N:blt graph
From Linux Man Pages
graph - 2D graph for plotting X-Y coordinate data.
SYNOPSIS
graph pathName ?option value?...
DESCRIPTION
The graph command creates a graph for plotting two-dimensional data (X-Y coordinates). It has many configurable
components: coordinate axes, elements, legend, grid lines, cross hairs, etc. They allow you to customize the
look and feel of the graph.
INTRODUCTION
The graph command creates a new window for plotting two-dimensional data (X-Y coordinates). Data points are
plotted in a rectangular area displayed in the center of the new window. This is the plotting area. The coordi-
nate axes are drawn in the margins around the plotting area. By default, the legend is displayed in the right
margin. The title is displayed in top margin.
The graph widget is composed of several components: coordinate axes, data elements, legend, grid, cross hairs,
pens, postscript, and annotation markers.
axis The graph has four standard axes (x, x2, y, and y2), but you can create and display any number of axes.
Axes control what region of data is displayed and how the data is scaled. Each axis consists of the
axis line, title, major and minor ticks, and tick labels. Tick labels display the value at each major
tick.
crosshairs
Cross hairs are used to position the mouse pointer relative to the X and Y coordinate axes. Two perpen-
dicular lines, intersecting at the current location of the mouse, extend across the plotting area to
the coordinate axes.
element An element represents a set of data points. Elements can be plotted with a symbol at each data point
and lines connecting the points. The appearance of the element, such as its symbol, line width, and
color is configurable.
grid Extends the major and minor ticks of the X-axis and/or Y-axis across the plotting area.
legend The legend displays the name and symbol of each data element. The legend can be drawn in any margin or
in the plotting area.
marker Markers are used annotate or highlight areas of the graph. For example, you could use a polygon marker
to fill an area under a curve, or a text marker to label a particular data point. Markers come in vari-
ous forms: text strings, bitmaps, connected line segments, images, polygons, or embedded widgets.
pen Pens define attributes (both symbol and line style) for elements. Data elements use pens to specify
how they should be drawn. A data element may use many pens at once. Here, the particular pen used for
a data point is determined from each element's weight vector (see the element's -weight and -style
options).
postscript
The widget can generate encapsulated PostScript output. This component has several options to configure
how the PostScript is generated.
SYNTAX
graph pathName ?option value?...
The graph command creates a new window pathName and makes it into a graph widget. At the time this command is
invoked, there must not exist a window named pathName, but pathName's parent must exist. Additional options may
be specified on the command line or in the option database to configure aspects of the graph such as its colors
and font. See the configure operation below for the exact details about what option and value pairs are valid.
If successful, graph returns the path name of the widget. It also creates a new Tcl command by the same name.
You can use this command to invoke various operations that query or modify the graph. The general form is:
pathName operation ?arg?...
Both operation and its arguments determine the exact behavior of the command. The operations available for the
graph are described in the GRAPH OPERATIONS section.
The command can also be used to access components of the graph.
pathName component operation ?arg?...
The operation, now located after the name of the component, is the function to be performed on that component.
Each component has its own set of operations that manipulate that component. They will be described below in
their own sections.
EXAMPLE
The graph command creates a new graph.
# Create a new graph. Plotting area is black.
graph .g -plotbackground black
A new Tcl command .g is also created. This command can be used to query and modify the graph. For example, to
change the title of the graph to "My Plot", you use the new command and the graph's configure operation.
# Change the title.
.g configure -title "My Plot"
A graph has several components. To access a particular component you use the component's name. For example, to
add data elements, you use the new command and the element component.
# Create a new element named "line1"
.g element create line1 \
-xdata { 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 } \
-ydata { 26.18 50.46 72.85 93.31 111.86 128.47 143.14
155.85 166.60 175.38 }
The element's X-Y coordinates are specified using lists of numbers. Alternately, BLT vectors could be used to
hold the X-Y coordinates.
# Create two vectors and add them to the graph.
vector xVec yVec
xVec set { 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 }
yVec set { 26.18 50.46 72.85 93.31 111.86 128.47 143.14 155.85
166.60 175.38 }
.g element create line1 -xdata xVec -ydata yVec
The advantage of using vectors is that when you modify one, the graph is automatically redrawn to reflect the new
values.
# Change the y coordinate of the first point.
set yVector(0) 25.18
An element named e1 is now created in .b. It is automatically added to the display list of elements. You can
use this list to control in what order elements are displayed. To query or reset the element display list, you
use the element's show operation.
# Get the current display list
set elemList [.b element show]
# Remove the first element so it won't be displayed.
.b element show [lrange $elemList 0 end]
The element will be displayed by as many bars as there are data points (in this case there are ten). The bars
will be drawn centered at the x-coordinate of the data point. All the bars will have the same attributes (col-
ors, stipple, etc). The width of each bar is by default one unit. You can change this with using the -barwidth
option.
# Change the X-Y coordinates of the first point.
set xVec(0) 0.18
set yVec(0) 25.18
An element named line1 is now created in .g. By default, the element's label in the legend will be also line1.
You can change the label, or specify no legend entry, again using the element's configure operation.
# Don't display "line1" in the legend.
.g element configure line1 -label ""
You can configure more than just the element's label. An element has many attributes such as symbol type and
size, dashed or solid lines, colors, line width, etc.
.g element configure line1 -symbol square -color red \
-dashes { 2 4 2 } -linewidth 2 -pixels 2c
Four coordinate axes are automatically created: x, x2, y, and y2. And by default, elements are mapped onto the
axes x and y. This can be changed with the -mapx and -mapy options.
# Map "line1" on the alternate Y-axis "y2".
.g element configure line1 -mapy y2
Axes can be configured in many ways too. For example, you change the scale of the Y-axis from linear to log
using the axis component.
# Y-axis is log scale.
.g axis configure y -logscale yes
One important way axes are used is to zoom in on a particular data region. Zooming is done by simply specifying
new axis limits using the -min and -max configuration options.
.g axis configure x -min 1.0 -max 1.5
.g axis configure y -min 12.0 -max 55.15
To zoom interactively, you link the axis configure operations with some user interaction (such as pressing the
mouse button), using the bind command. To convert between screen and graph coordinates, use the invtransform
operation.
# Click the button to set a new minimum
bind .g <ButtonPress-1> {
%W axis configure x -min [%W axis invtransform x %x]
%W axis configure x -min [%W axis invtransform x %y]
}
By default, the limits of the axis are determined from data values. To reset back to the default limits, set the
-min and -max options to the empty value.
# Reset the axes to autoscale again.
.g axis configure x -min {} -max {}
.g axis configure y -min {} -max {}
By default, the legend is drawn in the right margin. You can change this or any legend configuration options
using the legend component.
# Configure the legend font, color, and relief
.g legend configure -position left -relief raised \
-font fixed -fg blue
To prevent the legend from being displayed, turn on the -hide option.
# Don't display the legend.
.g legend configure -hide yes
The graph widget has simple drawing procedures called markers. They can be used to highlight or annotate data in
the graph. The types of markers available are bitmaps, images, polygons, lines, or windows. Markers can be used,
for example, to mark or brush points. In this example, is a text marker that labels the data first point. Mark-
ers are created using the marker component.
# Create a label for the first data point of "line1".
.g marker create text -name first_marker -coords { 0.2 26.18 } \
-text "start" -anchor se -xoffset -10 -yoffset -10
This creates a text marker named first_marker. It will display the text "start" near the coordinates of the
first data point. The -anchor, -xoffset, and -yoffset options are used to display the marker above and to the
left of the data point, so that the data point isn't covered by the marker. By default, markers are drawn last,
on top of data. You can change this with the -under option.
# Draw the label before elements are drawn.
.g marker configure first_marker -under yes
You can add cross hairs or grid lines using the crosshairs and grid components.
# Display both cross hairs and grid lines.
.g crosshairs configure -hide no -color red
.g grid configure -hide no -dashes { 2 2 }
# Set up a binding to reposition the crosshairs.
bind .g <Motion> {
.g crosshairs configure -position @%x,%y
}
The crosshairs are repositioned as the mouse pointer is moved in the graph. The pointer X-Y coordinates define
the center of the crosshairs.
Finally, to get hardcopy of the graph, use the postscript component.
# Print the graph into file "file.ps"
.g postscript output file.ps -maxpect yes -decorations no
This generates a file file.ps containing the encapsulated PostScript of the graph. The option -maxpect says to
scale the plot to the size of the page. Turning off the -decorations option denotes that no borders or color
backgrounds should be drawn (i.e. the background of the margins, legend, and plotting area will be white).
GRAPH OPERATIONS
pathName axis operation ?arg?...
See the AXIS COMPONENTS section.
pathName bar elemName ?option value?...
