/ 
PDL-2.008
River stage three • 98 direct dependents • 106 total dependents
/ PDL::Graphics::PLplot

NAME

PDL::Graphics::PLplot - Object-oriented interface from perl/PDL to the PLPLOT plotting library

SYNOPSIS

use PDL;
use PDL::Graphics::PLplot;

my $pl = PDL::Graphics::PLplot->new (DEV => "png", FILE => "test.png");
my $x  = sequence(10);
my $y  = $x**2;
$pl->xyplot($x, $y);
$pl->close;

For more information on PLplot, see

http://www.plplot.org/

Also see the test file, t/plplot.pl in this distribution for some working examples.

LONG NAMES

If you are annoyed by the long constructor call, consider installing the aliased CPAN package. Using aliased, the above example becomes

use PDL;
use aliased 'PDL::Graphics::PLplot';

my $pl = PLplot->new (DEV => "png", FILE => "test.png");
my $x  = sequence(10);
# etc, as above

DESCRIPTION

This is the PDL interface to the PLplot graphics library. It provides a familiar 'perlish' Object Oriented interface as well as access to the low-level PLplot commands from the C-API.

OPTIONS

The following options are supported. Most options can be used with any function. A few are only supported on the call to 'new'.

Options used upon creation of a PLplot object (with 'new'):

BACKGROUND

Set the color for index 0, the plot background

DEV

Set the output device type. To see a list of allowed types, try:

PDL::Graphics::PLplot->new();
PDL::Graphics::PLplot->new(DEV => 'png', FILE => 'test.png');

FILE

Set the output file or display. For file output devices, sets the output file name. For graphical displays (like 'xwin') sets the name of the display, eg ('hostname.foobar.com:0')

PDL::Graphics::PLplot->new(DEV => 'png',  FILE => 'test.png');
PDL::Graphics::PLplot->new(DEV => 'xwin', FILE => ':0');

OPTS

Set plotting options. See the PLplot documentation for the complete listing of available options. The value of 'OPTS' must be a hash reference, whose keys are the names of the options. For instance, to obtain PostScript fonts with the ps output device, use:

PDL::Graphics::PLplot->new(DEV => 'ps', OPTS => {drvopt => 'text=1'});

MEM

This option is used in conjunction with DEV => 'mem'. This option takes as input a PDL image and allows one to 'decorate' it using PLplot. The 'decorated' PDL image can then be written to an image file using, for example, PDL::IO::Pic. This option may not be available if plplot does not include the 'mem' driver.

# read in Earth image and draw an equator.
my $pl = PDL::Graphics::PLplot->new (MEM => $earth, DEV => 'mem');
my $x  = pdl(-180, 180);
my $y  = zeroes(2);
$pl->xyplot($x, $y,
            BOX => [-180,180,-90,90],
            VIEWPORT => [0.0, 1.0, 0.0, 1.0],
            XBOX => '', YBOX => '',
            PLOTTYPE => 'LINE');
$pl->close;

FRAMECOLOR

Set color index 1, the frame color

JUST

A flag used to specify equal scale on the axes. If this is not specified, the default is to scale the axes to fit best on the page.

PDL::Graphics::PLplot->new(DEV => 'png',  FILE => 'test.png', JUST => 1);

ORIENTATION

The orientation of the plot:

0 --   0 degrees (landscape mode)
1 --  90 degrees (portrait mode)
2 -- 180 degrees (seascape mode)
3 -- 270 degrees (upside-down mode)

Intermediate values (0.2) are acceptable if you are feeling daring.

# portrait orientation
PDL::Graphics::PLplot->new(DEV => 'png',  FILE => 'test.png', ORIENTATION => 1);

PAGESIZE

Set the size in pixels of the output page.

# PNG 500 by 600 pixels
PDL::Graphics::PLplot->new(DEV => 'png',  FILE => 'test.png', PAGESIZE => [500,600]);

SUBPAGES

Set the number of sub pages in the plot, [$nx, $ny]

# PNG 300 by 600 pixels
# Two subpages stacked on top of one another.
PDL::Graphics::PLplot->new(DEV => 'png',  FILE => 'test.png', PAGESIZE => [300,600],
                                            SUBPAGES => [1,2]);

Options used after initialization (after 'new')

BOX

Set the plotting box in world coordinates. Used to explicitly set the size of the plotting area.

my $pl = PDL::Graphics::PLplot->new(DEV => 'png',  FILE => 'test.png');
$pl->xyplot ($x, $y, BOX => [0,100,0,200]);

CHARSIZE

Set the size of text in multiples of the default size. CHARSIZE => 1.5 gives characters 1.5 times the normal size.

