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# $Id: __init__.py,v 2.93 2001/01/26 19:00:27 mhagger Exp $
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# Copyright (C) 1998-2001 Michael Haggerty <mhagger@alum.mit.edu>
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# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
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# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
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# the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
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# (at your option) any later version. This program is distributed in
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# the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without
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# even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A
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# PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more
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# details; it is available at <http://www.fsf.org/copyleft/gpl.html>,
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# or by writing to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place
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# - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
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"""Gnuplot -- A pipe-based interface to the gnuplot plotting program.
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This is the main module of the Gnuplot package.
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Written by "Michael Haggerty", mailto:mhagger@alum.mit.edu. Inspired
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by and partly derived from an earlier version by "Konrad Hinsen",
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mailto:hinsen@ibs.ibs.fr. If you find a problem or have a suggestion,
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please "let me know", mailto:mhagger@alum.mit.edu. Other feedback
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would also be appreciated.
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The Gnuplot.py home page is at
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"Gnuplot.py", http://gnuplot-py.sourceforge.net
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For information about how to use this module:
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1. Check the README file.
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2. Look at the example code in demo.py and try running it by typing
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'python demo.py' or 'python __init__.py'.
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3. For more details see the extensive documentation strings
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throughout the python source files, especially this file,
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_Gnuplot.py, PlotItems.py, and gp_unix.py.
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4. The docstrings have also been turned into html which can be read
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"here", http://gnuplot-py.sourceforge.net/doc. However, the
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formatting is not perfect; when in doubt, double-check the
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You should import this file with 'import Gnuplot', not with 'from
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Gnuplot import *', because the module and the main class have the same
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To obtain the gnuplot plotting program itself, see "the gnuplot FAQ",
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ftp://ftp.gnuplot.vt.edu/pub/gnuplot/faq/index.html. Obviously you
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need to have gnuplot installed if you want to use Gnuplot.py.
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The old command-based interface to gnuplot has been separated out into
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a separate module, oldplot.py. If you are still using that interface
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you should 'import Gnuplot.oldplot'; otherwise you should stick to the
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more flexible object-oriented interface contained here.
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o Allows the creation of two or three dimensional plots from
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o A gnuplot session is an instance of class 'Gnuplot'. Multiple
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sessions can be open at once. For example::
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g1 = Gnuplot.Gnuplot()
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g2 = Gnuplot.Gnuplot()
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Note that due to limitations on those platforms, opening multiple
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simultaneous sessions on Windows or Macintosh may not work
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correctly. (Feedback?)
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o The implicitly-generated gnuplot commands can be stored to a file
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instead of executed immediately::
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g = Gnuplot.Gnuplot('commands.txt')
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The 'commands.txt' file can then be run later with gnuplot's
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'load' command. Beware, however: the plot commands may depend on
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the existence of temporary files, which will probably be deleted
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before you use the command file.
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o Can pass arbitrary commands to the gnuplot command interpreter::
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(If this is all you want to do, you might consider using the
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lightweight GnuplotProcess class defined in gp.py.)
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o A Gnuplot object knows how to plot objects of type 'PlotItem'.
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Any PlotItem can have optional 'title' and/or 'with' suboptions.
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Builtin PlotItem types:
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* 'Data(array1)' -- data from a Python list or NumPy array
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(permits additional option 'cols' )
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* 'File('filename')' -- data from an existing data file (permits
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additional option 'using' )
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* 'Func('exp(4.0 * sin(x))')' -- functions (passed as a string,
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evaluated by gnuplot)
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* 'GridData(m, x, y)' -- data tabulated on a grid of (x,y) values
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(usually to be plotted in 3-D)
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See the documentation strings for those classes for more details.
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o PlotItems are implemented as objects that can be assigned to
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variables and plotted repeatedly. Most of their plot options can
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also be changed with the new 'set_option()' member functions then
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they can be replotted with their new options.
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o Communication of commands to gnuplot is via a one-way pipe.
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Communication of data from python to gnuplot is via inline data
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(through the command pipe) or via temporary files. Temp files are
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deleted automatically when their associated 'PlotItem' is deleted.
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The PlotItems in use by a Gnuplot object at any given time are
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stored in an internal list so that they won't be deleted
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o Can use 'replot' method to add datasets to an existing plot.
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o Can make persistent gnuplot windows by using the constructor option
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'persist=1'. Such windows stay around even after the gnuplot
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program is exited. Note that only newer version of gnuplot support
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o Can plot either directly to a postscript printer or to a
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postscript file via the 'hardcopy' method.
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o Grid data for the splot command can be sent to gnuplot in binary
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format, saving time and disk space.
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o Should work under Unix, Macintosh, and Windows.
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- Relies on the Numeric Python extension. This can be obtained from
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"SourceForge", http://sourceforge.net/projects/numpy/. If you're
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interested in gnuplot, you would probably also want NumPy anyway.
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- Only a small fraction of gnuplot functionality is implemented as
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explicit method functions. However, you can give arbitrary
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commands to gnuplot manually::
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g = Gnuplot.Gnuplot()
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g('set data style linespoints')
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- There is no provision for missing data points in array data (which
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gnuplot allows via the 'set missing' command).
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- No attempt is made to check for errors reported by gnuplot. On
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unix any gnuplot error messages simply appear on stderr. (I don't
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know what happens under Windows.)
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- All of these classes perform their resource deallocation when
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'__del__' is called. Normally this works fine, but there are
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well-known cases when Python's automatic resource deallocation
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fails, which can leave temporary files around.
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__cvs_version__ = '$Revision: 2.93 $'
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# Other modules that should be loaded for 'from Gnuplot import *':
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__all__ = ['utils', 'funcutils', 'oldplot', ]
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from gp import GnuplotOpts, GnuplotProcess, test_persist
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from PlotItems import OptionException, DataException, \
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PlotItem, Func, File, Data, GridData
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from _Gnuplot import Gnuplot
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if __name__ == '__main__':
added
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build/lib/Gnuplot/__init__.py