Creates a new barchart element elemName. It's an error if an element elemName already exists. See the
manual for barchart for details about what option and value pairs are valid.
pathName cget option
Returns the current value of the configuration option given by option. Option may be any option described
below for the configure operation.
pathName configure ?option value?...
Queries or modifies the configuration options of the graph. If option isn't specified, a list describing
the current options for pathName is returned. If option is specified, but not value, then a list describ-
ing option is returned. If one or more option and value pairs are specified, then for each pair, the
option option is set to value. The following options are valid.
-aspect width/height
Force a fixed aspect ratio of width/height, a floating point number.
-background color
Sets the background color. This includes the margins and legend, but not the plotting area.
-borderwidth pixels
Sets the width of the 3-D border around the outside edge of the widget. The -relief option deter-
mines if the border is to be drawn. The default is 2.
-bottommargin pixels
If non-zero, overrides the computed size of the margin extending below the X-coordinate axis. If
pixels is 0, the automatically computed size is used. The default is 0.
-bufferelements boolean
Indicates whether an internal pixmap to buffer the display of data elements should be used. If
boolean is true, data elements are drawn to an internal pixmap. This option is especially useful
when the graph is redrawn frequently while the remains data unchanged (for example, moving a marker
across the plot). See the SPEED TIPS section. The default is 1.
-cursor cursor
Specifies the widget's cursor. The default cursor is crosshair.
-font fontName
Specifies the font of the graph title. The default is *-Helvetica-Bold-R-Normal-*-18-180-*.
-halo pixels
Specifies a maximum distance to consider when searching for the closest data point (see the ele-
ment's closest operation below). Data points further than pixels away are ignored. The default is
0.5i.
-height pixels
Specifies the requested height of widget. The default is 4i.
-invertxy boolean
Indicates whether the placement X-axis and Y-axis should be inverted. If boolean is true, the X
and Y axes are swapped. The default is 0.
-justify justify
Specifies how the title should be justified. This matters only when the title contains more than
one line of text. Justify must be left, right, or center. The default is center.
-leftmargin pixels
If non-zero, overrides the computed size of the margin extending from the left edge of the window
to the Y-coordinate axis. If pixels is 0, the automatically computed size is used. The default is
0.
-plotbackground color
Specifies the background color of the plotting area. The default is white.
-plotborderwidth pixels
Sets the width of the 3-D border around the plotting area. The -plotrelief option determines if a
border is drawn. The default is 2.
-plotpadx pad
Sets the amount of padding to be added to the left and right sides of the plotting area. Pad can
be a list of one or two screen distances. If pad has two elements, the left side of the plotting
area entry is padded by the first distance and the right side by the second. If pad is just one
distance, both the left and right sides are padded evenly. The default is 8.
-plotpady pad
Sets the amount of padding to be added to the top and bottom of the plotting area. Pad can be a
list of one or two screen distances. If pad has two elements, the top of the plotting area is
padded by the first distance and the bottom by the second. If pad is just one distance, both the
top and bottom are padded evenly. The default is 8.
-plotrelief relief
Specifies the 3-D effect for the plotting area. Relief specifies how the interior of the plotting
area should appear relative to rest of the graph; for example, raised means the plot should appear
to protrude from the graph, relative to the surface of the graph. The default is sunken.
-relief relief
Specifies the 3-D effect for the graph widget. Relief specifies how the graph should appear rela-
tive to widget it is packed into; for example, raised means the graph should appear to protrude.
The default is flat.
-rightmargin pixels
If non-zero, overrides the computed size of the margin extending from the plotting area to the
right edge of the window. By default, the legend is drawn in this margin. If pixels is 0, the
automatically computed size is used. The default is 0.
-takefocus focus
Provides information used when moving the focus from window to window via keyboard traversal (e.g.,
Tab and Shift-Tab). If focus is 0, this means that this window should be skipped entirely during
keyboard traversal. 1 means that the this window should always receive the input focus. An empty
value means that the traversal scripts make the decision whether to focus on the window. The
default is "".
-tile image
Specifies a tiled background for the widget. If image isn't "", the background is tiled using
image. Otherwise, the normal background color is drawn (see the -background option). Image must
be an image created using the Tk image command. The default is "".
-title text
Sets the title to text. If text is "", no title will be displayed.
-topmargin pixels
If non-zero, overrides the computed size of the margin above the x2 axis. If pixels is 0, the
automatically computed size is used. The default is 0.
-width pixels
Specifies the requested width of the widget. The default is 5i.
pathName crosshairs operation ?arg?
See the CROSSHAIRS COMPONENT section.
pathName element operation ?arg?...
See the ELEMENT COMPONENTS section.
pathName extents item
Returns the size of a particular item in the graph. Item must be either leftmargin, rightmargin, topmar-
gin, bottommargin, plotwidth, or plotheight.
pathName grid operation ?arg?...
See the GRID COMPONENT section.
pathName invtransform winX winY
Performs an inverse coordinate transformation, mapping window coordinates back to graph coordinates, using
the standard X-axis and Y-axis. Returns a list of containing the X-Y graph coordinates.
pathName inside x y
Returns 1 is the designated screen coordinate (x and y) is inside the plotting area and 0 otherwise.
pathName legend operation ?arg?...
See the LEGEND COMPONENT section.
pathName line operation arg...
The operation is the same as element.
pathName marker operation ?arg?...
See the MARKER COMPONENTS section.
pathName postscript operation ?arg?...
See the POSTSCRIPT COMPONENT section.
pathName snap ?switches? outputName
Takes a snapshot of the graph, saving the output in outputName. The following switches are available.
-format format
Specifies how the snapshot is output. Format may be one of the following listed below. The
default is photo.
photo Saves a Tk photo image. OutputName represents the name of a Tk photo image that must
already have been created.
wmf Saves an Aldus Placeable Metafile. OutputName represents the filename where the metafile
is written. If outputName is CLIPBOARD, then output is written directly to the Windows
clipboard. This format is available only under Microsoft Windows.
emf Saves an Enhanced Metafile. OutputName represents the filename where the metafile is
written. If outputName is CLIPBOARD, then output is written directly to the Windows
clipboard. This format is available only under Microsoft Windows.
-height size
Specifies the height of the graph. Size is a screen distance. The graph will be redrawn using
this dimension, rather than its current window height.
-width size
Specifies the width of the graph. Size is a screen distance. The graph will be redrawn using
this dimension, rather than its current window width.
pathName transform x y
Performs a coordinate transformation, mapping graph coordinates to window coordinates, using the standard
X-axis and Y-axis. Returns a list containing the X-Y screen coordinates.
pathName xaxis operation ?arg?...
pathName x2axis operation ?arg?...
pathName yaxis operation ?arg?...
pathName y2axis operation ?arg?...
See the AXIS COMPONENTS section.
GRAPH COMPONENTS
A graph is composed of several components: coordinate axes, data elements, legend, grid, cross hairs, postscript,
and annotation markers. Instead of one big set of configuration options and operations, the graph is partitioned,
where each component has its own configuration options and operations that specifically control that aspect or
part of the graph.
AXIS COMPONENTS
Four coordinate axes are automatically created: two X-coordinate axes (x and x2) and two Y-coordinate axes (y,
and y2). By default, the axis x is located in the bottom margin, y in the left margin, x2 in the top margin, and
y2 in the right margin.
An axis consists of the axis line, title, major and minor ticks, and tick labels. Major ticks are drawn at uni-
form intervals along the axis. Each tick is labeled with its coordinate value. Minor ticks are drawn at uniform
intervals within major ticks.
The range of the axis controls what region of data is plotted. Data points outside the minimum and maximum lim-
its of the axis are not plotted. By default, the minimum and maximum limits are determined from the data, but
you can reset either limit.
You can have several axes. To create an axis, invoke the axis component and its create operation.
# Create a new axis called "tempAxis"
.g axis create tempAxis
You map data elements to an axis using the element's -mapy and -mapx configuration options. They specify the
coordinate axes an element is mapped onto.
# Now map the tempAxis data to this axis.
.g element create "e1" -xdata $x -ydata $y -mapy tempAxis
Any number of axes can be displayed simultaneously. They are drawn in the margins surrounding the plotting area.
The default axes x and y are drawn in the bottom and left margins. The axes x2 and y2 are drawn in top and right
margins. By default, only x and y are shown. Note that the axes can have different scales.
To display a different axis or more than one axis, you invoke one of the following components: xaxis, yaxis,
x2axis, and y2axis. Each component has a use operation that designates the axis (or axes) to be drawn in that
corresponding margin: xaxis in the bottom, yaxis in the left, x2axis in the top, and y2axis in the right.
# Display the axis tempAxis in the left margin.
.g yaxis use tempAxis
The use operation takes a list of axis names as its last argument. This is the list of axes to be drawn in this
margin.