COLOR

Set the current color for plotting and character drawing. Colors are specified not as color indices but as RGB triples. Some pre-defined triples are included:

BLACK        GREEN        WHEAT        BLUE
RED          AQUAMARINE   GREY         BLUEVIOLET
YELLOW       PINK         BROWN        CYAN
TURQUOISE    MAGENTA      SALMON       WHITE
ROYALBLUE    DEEPSKYBLUE  VIOLET       STEELBLUE1
DEEPPINK     MAGENTA      DARKORCHID1  PALEVIOLETRED2
TURQUOISE1   LIGHTSEAGREEN SKYBLUE     FORESTGREEN
CHARTREUSE3  GOLD2        SIENNA1      CORAL
HOTPINK      LIGHTCORAL   LIGHTPINK1   LIGHTGOLDENROD
# These two are equivalent:
$pl->xyplot ($x, $y, COLOR => 'YELLOW');
$pl->xyplot ($x, $y, COLOR => [0,255,0]);

LINEWIDTH

Set the line width for plotting. Values range from 1 to a device dependent maximum.

LINESTYLE

Set the line style for plotting. Pre-defined line styles use values 1 to 8, one being a solid line, 2-8 being various dashed patterns.

MAJTICKSIZE

Set the length of major ticks as a fraction of the default setting. One (default) means leave these ticks the normal size.

MINTICKSIZE

Set the length of minor ticks (and error bar terminals) as a fraction of the default setting. One (default) means leave these ticks the normal size.

NXSUB

The number of minor tick marks between each major tick mark on the X axis. Specify zero (default) to let PLplot compute this automatically.

NYSUB

The number of minor tick marks between each major tick mark on the Y axis. Specify zero (default) to let PLplot compute this automatically.

PALETTE

Load pre-defined color map 1 color ranges. Currently, values include:

RAINBOW   -- from Red to Violet through the spectrum
REVERSERAINBOW   -- Violet through Red
GREYSCALE -- from black to white via grey.
REVERSEGREYSCALE -- from white to black via grey.
GREENRED  -- from green to red
REDGREEN  -- from red to green
# Plot x/y points with the z axis in color
$pl->xyplot ($x, $y, PALETTE => 'RAINBOW', PLOTTYPE => 'POINTS', COLORMAP => $z);

PLOTTYPE

Specify which type of XY plot is desired:

LINE       -- A line
POINTS     -- A bunch of symbols
LINEPOINTS -- both

SUBPAGE

Set which subpage to plot on. Subpages are numbered 1 to N. A zero can be specified meaning 'advance to the next subpage' (just a call to pladv()).

my $pl = PDL::Graphics::PLplot->new(DEV      => 'png',
                                      FILE     => 'test.png',
                                      SUBPAGES => [1,2]);
$pl->xyplot ($x, $y, SUBPAGE => 1);
$pl->xyplot ($a, $b, SUBPAGE => 2);

SYMBOL

Specify which symbol to use when plotting PLOTTYPE => 'POINTS'. A large variety of symbols are available, see: http://plplot.sourceforge.net/examples-data/demo07/x07.*.png, where * is 01 - 17. You are most likely to find good plotting symbols in the 800s: http://plplot.sourceforge.net/examples-data/demo07/x07.06.png

SYMBOLSIZE

Specify the size of symbols plotted in multiples of the default size (1). Value are real numbers from 0 to large.

