Re: Handle graphics plotting functions

Shai Ayal wrote:
> On 2/13/06, Petr Mikulik <[email protected]> wrote:

I wrote this:

> 
>>>>What's missing in gnuplot?
>>>
> 
> In a word -- CONTROL.
> 
> Today the gnuplot developers control gnuplot and control the way my
> plots look -- 95% of the time this is excellent since gnuplot is a
> high quality piece of software, however at times the user need more
> control, and than he is stuck:
> 
> I just invented a new graph type.

OK, but I wouldn't call that tweaking.  To me, tweaking would be moving the key here, lessening the margin there, etc.

> I cannot implement in in gnuplot
> because it does not give me access to it's primitives. I made do with
> candlesticks at the end, but the results was not very nice. Now I have
> 2 choices:
> I can appeal to gnuplot developers to implement this new graph type,
> but it's very shai-specific, so why should they put it anywhere near
> the top of their TODO list?

Sketch out an example of what you want (import a PNG plot into GIMP and alter some things and save it as a PNG).  If it is a slight variation on some plot that seems worthwhile, you may get a developer to toss something together in a short while.  Some times the proposed variation gets rejected, but hey.

> I could write implement it in gnuplot myself, but that would mean I would
> 1. have to delve into it's sources
> 2. release my code through a questionable license which up to now I'm
> not sure is quite GPL

Noted.  There's been discussion of this second point recently.

> 
> OTOH, if you have a handle graphics system you have full access to all
> drawing primitives and you can implement your graph to the degree of
> quality you want using a simple well documented interface, and than
> either release it to the world under a license of your liking or keep
> it to yourself.


Do you mean, line, point, box, curve, etc.?  I'm not sure, but gnuplot may have easier ways of doing this sort of thing now.  I can see that some would want to build their own plot, but at the same time I guess gnuplot developers would prefer to supply the functionality than have the user go through excess work.

Dan