You can configure axes in many ways. The axis scale can be linear or logarithmic. The values along the axis can
either monotonically increase or decrease. If you need custom tick labels, you can specify a Tcl procedure to
format the label any way you wish. You can control how ticks are drawn, by changing the major tick interval or
the number of minor ticks. You can define non-uniform tick intervals, such as for time-series plots.
pathName axis bind tagName ?sequence? ?command?
Associates command with tagName such that whenever the event sequence given by sequence occurs for an axis
with this tag, command will be invoked. The syntax is similar to the bind command except that it operates
on graph axes, rather than widgets. See the bind manual entry for complete details on sequence and the
substitutions performed on command before invoking it.
If all arguments are specified then a new binding is created, replacing any existing binding for the same
sequence and tagName. If the first character of command is + then command augments an existing binding
rather than replacing it. If no command argument is provided then the command currently associated with
tagName and sequence (it's an error occurs if there's no such binding) is returned. If both command and
sequence are missing then a list of all the event sequences for which bindings have been defined for tag-
Name.
pathName axis cget axisName option
Returns the current value of the option given by option for axisName. Option may be any option described
below for the axis configure operation.
pathName axis configure axisName ?axisName?... ?option value?...
Queries or modifies the configuration options of axisName. Several axes can be changed. If option isn't
specified, a list describing all the current options for axisName is returned. If option is specified,
but not value, then a list describing option is returned. If one or more option and value pairs are spec-
ified, then for each pair, the axis option option is set to value. The following options are valid for
axes.
-bindtags tagList
Specifies the binding tags for the axis. TagList is a list of binding tag names. The tags and
their order will determine how events for axes are handled. Each tag in the list matching the cur-
rent event sequence will have its Tcl command executed. Implicitly the name of the element is
always the first tag in the list. The default value is all.
-color color
Sets the color of the axis and tick labels. The default is black.
-command prefix
Specifies a Tcl command to be invoked when formatting the axis tick labels. Prefix is a string con-
taining the name of a Tcl proc and any extra arguments for the procedure. This command is invoked
for each major tick on the axis. Two additional arguments are passed to the procedure: the path-
name of the widget and the current the numeric value of the tick. The procedure returns the for-
matted tick label. If "" is returned, no label will appear next to the tick. You can get the
standard tick labels again by setting prefix to "". The default is "".
Please note that this procedure is invoked while the graph is redrawn. You may query configuration
options. But do not them, because this can have unexpected results.
-descending boolean
Indicates whether the values along the axis are monotonically increasing or decreasing. If boolean
is true, the axis values will be decreasing. The default is 0.
-hide boolean
Indicates if the axis is displayed. If boolean is false the axis will be displayed. Any element
mapped to the axis is displayed regardless. The default value is 0.
-justify justify
Specifies how the axis title should be justified. This matters only when the axis title contains
more than one line of text. Justify must be left, right, or center. The default is center.
-limits formatStr
Specifies a printf-like description to format the minimum and maximum limits of the axis. The lim-
its are displayed at the top/bottom or left/right sides of the plotting area. FormatStr is a list
of one or two format descriptions. If one description is supplied, both the minimum and maximum
limits are formatted in the same way. If two, the first designates the format for the minimum
limit, the second for the maximum. If "" is given as either description, then the that limit will
not be displayed. The default is "".
-linewidth pixels
Sets the width of the axis and tick lines. The default is 1 pixel.
-logscale boolean
Indicates whether the scale of the axis is logarithmic or linear. If boolean is true, the axis is
logarithmic. The default scale is linear.
-loose boolean
Indicates whether the limits of the axis should fit the data points tightly, at the outermost data
points, or loosely, at the outer tick intervals. If the axis limit is set with the -min or -max
option, the axes are displayed tightly. If boolean is true, the axis range is "loose". The
default is 0.
-majorticks majorList
Specifies where to display major axis ticks. You can use this option to display ticks at non-uni-
form intervals. MajorList is a list of axis coordinates designating the location of major ticks.
No minor ticks are drawn. If majorList is "", major ticks will be automatically computed. The
default is "".
-max value
Sets the maximum limit of axisName. Any data point greater than value is not displayed. If value
is "", the maximum limit is calculated using the largest data value. The default is "".
-min value
Sets the minimum limit of axisName. Any data point less than value is not displayed. If value is
"", the minimum limit is calculated using the smallest data value. The default is "".
-minorticks minorList
Specifies where to display minor axis ticks. You can use this option to display minor ticks at
non-uniform intervals. MinorList is a list of real values, ranging from 0.0 to 1.0, designating the
placement of a minor tick. No minor ticks are drawn if the -majortick option is also set. If
minorList is "", minor ticks will be automatically computed. The default is "".
-rotate theta
Specifies the how many degrees to rotate the axis tick labels. Theta is a real value representing
the number of degrees to rotate the tick labels. The default is 0.0 degrees.
-scrollcommand command
Specify the prefix for a command used to communicate with scrollbars for this axis, such as .sbar
set.
-scrollmax value
Sets the maximum limit of the axis scroll region. If value is "", the maximum limit is calculated
using the largest data value. The default is "".
-scrollmin value
Sets the minimum limit of axis scroll region. If value is "", the minimum limit is calculated
using the smallest data value. The default is "".
-showticks boolean
Indicates whether axis ticks should be drawn. If boolean is true, ticks are drawn. If false, only
the axis line is drawn. The default is 1.
-stepsize value
Specifies the interval between major axis ticks. If value isn't a valid interval (must be less
than the axis range), the request is ignored and the step size is automatically calculated.
-subdivisions number
Indicates how many minor axis ticks are to be drawn. For example, if number is two, only one minor
tick is drawn. If number is one, no minor ticks are displayed. The default is 2.
-tickfont fontName
Specifies the font for axis tick labels. The default is *-Courier-Bold-R-Normal-*-100-*.
-ticklength pixels
Sets the length of major and minor ticks (minor ticks are half the length of major ticks). If pix-
els is less than zero, the axis will be inverted with ticks drawn pointing towards the plot. The
default is 0.1i.
-title text
Sets the title of the axis. If text is "", no axis title will be displayed.
-titlealternate boolean
Indicates to display the axis title in its alternate location. Normally the axis title is centered
along the axis. This option places the axis either to the right (horizontal axes) or above (verti-
cal axes) the axis. The default is 0.
-titlecolor color
Sets the color of the axis title. The default is black.
-titlefont fontName
Specifies the font for axis title. The default is *-Helvetica-Bold-R-Normal-*-14-140-*.
Axis configuration options may be also be set by the option command. The resource class is Axis. The
resource names are the names of the axes (such as x or x2).
option add *Graph.Axis.Color blue
option add *Graph.x.LogScale true
option add *Graph.x2.LogScale false
pathName axis create axisName ?option value?...
Creates a new axis by the name axisName. No axis by the same name can already exist. Option and value are
described in above in the axis configure operation.
pathName axis delete ?axisName?...
Deletes the named axes. An axis is not really deleted until it is not longer in use, so it's safe to
delete axes mapped to elements.
pathName axis invtransform axisName value
Performs the inverse transformation, changing the screen coordinate value to a graph coordinate, mapping
the value mapped to axisName. Returns the graph coordinate.
pathName axis limits axisName
Returns a list of the minimum and maximum limits for axisName. The order of the list is min max.
pathName axis names ?pattern?...
Returns a list of axes matching zero or more patterns. If no pattern argument is give, the names of all
axes are returned.
pathName axis transform axisName value
Transforms the coordinate value to a screen coordinate by mapping the it to axisName. Returns the trans-
formed screen coordinate.
pathName axis view axisName
Change the viewable area of this axis. Use as an argument to a scrollbar's "-command".
The default axes are x, y, x2, and y2. But you can display more than four axes simultaneously. You can also
swap in a different axis with use operation of the special axis components: xaxis, x2axis, yaxis, and y2axis.
.g create axis temp
.g create axis time
...
.g xaxis use temp
.g yaxis use time
Only the axes specified for use are displayed on the screen.
The xaxis, x2axis, yaxis, and y2axis components operate on an axis location rather than a specific axis like the
more general axis component does. They implicitly control the axis that is currently using to that location. By
default, xaxis uses the x axis, yaxis uses y, x2axis uses x2, and y2axis uses y2. When more than one axis is
displayed in a margin, it represents the first axis displayed.
The following operations are available for axes. They mirror exactly the operations of the axis component. The
axis argument must be xaxis, x2axis, yaxis, or y2axis. This feature is deprecated since more than one axis can
now be used a margin. You should only use the xaxis, x2axis, yaxis, and y2axis components with the use opera-
tion. For all other operations, use the general axis component instead.
pathName axis cget option
pathName axis configure ?option value?...
pathName axis invtransform value
pathName axis limits
pathName axis transform value
pathName axis use ?axisName?