TEXTPOSITION

Specify the placement of text. Either relative to border, specified as:

[$side, $disp, $pos, $just]

Where

side = 't', 'b', 'l', or 'r' for top, bottom, left and right
disp is the number of character heights out from the edge
pos  is the position along the edge of the viewport, from 0 to 1.
just tells where the reference point of the string is: 0 = left, 1 = right, 0.5 = center.

or inside the plot window, specified as:

[$x, $y, $dx, $dy, $just]

Where

x  = x coordinate of reference point of string.
y  = y coordinate of reference point of string.
dx   Together with dy, this specifies the inclination of the string.
     The baseline of the string is parallel to a line joining (x, y) to (x+dx, y+dy).
dy   Together with dx, this specifies the inclination of the string.
just Specifies the position of the string relative to its reference point.
     If just=0, the reference point is at the left and if just=1,
     it is at the right of the string. Other values of just give
     intermediate justifications.
# Plot text on top of plot
$pl->text ("Top label",  TEXTPOSITION => ['t', 4.0, 0.5, 0.5]);

# Plot text in plotting area
$pl->text ("Line label", TEXTPOSITION => [50, 60, 5, 5, 0.5]);

TITLE

Add a title on top of a plot.

# Plot text on top of plot
$pl->xyplot ($x, $y, TITLE => 'X vs. Y');

UNFILLED_BARS

For 'bargraph', if set to true then plot the bars as outlines in the current color and not as filled boxes

# Plot text on top of plot
$pl->bargraph($labels, $values, UNFILLED_BARS => 1);

VIEWPORT

Set the location of the plotting window on the page. Takes a four element array ref specifying:

xmin -- The coordinate of the left-hand edge of the viewport. (0 to 1)
xmax -- The coordinate of the right-hand edge of the viewport. (0 to 1)
ymin -- The coordinate of the bottom edge of the viewport. (0 to 1)
ymax -- The coordinate of the top edge of the viewport. (0 to 1)

You will need to use this to make color keys or insets.

# Make a small plotting window in the lower left of the page
$pl->xyplot ($x, $y, VIEWPORT => [0.1, 0.5, 0.1, 0.5]);

# Also useful in creating color keys:
$pl->xyplot   ($x, $y, PALETTE => 'RAINBOW', PLOTTYPE => 'POINTS', COLORMAP => $z);
$pl->colorkey ($z, 'v', VIEWPORT => [0.93, 0.96, 0.15, 0.85]);

# Plot an inset; first the primary data and then the inset. In this
# case, the inset contains a selection of the orignal data
$pl->xyplot ($x, $y);
$pl->xyplot (where($x, $y, $x < 1.2), VIEWPORT => [0.7, 0.9, 0.6, 0.8]);

XBOX

Specify how to label the X axis of the plot as a string of option letters:

a: Draws axis, X-axis is horizontal line (y=0), and Y-axis is vertical line (x=0).
b: Draws bottom (X) or left (Y) edge of frame.
c: Draws top (X) or right (Y) edge of frame.
f: Always use fixed point numeric labels.
g: Draws a grid at the major tick interval.
h: Draws a grid at the minor tick interval.
i: Inverts tick marks, so they are drawn outwards, rather than inwards.
l: Labels axis logarithmically. This only affects the labels, not the data,
   and so it is necessary to compute the logarithms of data points before
   passing them to any of the drawing routines.
m: Writes numeric labels at major tick intervals in the
   unconventional location (above box for X, right of box for Y).
n: Writes numeric labels at major tick intervals in the conventional location
   (below box for X, left of box for Y).
s: Enables subticks between major ticks, only valid if t is also specified.
t: Draws major ticks.

The default is 'BCNST' which draws lines around the plot, draws major and minor ticks and labels major ticks.

 # plot two lines in a box with independent X axes labeled
 # differently on top and bottom
 $pl->xyplot($x1, $y, XBOX  => 'bnst',  # bottom line, bottom numbers, ticks, subticks
	              YBOX  => 'bnst'); # left line, left numbers, ticks, subticks
 $pl->xyplot($x2, $y, XBOX => 'cmst', # top line, top numbers, ticks, subticks
	              YBOX => 'cst',  # right line, ticks, subticks
	              BOX => [$x2->minmax, $y->minmax]);

XERRORBAR

Used only with "xyplot". Draws horizontal error bars at all points ($x, $y) in the plot. Specify a PDL containing the same number of points as $x and $y which specifies the width of the error bar, which will be centered at ($x, $y).

XLAB

Specify a label for the X axis.

XTICK

Interval (in graph units/world coordinates) between major x axis tick marks. Specify zero (default) to allow PLplot to compute this automatically.

