I have written a simple interactive chart program called Fchart. Here is a brief description of its features. This posting is followed by installation notes (read before you do anything!) and 4 shar files (smaller than 70KB each) in the alt.sources. Program is based upon Gnuplot code, and uses a similar language for the user interface. Four parts come directly from Gnuplot: help facility, input scanner, doc maker and terminal drivers. Maybe, if well tested and approved, program will be a part of Gnuplot in the future. Code can be freely redistributed if found useful, as long as the copyright messages are retained. PLEASE DO NOT REDISTRIBUTE MODIFIED CODE, rather e-mail me your suggestions. Gnuplot Copyright (C) 1986, 1987, 1990 Thomas Williams, Colin Kelley John Campbell, David Kotz, Russell Lang Fchart Copyright (C) 1990 Piotr Filip Sawicki --------------------------------------------- Fchart features: * Interactive user interface, batch files accepted, on-line help * Highly customizable output form (size, position, form, labels) * Four main chart styles : - normal side-by-side (adjacent) bars - stacked bars - layer-over-layer bars - pies * Many adjustable variations of styles: - pie charts with slices exploding in any direction, combining slices below specified threshold, drawing clockwise or counter- clockwise - bar charts with any value for base, drawn in any order with any gravity (left, right, top, bottom of page) - and lots more * Drawing down or across several data files (i.e. standard or transposed data) * Accepted input: - Gnuplot files - private format - columnar data files * Missing values supported * Partial input (from spec. row to spec. row); in any case, file is read at once * Internal vector font (Roman type) for better labeling and for terminals that cannot rotate text (courtesy Joe Felsenstein, joe@genetics.washington.edu) * Smart autolabeling, arrows, lines, labels (drawn in any size and/or direction). * Wide range of supported terminals (well, that's a Gnuplot feature) Faults, caveats, bugs: * Gnuplot bugs * Only 2D graphics by now (3D bars later ... perhaps) * Some errors in bar centering (almost unvisible) * Not very smart tick marking algorithm * Makefile only for *NIX systems (if some poor soul is going to write that for VMS or MS-DOS, please send it to me), though due to #ifdefs program should work everywhere. Future (in one month?): * New, highly independent and expandable graphics kernel * More fonts * Bar filling algorithm * Gnuplot patch 01 update * Anything you request --------------------------------------------- fi. (Piotr Filip Sawicki fs@uwasa.fi) From fs Mon Jun 4 16:09:09 EET DST 1990 Article 1384 of alt.sources: Newsgroups: alt.sources Path: uwasa.fi!fs >From: fs@uwasa.fi (Filip Sawicki LAKE) Subject: Fchart Installation Hints Message-ID: <1990Jun4.124900.983@uwasa.fi> Organization: University of Vaasa Date: Mon, 4 Jun 90 12:49:00 GMT IMPORTANT! This program requires some knowledge about Gnuplot 2.0 pl0, and a part of its code. If you don't have it, ftp from the nearest server, and at least print and read the documentation. ********************************************************************** DISCLAIMER 1. This program has never had any claims to be The Ultimate Chart Maker. It should be treated rather as a previewer before writing proper SAS program or transmitting data to Lotus 1-2-3. And it is no serious work, but effect of several weeks of hacking well written Gnuplot code. ********************************************************************** HOW TO INSTALL FCHART Fchart needs the following Gnuplot v2.0 files: docs/*.c term.o plot.h help.h scanner.o help.o (or sources and original Makefile) so there are two basic ways to make it work. Read carefully. --------------------------------------------- 1. Create new directory, and unshar fchart right there. Rename make.fil to Makefile. Edit Makefile: - set LIBS properly, according to your Gnuplot Makefile. - make GNUP point to Gnuplot directory. Path MUST NOT end with "/". Cross your fingers. Type "make fchart" If OK, it's there, named "fchart". 2. Unshar fchart in Gnuplot directory. My files don't have conflicting names, so thre should be no harm done. Edit make.fil: - set LIBS as above. - define "GNUP=." DO NOT RENAME "make.fil" TO "Makefile" ! Cross your fingers. Type "make -f make.fil fchart". If OK, it's there, named "fchart". --------------------------------------------- To make documentation, choose 'tex', 'dvi', 'troff' or 'nroff'. "make install" will install program as well as built-in help, but before set properly DEST and HELPDEST in Makefile If you'd like to change the code, read the warning in "fgraf.c". ********************************************************************** TERMINALS AND OPTIONS Fchart takes only one option: type of terminal to produce output for. Terminal settings work like in Gnuplot, and also use GNUTERM environment variable. In addition, you can define TERM within "fcmd.c" to be your preferred terminal. This overrides GNUTERM, but can be changed by init file ".fchart". Then the command line option is used, and makes the final change to the terminal. In this release, TERM is set to "tektronix". ********************************************************************** DISCLAIMER 2. Sorry for the poor quality of the code. I am only a CS student, working here on the traineeship. I have almost no experience. I don't like graphics. And you know this side of student life: the only one place where you have time to sleep are lectures or your work ... ********************************************************************** Please send any suggestions to "fs@uwasa.fi" **********************************************************************