Designates the axis axisName is to be displayed at this location. AxisName can not be already in use at
another location. This command returns the name of the axis currently using this location.
CROSSHAIRS COMPONENT
Cross hairs consist of two intersecting lines (one vertical and one horizontal) drawn completely across the plot-
ting area. They are used to position the mouse in relation to the coordinate axes. Cross hairs differ from line
markers in that they are implemented using XOR drawing primitives. This means that they can be quickly drawn and
erased without redrawing the entire graph.
The following operations are available for cross hairs:
pathName crosshairs cget option
Returns the current value of the cross hairs configuration option given by option. Option may be any
option described below for the cross hairs configure operation.
pathName crosshairs configure ?option value?...
Queries or modifies the configuration options of the cross hairs. If option isn't specified, a list
describing all the current options for the cross hairs is returned. If option is specified, but not
value, then a list describing option is returned. If one or more option and value pairs are specified,
then for each pair, the cross hairs option option is set to value. The following options are available
for cross hairs.
-color color
Sets the color of the cross hairs. The default is black.
-dashes dashList
Sets the dash style of the cross hairs. DashList is a list of up to 11 numbers that alternately
represent the lengths of the dashes and gaps on the cross hair lines. Each number must be between
1 and 255. If dashList is "", the cross hairs will be solid lines.
-hide boolean
Indicates whether cross hairs are drawn. If boolean is true, cross hairs are not drawn. The
default is yes.
-linewidth pixels
Set the width of the cross hair lines. The default is 1.
-position pos
Specifies the screen position where the cross hairs intersect. Pos must be in the form "@x,y",
where x and y are the window coordinates of the intersection.
Cross hairs configuration options may be also be set by the option command. The resource name and class
are crosshairs and Crosshairs respectively.
option add *Graph.Crosshairs.LineWidth 2
option add *Graph.Crosshairs.Color red
pathName crosshairs off
Turns off the cross hairs.
pathName crosshairs on
Turns on the display of the cross hairs.
pathName crosshairs toggle
Toggles the current state of the cross hairs, alternately mapping and unmapping the cross hairs.
ELEMENT COMPONENTS
A data element represents a set of data. It contains x and y vectors containing the coordinates of the data
points. Elements can be displayed with a symbol at each data point and lines connecting the points. Elements
also control the appearance of the data, such as the symbol type, line width, color etc.
When new data elements are created, they are automatically added to a list of displayed elements. The display
list controls what elements are drawn and in what order.
The following operations are available for elements.
pathName element activate elemName ?index?...
Specifies the data points of element elemName to be drawn using active foreground and background colors.
ElemName is the name of the element and index is a number representing the index of the data point. If no
indices are present then all data points become active.
pathName element bind tagName ?sequence? ?command?
Associates command with tagName such that whenever the event sequence given by sequence occurs for an ele-
ment with this tag, command will be invoked. The syntax is similar to the bind command except that it
operates on graph elements, rather than widgets. See the bind manual entry for complete details on
sequence and the substitutions performed on command before invoking it.
If all arguments are specified then a new binding is created, replacing any existing binding for the same
sequence and tagName. If the first character of command is + then command augments an existing binding
rather than replacing it. If no command argument is provided then the command currently associated with
tagName and sequence (it's an error occurs if there's no such binding) is returned. If both command and
sequence are missing then a list of all the event sequences for which bindings have been defined for tag-
Name.
pathName element cget elemName option
Returns the current value of the element configuration option given by option. Option may be any of the
options described below for the element configure operation.
pathName element closest x y varName ?option value?... ?elemName?...
Searches for the data point closest to the window coordinates x and y. By default, all elements are
searched. Hidden elements (see the -hide option is false) are ignored. You can limit the search by spec-
ifying only the elements you want to be considered. ElemName must be the name of an element that is not
be hidden. VarName is the name of a Tcl array variable and will contain the search results: the name of
the closest element, the index of the closest data point, and the graph coordinates of the point. Returns
0, if no data point within the threshold distance can be found, otherwise 1 is returned. The following
option-value pairs are available.
-along direction
Search for the closest element using the following criteria:
x Find closest element vertically from the given X-coordinate.
y Find the closest element horizontally from the given Y-coordinate.
both Find the closest element for the given point (using both the X and Y coordinates).
-halo pixels
Specifies a threshold distance where selected data points are ignored. Pixels is a valid screen
distance, such as 2 or 1.2i. If this option isn't specified, then it defaults to the value of the
graph's -halo option.
-interpolate string
Indicates whether to consider projections that lie along the line segments connecting data points
when searching for the closest point. The default value is 0. The values for string are described
below.
no Search only for the closest data point.
yes Search includes projections that lie along the line segments connecting the data
points.
pathName element configure elemName ?elemName... ?option value?...
Queries or modifies the configuration options for elements. Several elements can be modified at the same
time. If option isn't specified, a list describing all the current options for elemName is returned. If
option is specified, but not value, then a list describing the option option is returned. If one or more
option and value pairs are specified, then for each pair, the element option option is set to value. The
following options are valid for elements.
-activepen penName
Specifies pen to use to draw active element. If penName is "", no active elements will be drawn.
The default is activeLine.
-bindtags tagList
Specifies the binding tags for the element. TagList is a list of binding tag names. The tags and
their order will determine how events are handled for elements. Each tag in the list matching the
current event sequence will have its Tcl command executed. Implicitly the name of the element is
always the first tag in the list. The default value is all.
-color color
Sets the color of the traces connecting the data points.
-dashes dashList
Sets the dash style of element line. DashList is a list of up to 11 numbers that alternately repre-
sent the lengths of the dashes and gaps on the element line. Each number must be between 1 and
255. If dashList is "", the lines will be solid.
-data coordList
Specifies the X-Y coordinates of the data. CoordList is a list of numeric expressions representing
the X-Y coordinate pairs of each data point.
-fill color
Sets the interior color of symbols. If color is "", then the interior of the symbol is transpar-
ent. If color is defcolor, then the color will be the same as the -color option. The default is
defcolor.
-hide boolean
Indicates whether the element is displayed. The default is no.
-label text
Sets the element's label in the legend. If text is "", the element will have no entry in the leg-
end. The default label is the element's name.
-linewidth pixels
Sets the width of the connecting lines between data points. If pixels is 0, no connecting lines
will be drawn between symbols. The default is 0.
-mapx xAxis
Selects the X-axis to map the element's X-coordinates onto. XAxis must be the name of an axis.
The default is x.
-mapy yAxis
Selects the Y-axis to map the element's Y-coordinates onto. YAxis must be the name of an axis. The
default is y.
-offdash color
Sets the color of the stripes when traces are dashed (see the -dashes option). If color is "",
then the "off" pixels will represent gaps instead of stripes. If color is defcolor, then the color
will be the same as the -color option. The default is defcolor.
-outline color
Sets the color or the outline around each symbol. If color is "", then no outline is drawn. If
color is defcolor, then the color will be the same as the -color option. The default is defcolor.
-pen penname
Set the pen to use for this element.
-outlinewidth pixels
Sets the width of the outline bordering each symbol. If pixels is 0, no outline will be drawn. The
default is 1.
-pixels pixels
Sets the size of symbols. If pixels is 0, no symbols will be drawn. The default is 0.125i.
-scalesymbols boolean
If boolean is true, the size of the symbols drawn for elemName will change with scale of the X-axis
and Y-axis. At the time this option is set, the current ranges of the axes are saved as the nor-
malized scales (i.e scale factor is 1.0) and the element is drawn at its designated size (see the
-pixels option). As the scale of the axes change, the symbol will be scaled according to the
smaller of the X-axis and Y-axis scales. If boolean is false, the element's symbols are drawn at
the designated size, regardless of axis scales. The default is 0.
-smooth smooth
Specifies how connecting line segments are drawn between data points. Smooth can be either linear,
step, natural, or quadratic. If smooth is linear, a single line segment is drawn, connecting both
data points. When smooth is step, two line segments are drawn. The first is a horizontal line seg-
ment that steps the next X-coordinate. The second is a vertical line, moving to the next Y-coordi-
nate. Both natural and quadratic generate multiple segments between data points. If natural, the
segments are generated using a cubic spline. If quadratic, a quadratic spline is used. The
default is linear.
-styles styleList
Specifies what pen to use based on the range of weights given. StyleList is a list of style speci-
fications. Each style specification, in turn, is a list consisting of a pen name, and optionally a
minimum and maximum range. Data points whose weight (see the -weight option) falls in this range,
are drawn with this pen. If no range is specified it defaults to the index of the pen in the list.
Note that this affects only symbol attributes. Line attributes, such as line width, dashes, etc.
are ignored.