YBOX

Specify how to label the Y axis of the plot as a string of option letters. See "XBOX".

YERRORBAR

Used only for xyplot. Draws vertical error bars at all points ($x, $y) in the plot. Specify a PDL containing the same number of points as $x and $y which specifies the width of the error bar, which will be centered at ($x, $y).

YLAB

Specify a label for the Y axis.

YTICK

Interval (in graph units/world coordinates) between major y axis tick marks. Specify zero (default) to allow PLplot to compute this automatically.

ZRANGE

For "xyplot" (when COLORMAP is specified), for "shadeplot" and for "colorkey". Normally, the range of the Z variable (color) is taken as $z->minmax. If a different range is desired, specify it in ZRANGE, like so:

$pl->shadeplot ($z, $nlevels, PALETTE => 'GREENRED', ZRANGE => [0,100]);

or

  $pl->xyplot ($x, $y, PALETTE  => 'RAINBOW', PLOTTYPE => 'POINTS',
	               COLORMAP => $z,        ZRANGE => [-90,-20]);
  $pl->colorkey  ($z, 'v', VIEWPORT => [0.93, 0.96, 0.13, 0.85],
                       ZRANGE => [-90,-20]);

METHODS

These are the high-level, object oriented methods for PLplot.

new

Create an object representing a plot.

Arguments:
none.

Supported options:
BACKGROUND
DEV
FILE
FRAMECOLOR
JUST
PAGESIZE
SUBPAGES
my $pl = PDL::Graphics::PLplot->new(DEV => 'png',  FILE => 'test.png');

setparm

Set options for a plot object.

Arguments:
none.

Supported options:
All options except:

BACKGROUND
DEV
FILE
FRAMECOLOR
JUST
PAGESIZE
SUBPAGES

(These must be set in call to 'new'.)

$pl->setparm (TEXTSIZE => 2);

xyplot

Plot XY lines and/or points. Also supports color scales for points. This function works with bad values. If a bad value is specified for a points plot, it is omitted. If a bad value is specified for a line plot, the bad value makes a gap in the line. This is useful for drawing maps; for example $x and $y can be the continent boundary latitude and longitude.

Arguments:
$x, $y

Supported options:
All options except:

BACKGROUND
DEV
FILE
FRAMECOLOR
JUST
PAGESIZE
SUBPAGES

(These must be set in call to 'new'.)

$pl->xyplot($x, $y, PLOTTYPE => 'POINTS', COLOR => 'BLUEVIOLET', SYMBOL => 1, SYMBOLSIZE => 4);
$pl->xyplot($x, $y, PLOTTYPE => 'LINEPOINTS', COLOR => [50,230,30]);
$pl->xyplot($x, $y, PALETTE => 'RAINBOW', PLOTTYPE => 'POINTS', COLORMAP => $z);

stripplots

Plot a set of strip plots with a common X axis, but with different Y axes. Looks like a stack of long, thin XY plots, all line up on the same X axis.

Arguments:
$xs -- 1D PDL with common X axis values, length = N
$ys -- reference to a list of 1D PDLs with Y-axis values, length = N
       or 2D PDL with N x M elements
-- OR --
$xs -- reference to a list of 1D PDLs with X-axis values
$ys -- reference to a list of 1D PDLs with Y-axis values
%opts -- Options hash

Supported options:
All options except:

BACKGROUND
DEV
FILE
FRAMECOLOR
JUST
PAGESIZE
SUBPAGES

(These must be set in call to 'new'.)

my $x  = sequence(20);
my $y1  = $x**2;
my $y2  = sqrt($x);
my $y3  = $x**3;
my $y4  = sin(($x/20) * 2 * $pi);
$ys  = cat($y1, $y2, $y3, $y4);
$pl->stripplots($x, $ys, PLOTTYPE => 'LINE', TITLE => 'functions',
                         YLAB     => ['x**2', 'sqrt(x)', 'x**3', 'sin(x/20*2pi)'],
                         COLOR    => ['GREEN', 'DEEPSKYBLUE', 'DARKORCHID1', 'DEEPPINK'], XLAB => 'X label');
# Equivalent to above:
$pl->stripplots($x, [$y1, $y2, $y3, $y4],
                         PLOTTYPE => 'LINE', TITLE => 'functions',
                         YLAB     => ['x**2', 'sqrt(x)', 'x**3', 'sin(x/20*2pi)'],
                         COLOR    => ['GREEN', 'DEEPSKYBLUE', 'DARKORCHID1', 'DEEPPINK'], XLAB => 'X label');

