITLIN).

%T3 defines line 3 of the axis system title (TITLIN).

%T4 defines line 4 of the axis system title (TITLIN).

%XTIC sets the number of ticks for the X-axis (TICKS).

%YTIC sets the number of ticks for the Y-axis (TICKS).

%ZTIC sets the number of ticks for the Z-axis (TICKS).

%XDIG sets the number of digits for the X-axis (LABDIG).

%YDIG sets the number of digits for the Y-axis (LABDIG).

%ZDIG sets the number of digits for the Z-axis (LABDIG).

%XSCL defines the scaling of the X-axis (AXSSCL).

%YSCL defines the scaling of the Y-axis (AXSSCL).

%ZSCL defines the scaling of the Z-axis (AXSSCL).

%XLAB defines the labels of the X-axis (LABELS).

%YLAB defines the labels of the Y-axis (LABELS).

%ZLAB defines the labels of the Z-axis (LABELS).

%H defines the character size (HEIGHT).

%HNAME defines the size of axis titles (HNAME).

%HTITLE defines the size of the axis sytem title (HTITLE).

%XPOS defines the X-Position of the axis system (AXSPOS).

%YPOS defines the Y-Position of the axis system (AXSPOS).

%XLEN defines the size of an axis system in X-direction (AXSLEN).

%YLEN defines the size of an axis system in Y-direction (AXSLEN).

%ZLEN defines the size of an axis system in Z-direction (AX3LEN).

%POLCRV defines an interpolation method used by CURVE (POLCRV).

%INCMRK defines line or symbol mode for CURVE (INCMRK).

%MARKER selctes a symbol for CURVE (MARKER).

%HSYMBL defines the size of symbols (HSYMBL).

%XRES sets the width of points plotted by PLOT3 (SETRES).

%YRES sets the height of points plotted by PLOT3 (SETRES).

%X3VIEW sets the X-position of the viewpoint in absolut 3-D coordinates (VIEW3D).

%Y3VIEW sets the Y-position of the viewpoint in absolut 3-D coordinates (VIEW3D).

%Z3VIEW sets the Z-position of the viewpoint in absolut 3-D coordinates (VIEW3D).

%X3LEN defines the X-axis length of the 3-D box (AXIS3D).

%Y3LEN defines the Y-axis length of the 3-D box (AXIS3D).

%Z3LEN defines the Z-axis length of the 3-D box (AXIS3D).

%VTITLE defines vertical shifting for the axis system title (VKYTIT).

%CONSHD selects an algorithm used for contour filling (SHDMOD).

Additional note:

The variables can also be used, to initalize plotting parameters in DISINI.

Example: %X = 'X-axis'
%Y = 'Y-axis'
xray = falloc (10)
plot xray, xray

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x1ray, y1ray	are floating point arrays containing X- and Y- coordinates of rectangle corners.
x2ray, y2ray	are floating point arrays containing the opposite rectangle corners.
zray	is a floating point array containing Z-coordinates.

zmat	is a two-dimensional floating point array with m rows and n columns.
xray	is a floating point array with the dimension m. It will be used to position the rows of zmat. If xray is missing, an array with the values { 0.5, 1.5, ..., m - 0.5} will be used.
yray	is a floating point array with the dimension n. It will be used to position the columns of zmat. If yray is missing, an array with the values { 0.5, 1.5, ..., n - 0.5} will be used.

The call is:	CONTOUR zmat [,xray, yray, zlvray]
or:	CONTOUR zmat, zlvray

The call is:	CONSHADE zmat [,xray, yray, zlvray]
or:	CONSHADE zmat, zlvray

%X	defines the X-axis title (NAME).
%Y	defines the Y-axis title (NAME).
%Z	defines the Z-axis title (NAME).

%T1	defines line 1 of the axis system title (TITLIN).
%T2	defines line 2 of the axis system title (TITLIN).
%T3	defines line 3 of the axis system title (TITLIN).
%T4	defines line 4 of the axis system title (TITLIN).

%XTIC	sets the number of ticks for the X-axis (TICKS).
%YTIC	sets the number of ticks for the Y-axis (TICKS).
%ZTIC	sets the number of ticks for the Z-axis (TICKS).

%XDIG	sets the number of digits for the X-axis (LABDIG).
%YDIG	sets the number of digits for the Y-axis (LABDIG).
%ZDIG	sets the number of digits for the Z-axis (LABDIG).

%XSCL	defines the scaling of the X-axis (AXSSCL).
%YSCL	defines the scaling of the Y-axis (AXSSCL).
%ZSCL	defines the scaling of the Z-axis (AXSSCL).

%XLAB	defines the labels of the X-axis (LABELS).
%YLAB	defines the labels of the Y-axis (LABELS).
%ZLAB	defines the labels of the Z-axis (LABELS).

%H	defines the character size (HEIGHT).
%HNAME	defines the size of axis titles (HNAME).
%HTITLE	defines the size of the axis sytem title (HTITLE).

%XPOS	defines the X-Position of the axis system (AXSPOS).
%YPOS	defines the Y-Position of the axis system (AXSPOS).

%XLEN	defines the size of an axis system in X-direction (AXSLEN).
%YLEN	defines the size of an axis system in Y-direction (AXSLEN).
%ZLEN	defines the size of an axis system in Z-direction (AX3LEN).

%POLCRV	defines an interpolation method used by CURVE (POLCRV).
%INCMRK	defines line or symbol mode for CURVE (INCMRK).
%MARKER	selctes a symbol for CURVE (MARKER).
%HSYMBL	defines the size of symbols (HSYMBL).

%XRES	sets the width of points plotted by PLOT3 (SETRES).
%YRES	sets the height of points plotted by PLOT3 (SETRES).

%X3VIEW	sets the X-position of the viewpoint in absolut 3-D coordinates (VIEW3D).
%Y3VIEW	sets the Y-position of the viewpoint in absolut 3-D coordinates (VIEW3D).
%Z3VIEW	sets the Z-position of the viewpoint in absolut 3-D coordinates (VIEW3D).

%X3LEN	defines the X-axis length of the 3-D box (AXIS3D).
%Y3LEN	defines the Y-axis length of the 3-D box (AXIS3D).
%Z3LEN	defines the Z-axis length of the 3-D box (AXIS3D).

%VTITLE	defines vertical shifting for the axis system title (VKYTIT).
%CONSHD	selects an algorithm used for contour filling (SHDMOD).