-symbol symbol
Specifies the symbol for data points. Symbol can be either square, circle, diamond, plus, cross,
splus, scross, triangle, "" (where no symbol is drawn), or a bitmap. Bitmaps are specified as
"source ?mask?", where source is the name of the bitmap, and mask is the bitmap's optional mask.
The default is circle.
-trace direction
Indicates whether connecting lines between data points (whose X-coordinate values are either
increasing or decreasing) are drawn. Direction must be increasing, decreasing, or both. For exam-
ple, if direction is increasing, connecting lines will be drawn only between those data points
where X-coordinate values are monotonically increasing. If direction is both, connecting lines
will be draw between all data points. The default is both.
-weights wVec
Specifies the weights of the individual data points. This, with the list pen styles (see the
-styles option), controls how data points are drawn. WVec is the name of a BLT vector or a list of
numeric expressions representing the weights for each data point.
-xdata xVec
Specifies the X-coordinates of the data. XVec is the name of a BLT vector or a list of numeric
expressions.
-ydata yVec
Specifies the Y-coordinates of the data. YVec is the name of a BLT vector or a list of numeric
expressions.
Element configuration options may also be set by the option command. The resource class is Element. The
resource name is the name of the element.
option add *Graph.Element.symbol line
option add *Graph.e1.symbol line
pathName element create elemName ?option value?...
Creates a new element elemName. It's an error is an element elemName already exists. If additional argu-
ments are present, they specify options valid for the element configure operation.
pathName element deactivate elemName ?elemName?...
Deactivates all the elements matching pattern. Elements whose names match any of the patterns given are
redrawn using their normal colors.
pathName element delete ?elemName?...
Deletes all the named elements. The graph is automatically redrawn.
pathName element exists elemName
Returns 1 if an element elemName currently exists and 0 otherwise.
pathName element names ?pattern?...
Returns the elements matching one or more pattern. If no pattern is given, the names of all elements is
returned.
pathName element show ?nameList?
Queries or modifies the element display list. The element display list designates the elements drawn and
in what order. NameList is a list of elements to be displayed in the order they are named. If there is no
nameList argument, the current display list is returned.
pathName element type elemName
Returns the type of elemName. If the element is a bar element, the commands returns the string "bar",
otherwise it returns "line".
GRID COMPONENT
Grid lines extend from the major and minor ticks of each axis horizontally or vertically across the plotting
area. The following operations are available for grid lines.
pathName grid cget option
Returns the current value of the grid line configuration option given by option. Option may be any option
described below for the grid configure operation.
pathName grid configure ?option value?...
Queries or modifies the configuration options for grid lines. If option isn't specified, a list describ-
ing all the current grid options for pathName is returned. If option is specified, but not value, then a
list describing option is returned. If one or more option and value pairs are specified, then for each
pair, the grid line option option is set to value. The following options are valid for grid lines.
-color color
Sets the color of the grid lines. The default is black.
-dashes dashList
Sets the dash style of the grid lines. DashList is a list of up to 11 numbers that alternately rep-
resent the lengths of the dashes and gaps on the grid lines. Each number must be between 1 and
255. If dashList is "", the grid will be solid lines.
-hide boolean
Indicates whether the grid should be drawn. If boolean is true, grid lines are not shown. The
default is yes.
-linewidth pixels
Sets the width of grid lines. The default width is 1.
-mapx xAxis
Specifies the X-axis to display grid lines. XAxis must be the name of an axis or "" for no grid
lines. The default is "".
-mapy yAxis
Specifies the Y-axis to display grid lines. YAxis must be the name of an axis or "" for no grid
lines. The default is y.
-minor boolean
Indicates whether the grid lines should be drawn for minor ticks. If boolean is true, the lines
will appear at minor tick intervals. The default is 1.
Grid configuration options may also be set by the option command. The resource name and class are grid
and Grid respectively.
option add *Graph.grid.LineWidth 2
option add *Graph.Grid.Color black
pathName grid off
Turns off the display the grid lines.
pathName grid on
Turns on the display the grid lines.
pathName grid toggle
Toggles the display of the grid.
LEGEND COMPONENT
The legend displays a list of the data elements. Each entry consists of the element's symbol and label. The
legend can appear in any margin (the default location is in the right margin). It can also be positioned any-
where within the plotting area.
The following operations are valid for the legend.
pathName legend activate pattern...
Selects legend entries to be drawn using the active legend colors and relief. All entries whose element
names match pattern are selected. To be selected, the element name must match only one pattern.
pathName legend bind tagName ?sequence? ?command?
Associates command with tagName such that whenever the event sequence given by sequence occurs for a leg-
end entry with this tag, command will be invoked. Implicitly the element names in the entry are tags.
The syntax is similar to the bind command except that it operates on legend entries, rather than widgets.
See the bind manual entry for complete details on sequence and the substitutions performed on command
before invoking it.
If all arguments are specified then a new binding is created, replacing any existing binding for the same
sequence and tagName. If the first character of command is + then command augments an existing binding
rather than replacing it. If no command argument is provided then the command currently associated with
tagName and sequence (it's an error occurs if there's no such binding) is returned. If both command and
sequence are missing then a list of all the event sequences for which bindings have been defined for tag-
Name.
pathName legend cget option
Returns the current value of a legend configuration option. Option may be any option described below in
the legend configure operation.
pathName legend configure ?option value?...
Queries or modifies the configuration options for the legend. If option isn't specified, a list describ-
ing the current legend options for pathName is returned. If option is specified, but not value, then a
list describing option is returned. If one or more option and value pairs are specified, then for each
pair, the legend option option is set to value. The following options are valid for the legend.
-activebackground color
Sets the background color for active legend entries. All legend entries marked active (see the
legend activate operation) are drawn using this background color.
-activeborderwidth pixels
Sets the width of the 3-D border around the outside edge of the active legend entries. The default
is 2.
-activeforeground color
Sets the foreground color for active legend entries. All legend entries marked as active (see the
legend activate operation) are drawn using this foreground color.
-activerelief relief
Specifies the 3-D effect desired for active legend entries. Relief denotes how the interior of the
entry should appear relative to the legend; for example, raised means the entry should appear to
protrude from the legend, relative to the surface of the legend. The default is flat.
-anchor anchor
Tells how to position the legend relative to the positioning point for the legend. This is depen-
dent on the value of the -position option. The default is center.
left or right
The anchor describes how to position the legend vertically.
top or bottom
The anchor describes how to position the legend horizontally.
@x,y The anchor specifies how to position the legend relative to the positioning point. For
example, if anchor is center then the legend is centered on the point; if anchor is n
then the legend will be drawn such that the top center point of the rectangular region
occupied by the legend will be at the positioning point.
plotarea The anchor specifies how to position the legend relative to the plotting area. For
example, if anchor is center then the legend is centered in the plotting area; if
anchor is ne then the legend will be drawn such that occupies the upper right corner
of the plotting area.
-background color
Sets the background color of the legend. If color is "", the legend background with be transparent.
-bindtags tagList
Specifies the binding tags for legend entries. TagList is a list of binding tag names. The tags
and their order will determine how events are handled for legend entries. Each tag in the list
matching the current event sequence will have its Tcl command executed. The default value is all.
-borderwidth pixels
Sets the width of the 3-D border around the outside edge of the legend (if such border is being
drawn; the relief option determines this). The default is 2 pixels.
-font fontName
FontName specifies a font to use when drawing the labels of each element into the legend. The
default is *-Helvetica-Bold-R-Normal-*-12-120-*.
-foreground color
Sets the foreground color of the text drawn for the element's label. The default is black.
-hide boolean
Indicates whether the legend should be displayed. If boolean is true, the legend will not be draw.
The default is no.
-ipadx pad
Sets the amount of internal padding to be added to the width of each legend entry. Pad can be a
list of one or two screen distances. If pad has two elements, the left side of the legend entry is
padded by the first distance and the right side by the second. If pad is just one distance, both
the left and right sides are padded evenly. The default is 2.
-ipady pad
Sets an amount of internal padding to be added to the height of each legend entry. Pad can be a
list of one or two screen distances. If pad has two elements, the top of the entry is padded by
the first distance and the bottom by the second. If pad is just one distance, both the top and
bottom of the entry are padded evenly. The default is 2.
-padx pad
Sets the padding to the left and right exteriors of the legend. Pad can be a list of one or two
screen distances. If pad has two elements, the left side of the legend is padded by the first dis-
tance and the right side by the second. If pad has just one distance, both the left and right
sides are padded evenly. The default is 4.
-pady pad
Sets the padding above and below the legend. Pad can be a list of one or two screen distances. If
pad has two elements, the area above the legend is padded by the first distance and the area below
by the second. If pad is just one distance, both the top and bottom areas are padded evenly. The
default is 0.