# Here's something a bit different. Notice that different xs have
# different lengths.
$x1  = sequence(20);
$y1  = $x1**2;

$x2  = sequence(18);
$y2  = sqrt($x2);

$x3  = sequence(24);
$y3  = $x3**3;

my $x4  = sequence(27);
$a  = ($x4/20) * 2 * $pi;
my $y4  = sin($a);

$xs  = [$x1, $x2, $x3, $x4];
$ys  = [$y1, $y2, $y3, $y4];
$pl->stripplots($xs, $ys, PLOTTYPE => 'LINE', TITLE => 'functions',
              YLAB => ['x**2', 'sqrt(x)', 'x**3', 'sin(x/20*2pi)'],
                       COLOR => ['GREEN', 'DEEPSKYBLUE', 'DARKORCHID1', 'DEEPPINK'], XLAB => 'X label');

In addition, COLOR may be specified as a reference to a list of colors. If this is done, the colors are applied separately to each plot.

Also, the options Y_BASE and Y_GUTTER can be specified. Y_BASE gives the Y offset of the bottom of the lowest plot (0-1, specified like a VIEWPORT, defaults to 0.1) and Y_GUTTER gives the gap between the graphs (0-1, default = 0.02).

colorkey

Plot a color key showing which color represents which value

Arguments:
$range   : A PDL which tells the range of the color values
$orientation : 'v' for vertical color key, 'h' for horizontal

Supported options:
All options except:

BACKGROUND
DEV
FILE
FRAMECOLOR
JUST
PAGESIZE
SUBPAGES

(These must be set in call to 'new'.)

# Plot X vs. Y with Z shown by the color.  Then plot
# vertical key to the right of the original plot.
$pl->xyplot ($x, $y, PALETTE => 'RAINBOW', PLOTTYPE => 'POINTS', COLORMAP => $z);
$pl->colorkey ($z, 'v', VIEWPORT => [0.93, 0.96, 0.15, 0.85]);

shadeplot

Create a shaded contour plot of 2D PDL 'z' with 'nsteps' contour levels. Linear scaling is used to map the coordinates of Z(X, Y) to world coordinates via the "BOX" option.

Arguments:
$z : A 2D PDL which contains surface values at each XY coordinate.
$nsteps : The number of contour levels requested for the plot.

Supported options:
All options except:

BACKGROUND
DEV
FILE
FRAMECOLOR
JUST
PAGESIZE
SUBPAGES

(These must be set in call to 'new'.)

# vertical key to the right of the original plot.
# The BOX must be specified to give real coordinate values to the $z array.
$pl->shadeplot ($z, $nsteps, BOX => [-1, 1, -1, 1], PALETTE => 'RAINBOW', ZRANGE => [0,100]);
$pl->colorkey  ($z, 'v', VIEWPORT => [0.93, 0.96, 0.15, 0.85], ZRANGE => [0,100]);

histogram

Create a histogram of a 1-D variable.

Arguments:
$x : A 1D PDL
$nbins : The number of bins to use in the histogram.

Supported options:
All options except:

BACKGROUND
DEV
FILE
FRAMECOLOR
JUST
PAGESIZE
SUBPAGES

(These must be set in call to 'new'.)

$pl->histogram ($x, $nbins, BOX => [$min, $max, 0, 100]);

bargraph

Simple utility to plot a bar chart with labels on the X axis. The usual options can be specified, plus one other: MAXBARLABELS specifies the maximum number of labels to allow on the X axis. The default is 20. If this value is exceeded, then every other label is plotted. If twice MAXBARLABELS is exceeded, then only every third label is printed, and so on.

if UNFILLED_BARS is set to true, then plot the bars as outlines and not as filled rectangles.

Arguments:
$labels -- A reference to a perl list of strings.
$values -- A PDL of values to be plotted.

Supported options:
All options except:

BACKGROUND
DEV
FILE
FRAMECOLOR
JUST
PAGESIZE
SUBPAGES

(These must be set in call to 'new'.)

$labels = ['one', 'two', 'three'];
$values = pdl(1, 2, 3);

# Note if TEXTPOSITION is specified, it must be in 4 argument mode (border mode):
# [$side, $disp, $pos, $just]
#
# Where side = 't', 'b', 'l', or 'r' for top, bottom, left and right
#              'tv', 'bv', 'lv' or 'rv' for top, bottom, left or right perpendicular to the axis.
#
#     disp is the number of character heights out from the edge
#     pos  is the position along the edge of the viewport, from 0 to 1.
#     just tells where the reference point of the string is: 0 = left, 1 = right, 0.5 = center.
#
# The '$pos' entry will be ignored (computed by the bargraph routine)
$pl->bargraph($labels, $values, MAXBARLABELS => 30, TEXTPOSITION => ['bv', 0.5, 1.0, 1.0]);

text

Write text on a plot. Text can either be written with respect to the borders or at an arbitrary location and angle (see the "TEXTPOSITION" entry).

Arguments:
$t : The text.

Supported options:
All options except:

BACKGROUND
DEV
FILE
FRAMECOLOR
JUST
PAGESIZE
SUBPAGES

(These must be set in call to 'new'.)

  $pl->text("Count", COLOR => 'PINK',
	    TEXTPOSITION => ['t', 3, 0.5, 0.5]); # top, 3 units out, string ref. pt in
                                                 # center of string, middle of axis

close

Close a PLplot object, writing out the file and cleaning up.

Arguments: None

Returns: Nothing

This closing of the PLplot object can be done explicitly though the 'close' method. Alternatively, a DESTROY block does an automatic close whenever the PLplot object passes out of scope.

$pl->close;

FUNCTIONS

The PDL low-level interface to the PLplot library closely mimics the C API. Users are referred to the PLplot User's Manual, distributed with the source PLplot tarball. This manual is also available on-line at the PLplot web site (http://www.plplot.org/).

There are three differences in the way the functions are called. The first one is due to a limitation in the pp_def wrapper of PDL, which forces all the non-piddle arguments to be at the end of the arguments list. It is the case of strings (char *) arguments in the C API. This affects the following functions:

plaxes plbox plbox3 plmtex plmtex3 plstart plstripc plmap plmeridians plshades plshade1

This difference can be got around by a call to

plplot_use_standard_argument_order(1);

This re-arranges the string arguments to their proper/intuitive position compared with the C plplot interface. This can be restored to it's default by calling:

plplot_use_standard_argument_order(0);

The second notable different between the C and the PDL APIs is that many of the PDL calls do not need arguments to specify the size of the the vectors and/or matrices being passed. These size parameters are deduced from the size of the piddles, when possible and are just omitted from the C call when translating it to perl.

The third difference has to do with output parameters. In C these are passed in with the input parameters. In the perl interface, they are omitted. For example:

C:

pllegend(&p_legend_width, &p_legend_height,
         opt, position, x, y, plot_width, bg_color, bb_color, bb_style, nrow, ncolumn, nlegend,
         opt_array,
         text_offset, text_scale, text_spacing, text_justification,
         text_colors, (const char **)text, box_colors, box_patterns, box_scales, box_line_widths,
         line_colors, line_styles, line_widths, symbol_colors, symbol_scales, symbol_numbers, (const char **)symbols);

perl:

my ($legend_width, $legend_height) =
  pllegend ($position, $opt, $x, $y, $plot_width, $bg_color, $nlegend,
  \@opt_array,
  $text_offset, $text_scale, $text_spacing, $test_justification,
  \@text_colors, \@text, \@box_colors, \@box_patterns, \@box_scales, \@line_colors,
  \@line_styles, \@line_widths, \@symbol_colors, \@symbol_scales, \@symbol_numbers, \@symbols);

Some of the API functions implemented in PDL have other specificities in comparison with the C API and will be discussed below.