-position pos
Specifies where the legend is drawn. The -anchor option also affects where the legend is posi-
tioned. If pos is left, left, top, or bottom, the legend is drawn in the specified margin. If pos
is plotarea, then the legend is drawn inside the plotting area at a particular anchor. If pos is
in the form "@x,y", where x and y are the window coordinates, the legend is drawn in the plotting
area at the specified coordinates. The default is right.
-raised boolean
Indicates whether the legend is above or below the data elements. This matters only if the legend
is in the plotting area. If boolean is true, the legend will be drawn on top of any elements that
may overlap it. The default is no.
-relief relief
Specifies the 3-D effect for the border around the legend. Relief specifies how the interior of
the legend should appear relative to the graph; for example, raised means the legend should appear
to protrude from the graph, relative to the surface of the graph. The default is sunken.
Legend configuration options may also be set by the option command. The resource name and class are leg-
end and Legend respectively.
option add *Graph.legend.Foreground blue
option add *Graph.Legend.Relief raised
pathName legend deactivate pattern...
Selects legend entries to be drawn using the normal legend colors and relief. All entries whose element
names match pattern are selected. To be selected, the element name must match only one pattern.
pathName legend get pos
Returns the name of the element whose entry is at the screen position pos in the legend. Pos must be in
the form "@x,y", where x and y are window coordinates. If the given coordinates do not lie over a legend
entry, "" is returned.
PEN COMPONENTS
Pens define attributes (both symbol and line style) for elements. Pens mirror the configuration options of data
elements that pertain to how symbols and lines are drawn. Data elements use pens to determine how they are
drawn. A data element may use several pens at once. In this case, the pen used for a particular data point is
determined from each element's weight vector (see the element's -weight and -style options).
One pen, called activeLine, is automatically created. It's used as the default active pen for elements. So you
can change the active attributes for all elements by simply reconfiguring this pen.
.g pen configure "activeLine" -color green
You can create and use several pens. To create a pen, invoke the pen component and its create operation.
.g pen create myPen
You map pens to a data element using either the element's -pen or -activepen options.
.g element create "line1" -xdata $x -ydata $tempData \
-pen myPen
An element can use several pens at once. This is done by specifying the name of the pen in the element's style
list (see the -styles option).
.g element configure "line1" -styles { myPen 2.0 3.0 }
This says that any data point with a weight between 2.0 and 3.0 is to be drawn using the pen myPen. All other
points are drawn with the element's default attributes.
The following operations are available for pen components.
pathName pen cget penName option
Returns the current value of the option given by option for penName. Option may be any option described
below for the pen configure operation.
pathName pen configure penName ?penName... ?option value?...
Queries or modifies the configuration options of penName. Several pens can be modified at once. If option
isn't specified, a list describing the current options for penName is returned. If option is specified,
but not value, then a list describing option is returned. If one or more option and value pairs are spec-
ified, then for each pair, the pen option option is set to value. The following options are valid for
pens.
-color color
Sets the color of the traces connecting the data points.
-dashes dashList
Sets the dash style of element line. DashList is a list of up to 11 numbers that alternately repre-
sent the lengths of the dashes and gaps on the element line. Each number must be between 1 and
255. If dashList is "", the lines will be solid.
-fill color
Sets the interior color of symbols. If color is "", then the interior of the symbol is transpar-
ent. If color is defcolor, then the color will be the same as the -color option. The default is
defcolor.
-linewidth pixels
Sets the width of the connecting lines between data points. If pixels is 0, no connecting lines
will be drawn between symbols. The default is 0.
-offdash color
Sets the color of the stripes when traces are dashed (see the -dashes option). If color is "",
then the "off" pixels will represent gaps instead of stripes. If color is defcolor, then the color
will be the same as the -color option. The default is defcolor.
-outline color
Sets the color or the outline around each symbol. If color is "", then no outline is drawn. If
color is defcolor, then the color will be the same as the -color option. The default is defcolor.
-outlinewidth pixels
Sets the width of the outline bordering each symbol. If pixels is 0, no outline will be drawn. The
default is 1.
-pixels pixels
Sets the size of symbols. If pixels is 0, no symbols will be drawn. The default is 0.125i.
-symbol symbol
Specifies the symbol for data points. Symbol can be either square, circle, diamond, plus, cross,
splus, scross, triangle, "" (where no symbol is drawn), or a bitmap. Bitmaps are specified as
"source ?mask?", where source is the name of the bitmap, and mask is the bitmap's optional mask.
The default is circle.
-type elemType
Specifies the type of element the pen is to be used with. This option should only be employed when
creating the pen. This is for those that wish to mix different types of elements (bars and lines)
on the same graph. The default type is "line".
Pen configuration options may be also be set by the option command. The resource class is Pen. The
resource names are the names of the pens.
option add *Graph.Pen.Color blue
option add *Graph.activeLine.color green
pathName pen create penName ?option value?...
Creates a new pen by the name penName. No pen by the same name can already exist. Option and value are
described in above in the pen configure operation.
pathName pen delete ?penName?...
Deletes the named pens. A pen is not really deleted until it is not longer in use, so it's safe to delete
pens mapped to elements.
pathName pen names ?pattern?...
Returns a list of pens matching zero or more patterns. If no pattern argument is give, the names of all
pens are returned.
POSTSCRIPT COMPONENT
The graph can generate encapsulated PostScript output. There are several configuration options you can specify
to control how the plot will be generated. You can change the page dimensions and borders. The plot itself can
be scaled, centered, or rotated to landscape. The PostScript output can be written directly to a file or
returned through the interpreter.
The following postscript operations are available.
pathName postscript cget option
Returns the current value of the postscript option given by option. Option may be any option described
below for the postscript configure operation.
pathName postscript configure ?option value?...
Queries or modifies the configuration options for PostScript generation. If option isn't specified, a
list describing the current postscript options for pathName is returned. If option is specified, but not
value, then a list describing option is returned. If one or more option and value pairs are specified,
then for each pair, the postscript option option is set to value. The following postscript options are
available.
-center boolean
Indicates whether the plot should be centered on the PostScript page. If boolean is false, the
plot will be placed in the upper left corner of the page. The default is 1.
-colormap varName
VarName must be the name of a global array variable that specifies a color mapping from the X color
name to PostScript. Each element of varName must consist of PostScript code to set a particular
color value (e.g. ``1.0 1.0 0.0 setrgbcolor). When generating color information in PostScript,
the array variable varName is checked if an element of the name as the color exists. If so, it uses
its value as the PostScript command to set the color. If this option hasn't been specified, or if
there isn't an entry in varName for a given color, then it uses the red, green, and blue intensi-
ties from the X color.
-colormode mode
Specifies how to output color information. Mode must be either color (for full color output), gray
(convert all colors to their gray-scale equivalents) or mono (convert foreground colors to black
and background colors to white). The default mode is color.
-fontmap varName
VarName must be the name of a global array variable that specifies a font mapping from the X font
name to PostScript. Each element of varName must consist of a Tcl list with one or two elements;
the name and point size of a PostScript font. When outputting PostScript commands for a particular
font, the array variable varName is checked to see if an element by the specified font exists. If
there is such an element, then the font information contained in that element is used in the
PostScript output. (If the point size is omitted from the list, the point size of the X font is
used). Otherwise the X font is examined in an attempt to guess what PostScript font to use. This
works only for fonts whose foundry property is Adobe (such as Times, Helvetica, Courier, etc.). If
all of this fails then the font defaults to Helvetica-Bold.
-decorations boolean
Indicates whether PostScript commands to generate color backgrounds and 3-D borders will be output.
If boolean is false, the background will be white and no 3-D borders will be generated. The default
is 1.
-height pixels
Sets the height of the plot. This lets you print the graph with a height different from the one
drawn on the screen. If pixels is 0, the height is the same as the widget's height. The default
is 0.
-landscape boolean
If boolean is true, this specifies the printed area is to be rotated 90 degrees. In non-rotated
output the X-axis of the printed area runs along the short dimension of the page (``portrait ori-
entation); in rotated output the X-axis runs along the long dimension of the page (``landscape
orientation). Defaults to 0.
-maxpect boolean
Indicates to scale the plot so that it fills the PostScript page. The aspect ratio of the graph is
still retained. The default is 0.
-padx pad
Sets the horizontal padding for the left and right page borders. The borders are exterior to the
plot. Pad can be a list of one or two screen distances. If pad has two elements, the left border
is padded by the first distance and the right border by the second. If pad has just one distance,
both the left and right borders are padded evenly. The default is 1i.
-pady pad
Sets the vertical padding for the top and bottom page borders. The borders are exterior to the
plot. Pad can be a list of one or two screen distances. If pad has two elements, the top border
is padded by the first distance and the bottom border by the second. If pad has just one distance,
both the top and bottom borders are padded evenly. The default is 1i.
-paperheight pixels
Sets the height of the postscript page. This can be used to select between different page sizes
(letter, A4, etc). The default height is 11.0i.