pladv

Signature: (int page())

info not available

plaxes_pp

Signature: (double xzero();double yzero();double xtick();int nxsub();double ytick();int nysub(); char *xopt;char *yopt)

info not available

plbin

Signature: (int nbin();double x(dima);double y(dima);int center())

info not available

plbox_pp

Signature: (double xtick();int nxsub();double ytick();int nysub(); char *xopt;char *yopt)

info not available

plbox3_pp

Signature: (double xtick();int nsubx();double ytick();int nsuby();double ztick();int nsubz(); char *xopt;char *xlabel;char *yopt;char *ylabel;char *zopt;char *zlabel)

info not available

plcol0

Signature: (int icolzero())

info not available

plcol1

Signature: (double colone())

info not available

plcpstrm

Signature: (int iplsr();int flags())

info not available

pldid2pc

Signature: (double xmin(dima);double ymin(dima);double xmax(dima);double ymax(dima))

info not available

pldip2dc

Signature: (double xmin(dima);double ymin(dima);double xmax(dima);double ymax(dima))

info not available

plenv

Signature: (double xmin();double xmax();double ymin();double ymax();int just();int axis())

info not available

plenv0

Signature: (double xmin();double xmax();double ymin();double ymax();int just();int axis())

info not available

plerrx

Signature: (int n();double xmin(dima);double xmax(dima);double y(dima))

info not available

plerry

Signature: (int n();double x(dima);double ymin(dima);double ymax(dima))

info not available

plfill3

Signature: (int n();double x(dima);double y(dima);double z(dima))

info not available

plfont

Signature: (int ifont())

info not available

plfontld

Signature: (int fnt())

info not available

plgchr

Signature: (double [o]p_def();double [o]p_ht())

info not available

plgcompression

Signature: (int [o]compression())

info not available

plgdidev

Signature: (double [o]p_mar();double [o]p_aspect();double [o]p_jx();double [o]p_jy())

info not available

plgdiori

Signature: (double [o]p_rot())

info not available

plgdiplt

Signature: (double [o]p_xmin();double [o]p_ymin();double [o]p_xmax();double [o]p_ymax())

info not available

plgfam

Signature: (int [o]p_fam();int [o]p_num();int [o]p_bmax())

info not available

plglevel

Signature: (int [o]p_level())

info not available

plgpage

Signature: (double [o]p_xp();double [o]p_yp();int [o]p_xleng();int [o]p_yleng();int [o]p_xoff();int [o]p_yoff())

info not available

plgspa

Signature: (double [o]xmin();double [o]xmax();double [o]ymin();double [o]ymax())

info not available

plgvpd

Signature: (double [o]p_xmin();double [o]p_xmax();double [o]p_ymin();double [o]p_ymax())

info not available

plgvpw

Signature: (double [o]p_xmin();double [o]p_xmax();double [o]p_ymin();double [o]p_ymax())

info not available

plgxax

Signature: (int [o]p_digmax();int [o]p_digits())

info not available

plgyax

Signature: (int [o]p_digmax();int [o]p_digits())

info not available

plgzax

Signature: (int [o]p_digmax();int [o]p_digits())

info not available

pljoin

Signature: (double xone();double yone();double xtwo();double ytwo())

info not available

pllightsource

Signature: (double x();double y();double z())

info not available

pllsty

Signature: (int lin())

info not available

plmtex_pp

Signature: (double disp();double pos();double just(); char *side;char *text)

info not available

plmtex3_pp

Signature: (double disp();double pos();double just(); char *side;char *text)

info not available

plpat

Signature: (int nlin();int inc(dima);int del(dima))

info not available

plprec

Signature: (int setp();int prec())

info not available

plpsty

Signature: (int patt())

info not available

plptex

Signature: (double x();double y();double dx();double dy();double just(); char *text)

info not available

plptex3

Signature: (double x();double y();double z();double dx();double dy();double dz();double sx();double sy();double sz();double just(); char *text)

info not available

plschr

Signature: (double def();double scale())

info not available

plscmap0n

Signature: (int ncolzero())

info not available

plscmap1n

Signature: (int ncolone())

info not available

plscol0

Signature: (int icolzero();int r();int g();int b())

info not available

plscolbg

Signature: (int r();int g();int b())

info not available

plscolor

Signature: (int color())

info not available

plscompression

Signature: (int compression())

info not available

plsdidev

Signature: (double mar();double aspect();double jx();double jy())

info not available

plsdimap

Signature: (int dimxmin();int dimxmax();int dimymin();int dimymax();double dimxpmm();double dimypmm())