-paperwidth pixels
Sets the width of the postscript page. This can be used to select between different page sizes
(letter, A4, etc). The default width is 8.5i.
-width pixels
Sets the width of the plot. This lets you generate a plot of a width different from that of the
widget. If pixels is 0, the width is the same as the widget's width. The default is 0.
Postscript configuration options may be also be set by the option command. The resource name and class
are postscript and Postscript respectively.
option add *Graph.postscript.Decorations false
option add *Graph.Postscript.Landscape true
pathName postscript output ?fileName? ?option value?...
Outputs a file of encapsulated PostScript. If a fileName argument isn't present, the command returns the
PostScript. If any option-value pairs are present, they set configuration options controlling how the
PostScript is generated. Option and value can be anything accepted by the postscript configure operation
above.
MARKER COMPONENTS
Markers are simple drawing procedures used to annotate or highlight areas of the graph. Markers have various
types: text strings, bitmaps, images, connected lines, windows, or polygons. They can be associated with a par-
ticular element, so that when the element is hidden or un-hidden, so is the marker. By default, markers are the
last items drawn, so that data elements will appear in behind them. You can change this by configuring the
-under option.
Markers, in contrast to elements, don't affect the scaling of the coordinate axes. They can also have elastic
coordinates (specified by -Inf and Inf respectively) that translate into the minimum or maximum limit of the
axis. For example, you can place a marker so it always remains in the lower left corner of the plotting area, by
using the coordinates -Inf,-Inf.
The following operations are available for markers.
pathName marker after markerId ?afterId?
Changes the order of the markers, drawing the first marker after the second. If no second afterId argu-
ment is specified, the marker is placed at the end of the display list. This command can be used to con-
trol how markers are displayed since markers are drawn in the order of this display list.
pathName marker before markerId ?beforeId?
Changes the order of the markers, drawing the first marker before the second. If no second beforeId argu-
ment is specified, the marker is placed at the beginning of the display list. This command can be used to
control how markers are displayed since markers are drawn in the order of this display list.
pathName marker bind tagName ?sequence? ?command?
Associates command with tagName such that whenever the event sequence given by sequence occurs for a
marker with this tag, command will be invoked. The syntax is similar to the bind command except that it
operates on graph markers, rather than widgets. See the bind manual entry for complete details on sequence
and the substitutions performed on command before invoking it.
If all arguments are specified then a new binding is created, replacing any existing binding for the same
sequence and tagName. If the first character of command is + then command augments an existing binding
rather than replacing it. If no command argument is provided then the command currently associated with
tagName and sequence (it's an error occurs if there's no such binding) is returned. If both command and
sequence are missing then a list of all the event sequences for which bindings have been defined for tag-
Name.
pathName marker cget option
Returns the current value of the marker configuration option given by option. Option may be any option
described below in the configure operation.
pathName marker configure markerId ?option value?...
Queries or modifies the configuration options for markers. If option isn't specified, a list describing
the current options for markerId is returned. If option is specified, but not value, then a list describ-
ing option is returned. If one or more option and value pairs are specified, then for each pair, the
marker option option is set to value.
The following options are valid for all markers. Each type of marker also has its own type-specific
options. They are described in the sections below.
-bindtags tagList
Specifies the binding tags for the marker. TagList is a list of binding tag names. The tags and
their order will determine how events for markers are handled. Each tag in the list matching the
current event sequence will have its Tcl command executed. Implicitly the name of the marker is
always the first tag in the list. The default value is all.
-coords coordList
Specifies the coordinates of the marker. CoordList is a list of graph coordinates. The number of
coordinates required is dependent on the type of marker. Text, image, and window markers need only
two coordinates (an X-Y coordinate). Bitmap markers can take either two or four coordinates (if
four, they represent the corners of the bitmap). Line markers need at least four coordinates, poly-
gons at least six. If coordList is "", the marker will not be displayed. The default is "".
-element elemName
Links the marker with the element elemName. The marker is drawn only if the element is also cur-
rently displayed (see the element's show operation). If elemName is "", the marker is always
drawn. The default is "".
-hide boolean
Indicates whether the marker is drawn. If boolean is true, the marker is not drawn. The default is
no.
-mapx xAxis
Specifies the X-axis to map the marker's X-coordinates onto. XAxis must the name of an axis. The
default is x.
-mapy yAxis
Specifies the Y-axis to map the marker's Y-coordinates onto. YAxis must the name of an axis. The
default is y.
-name markerId
Changes the identifier for the marker. The identifier markerId can not already be used by another
marker. If this option isn't specified, the marker's name is uniquely generated.
-under boolean
Indicates whether the marker is drawn below/above data elements. If boolean is true, the marker is
be drawn underneath the data element symbols and lines. Otherwise, the marker is drawn on top of
the element. The default is 0.
-xoffset pixels
Specifies a screen distance to offset the marker horizontally. Pixels is a valid screen distance,
such as 2 or 1.2i. The default is 0.
-yoffset pixels
Specifies a screen distance to offset the markers vertically. Pixels is a valid screen distance,
such as 2 or 1.2i. The default is 0.
Marker configuration options may also be set by the option command. The resource class is either Bitmap-
Marker, ImageMarker, LineMarker, PolygonMarker, TextMarker, or WindowMarker, depending on the type of
marker. The resource name is the name of the marker.
option add *Graph.TextMarker.Foreground white
option add *Graph.BitmapMarker.Foreground white
option add *Graph.m1.Background blue
pathName marker create type ?option value?...
Creates a marker of the selected type. Type may be either text, line, bitmap, image, polygon, or window.
This command returns the marker identifier, used as the markerId argument in the other marker-related com-
mands. If the -name option is used, this overrides the normal marker identifier. If the name provided is
already used for another marker, the new marker will replace the old.
pathName marker delete ?name?...
Removes one of more markers. The graph will automatically be redrawn without the marker..
pathName marker exists markerId
Returns 1 if the marker markerId exists and 0 otherwise.
pathName marker names ?pattern?
Returns the names of all the markers that currently exist. If pattern is supplied, only those markers
whose names match it will be returned.
pathName marker type markerId
Returns the type of the marker given by markerId, such as line or text. If markerId is not a valid a
marker identifier, "" is returned.
BITMAP MARKERS
A bitmap marker displays a bitmap. The size of the bitmap is controlled by the number of coordinates specified.
If two coordinates, they specify the position of the top-left corner of the bitmap. The bitmap retains its nor-
mal width and height. If four coordinates, the first and second pairs of coordinates represent the corners of
the bitmap. The bitmap will be stretched or reduced as necessary to fit into the bounding rectangle.
Bitmap markers are created with the marker's create operation in the form:
pathName marker create bitmap ?option value?...
There may be many option-value pairs, each sets a configuration options for the marker. These same option-value
pairs may be used with the marker's configure operation.
The following options are specific to bitmap markers:
-background color
Same as the -fill option.
-bitmap bitmap
Specifies the bitmap to be displayed. If bitmap is "", the marker will not be displayed. The default is
"".
-fill color
Sets the background color of the bitmap. If color is the empty string, no background will be transparent.
The default background color is "".
-foreground color
Same as the -outline option.
-mask mask
Specifies a mask for the bitmap to be displayed. This mask is a bitmap itself, denoting the pixels that
are transparent. If mask is "", all pixels of the bitmap will be drawn. The default is "".
-outline color
Sets the foreground color of the bitmap. The default value is black.
-rotate theta
Sets the rotation of the bitmap. Theta is a real number representing the angle of rotation in degrees.
The marker is first rotated and then placed according to its anchor position. The default rotation is
0.0.
IMAGE MARKERS
A image marker displays an image. Image markers are created with the marker's create operation in the form:
pathName marker create image ?option value?...
There may be many option-value pairs, each sets a configuration option for the marker. These same option-value
pairs may be used with the marker's configure operation.
The following options are specific to image markers:
-anchor anchor
Anchor tells how to position the image relative to the positioning point for the image. For example, if
anchor is center then the image is centered on the point; if anchor is n then the image will be drawn
such that the top center point of the rectangular region occupied by the image will be at the positioning
point. This option defaults to center.
-image image
Specifies the image to be drawn. If image is "", the marker will not be drawn. The default is "".
LINE MARKERS
A line marker displays one or more connected line segments. Line markers are created with marker's create opera-
tion in the form:
pathName marker create line ?option value?...
There may be many option-value pairs, each sets a configuration option for the marker. These same option-value
pairs may be used with the marker's configure operation.
The following options are specific to line markers:
-dashes dashList
Sets the dash style of the line. DashList is a list of up to 11 numbers that alternately represent the
lengths of the dashes and gaps on the line. Each number must be between 1 and 255. If dashList is "",
the marker line will be solid.
-fill color
Sets the background color of the line. This color is used with striped lines (see the -fdashes option).
If color is the empty string, no background color is drawn (the line will be dashed, not striped). The
default background color is "".
-linewidth pixels
Sets the width of the lines. The default width is 0.
-outline color
Sets the foreground color of the line. The default value is black.
-stipple bitmap
Specifies a stipple pattern used to draw the line, rather than a solid line. Bitmap specifies a bitmap to
use as the stipple pattern. If bitmap is "", then the line is drawn in a solid fashion. The default is
"".
POLYGON MARKERS
A polygon marker displays a closed region described as two or more connected line segments. It is assumed the
first and last points are connected. Polygon markers are created using the marker create operation in the form:
pathName marker create polygon ?option value?...
There may be many option-value pairs, each sets a configuration option for the marker. These same option-value
pairs may be used with the marker configure command to change the marker's configuration. The following options
are supported for polygon markers:
-dashes dashList
Sets the dash style of the outline of the polygon. DashList is a list of up to 11 numbers that alternately
represent the lengths of the dashes and gaps on the outline. Each number must be between 1 and 255. If
dashList is "", the outline will be a solid line.
-fill color
Sets the fill color of the polygon. If color is "", then the interior of the polygon is transparent. The
default is white.
-linewidth pixels
Sets the width of the outline of the polygon. If pixels is zero, no outline is drawn. The default is 0.
-outline color
Sets the color of the outline of the polygon. If the polygon is stippled (see the -stipple option), then
this represents the foreground color of the stipple. The default is black.
-stipple bitmap
Specifies that the polygon should be drawn with a stippled pattern rather than a solid color. Bitmap spec-
ifies a bitmap to use as the stipple pattern. If bitmap is "", then the polygon is filled with a solid
color (if the -fill option is set). The default is "".
TEXT MARKERS
A text marker displays a string of characters on one or more lines of text. Embedded newlines cause line breaks.
They may be used to annotate regions of the graph. Text markers are created with the create operation in the
form:
pathName marker create text ?option value?...
There may be many option-value pairs, each sets a configuration option for the text marker. These same
option-value pairs may be used with the marker's configure operation.
The following options are specific to text markers:
-anchor anchor
Anchor tells how to position the text relative to the positioning point for the text. For example, if
anchor is center then the text is centered on the point; if anchor is n then the text will be drawn such
that the top center point of the rectangular region occupied by the text will be at the positioning point.
This default is center.
-background color
Same as the -fill option.
-font fontName
Specifies the font of the text. The default is *-Helvetica-Bold-R-Normal-*-120-*.
-fill color
Sets the background color of the text. If color is the empty string, no background will be transparent.
The default background color is "".
-foreground color
Same as the -outline option.
-justify justify
Specifies how the text should be justified. This matters only when the marker contains more than one line
of text. Justify must be left, right, or center. The default is center.
-outline color
Sets the color of the text. The default value is black.
-padx pad
Sets the padding to the left and right exteriors of the text. Pad can be a list of one or two screen dis-
tances. If pad has two elements, the left side of the text is padded by the first distance and the right
side by the second. If pad has just one distance, both the left and right sides are padded evenly. The
default is 4.
-pady pad
Sets the padding above and below the text. Pad can be a list of one or two screen distances. If pad has
two elements, the area above the text is padded by the first distance and the area below by the second.
If pad is just one distance, both the top and bottom areas are padded evenly. The default is 4.
-rotate theta
Specifies the number of degrees to rotate the text. Theta is a real number representing the angle of
rotation. The marker is first rotated along its center and is then drawn according to its anchor posi-
tion. The default is 0.0.
-text text
Specifies the text of the marker. The exact way the text is displayed may be affected by other options
such as -anchor or -rotate.
WINDOW MARKERS
A window marker displays a widget at a given position. Window markers are created with the marker's create oper-
ation in the form:
pathName marker create window ?option value?...
There may be many option-value pairs, each sets a configuration option for the marker. These same option-value
pairs may be used with the marker's configure command.
The following options are specific to window markers:
-anchor anchor
Anchor tells how to position the widget relative to the positioning point for the widget. For example, if
anchor is center then the widget is centered on the point; if anchor is n then the widget will be dis-
played such that the top center point of the rectangular region occupied by the widget will be at the
positioning point. This option defaults to center.
-height pixels
Specifies the height to assign to the marker's window. If this option isn't specified, or if it is speci-
fied as "", then the window is given whatever height the widget requests internally.
-width pixels
Specifies the width to assign to the marker's window. If this option isn't specified, or if it is speci-
fied as "", then the window is given whatever width the widget requests internally.
-window pathName
Specifies the widget to be managed by the graph. PathName must be a child of the graph widget.
GRAPH COMPONENT BINDINGS
Specific graph components, such as elements, markers and legend entries, can have a command trigger when event
occurs in them, much like canvas items in Tk's canvas widget. Not all event sequences are valid. The only bind-
ing events that may be specified are those related to the mouse and keyboard (such as Enter, Leave, ButtonPress,
Motion, and KeyPress).
Only one element or marker can be picked during an event. This means, that if the mouse is directly over both an
element and a marker, only the uppermost component is selected. This isn't true for legend entries. Both a leg-
end entry and an element (or marker) binding commands will be invoked if both items are picked.
It is possible for multiple bindings to match a particular event. This could occur, for example, if one binding
is associated with the element name and another is associated with one of the element's tags (see the -bindtags
option). When this occurs, all of the matching bindings are invoked. A binding associated with the element name
is invoked first, followed by one binding for each of the element's bindtags. If there are multiple matching
bindings for a single tag, then only the most specific binding is invoked. A continue command in a binding
script terminates that script, and a break command terminates that script and skips any remaining scripts for the
event, just as for the bind command.
The -bindtags option for these components controls addition tag names which can be matched. Implicitly elements
and markers always have tags matching their names. Setting the value of the -bindtags option doesn't change
this.
C LANGUAGE API
You can manipulate data elements from the C language. There may be situations where it is too expensive to
translate the data values from ASCII strings. Or you might want to read data in a special file format.
Data can manipulated from the C language using BLT vectors. You specify the X-Y data coordinates of an element
as vectors and manipulate the vector from C. The graph will be redrawn automatically after the vectors are
updated.
From Tcl, create the vectors and configure the element to use them.
vector X Y
.g element configure line1 -xdata X -ydata Y
To set data points from C, you pass the values as arrays of doubles using the Blt_ResetVector call. The vector
is reset with the new data and at the next idle point (when Tk re-enters its event loop), the graph will be
redrawn automatically.
#include <tcl.h>
#include <blt.h>
register int i;
Blt_Vector *xVec, *yVec;
double x[50], y[50];
/* Get the BLT vectors "X" and "Y" (created above from Tcl) */
if ((Blt_GetVector(interp, "X", &xVec) != TCL_OK) ||
(Blt_GetVector(interp, "Y", &yVec) != TCL_OK)) {
return TCL_ERROR;
}
for (i = 0; i < 50; i++) {
x[i] = i * 0.02;
y[i] = sin(x[i]);
}
/* Put the data into BLT vectors */
if ((Blt_ResetVector(xVec, x, 50, 50, TCL_VOLATILE) != TCL_OK) ||
(Blt_ResetVector(yVec, y, 50, 50, TCL_VOLATILE) != TCL_OK)) {
return TCL_ERROR;
}
See the vector manual page for more details.
SPEED TIPS
There may be cases where the graph needs to be drawn and updated as quickly as possible. If drawing speed
becomes a big problem, here are a few tips to speed up displays.
? Try to minimize the number of data points. The more data points the looked at, the more work the graph must
do.
? If your data is generated as floating point values, the time required to convert the data values to and from
ASCII strings can be significant, especially when there any many data points. You can avoid the redundant
string-to-decimal conversions using the C API to BLT vectors.
? Data elements without symbols are drawn faster than with symbols. Set the data element's -symbol option to
none. If you need to draw symbols, try using the simple symbols such as splus and scross.
? Don't stipple or dash the element. Solid lines are much faster.
? If you update data elements frequently, try turning off the widget's -bufferelements option. When the graph is
first displayed, it draws data elements into an internal pixmap. The pixmap acts as a cache, so that when the
graph needs to be redrawn again, and the data elements or coordinate axes haven't changed, the pixmap is simply
copied to the screen. This is especially useful when you are using markers to highlight points and regions on
the graph. But if the graph is updated frequently, changing either the element data or coordinate axes, the
buffering becomes redundant.
LIMITATIONS
Auto-scale routines do not use requested min/max limits as boundaries when the axis is logarithmically scaled.
The PostScript output generated for polygons with more than 1500 points may exceed the limits of some printers
(See PostScript Language Reference Manual, page 568). The work-around is to break the polygon into separate
pieces.
KEYWORDS
graph, widget