info not available

plsdiori

Signature: (double rot())

info not available

plsdiplt

Signature: (double xmin();double ymin();double xmax();double ymax())

info not available

plsdiplz

Signature: (double xmin();double ymin();double xmax();double ymax())

info not available

pl_setcontlabelparam

Signature: (double offset();double size();double spacing();int active())

info not available

pl_setcontlabelformat

Signature: (int lexp();int sigdig())

info not available

plsfam

Signature: (int fam();int num();int bmax())

info not available

plsmaj

Signature: (double def();double scale())

info not available

plsmin

Signature: (double def();double scale())

info not available

plsori

Signature: (int ori())

info not available

plspage

Signature: (double xp();double yp();int xleng();int yleng();int xoff();int yoff())

info not available

plspause

Signature: (int pause())

info not available

plsstrm

Signature: (int strm())

info not available

plssub

Signature: (int nx();int ny())

info not available

plssym

Signature: (double def();double scale())

info not available

plstar

Signature: (int nx();int ny())

info not available

plstart_pp

Signature: (int nx();int ny(); char *devname)

info not available

plstripa

Signature: (int id();int pen();double x();double y())

info not available

plstripd

Signature: (int id())

info not available

plsvpa

Signature: (double xmin();double xmax();double ymin();double ymax())

info not available

plsxax

Signature: (int digmax();int digits())

info not available

plsxwin

Signature: (int window_id())

info not available

plsyax

Signature: (int digmax();int digits())

info not available

plszax

Signature: (int digmax();int digits())

info not available

plvasp

Signature: (double aspect())

info not available

plvpas

Signature: (double xmin();double xmax();double ymin();double ymax();double aspect())

info not available

plvpor

Signature: (double xmin();double xmax();double ymin();double ymax())

info not available

plw3d

Signature: (double basex();double basey();double height();double xminzero();double xmaxzero();double yminzero();double ymaxzero();double zminzero();double zmaxzero();double alt();double az())

info not available

plwid

Signature: (int width())

info not available

plwind

Signature: (double xmin();double xmax();double ymin();double ymax())

info not available

plP_gpixmm

Signature: (double p_x(dima);double p_y(dima))

info not available

plscolbga

Signature: (int r();int g();int b();double a())

info not available

plscol0a

Signature: (int icolzero();int r();int g();int b();double a())

info not available

plline

Signature: (x(n); y(n))

Draws line segments along (x1,y1)->(x2,y2)->(x3,y3)->...

If the nth value of either x or y are bad, then it will be skipped, breaking the line. In this way, you can specify multiple line segments with a single pair of x and y piddles.

The usage is straight-forward:

plline($x, $y);

For example:

# Draw a sine wave
$x = sequence(100)/10;
$y = sin($x);

# Draws the sine wave:
plline($x, $y);

# Set values above 3/4 to 'bad', effectively drawing a bunch of detached,
# capped waves
$y->setbadif($y > 3/4);
plline($x, $y);

plcolorpoints

Signature: (x(n); y(n); z(n); int sym(); minz(); maxz())

PDL-specific: Implements what amounts to a threaded version of plsym.

Bad values for z are simply skipped; all other bad values are not processed.

In the following usage, all of the piddles must have the same dimensions:

plcolorpoints($x, $y, $z, $symbol_index, $minz, $maxz)

For example:

# Generate a parabola some points
my $x = sequence(30) / 3;   # Regular sampling
my $y = $x**2;              # Parabolic y
my $z = 30 - $x**3;         # Cubic coloration
my $symbols = floor($x);    # Use different symbols for each 1/3 of the plot
                            #  These should be integers.

plcolorpoints($x, $y, $z, $symbols, -5, 20);  # Thread over everything
plcolorpoints($x, $y, 1, 1, -1, 2);           # same color and symbol for all

plfbox

Signature: (xo(); yo())

info not available

plunfbox

Signature: (xo(); yo())

info not available

plParseOpts

Signature: (int [o] retval(); SV* argv; int mode)

FIXME: documentation here!

plpoin

Signature: (x(n); y(n); int code())

info not available

plpoin3

Signature: (x(n); y(n); z(n); int code())

info not available

plline3

Signature: (x(n); y(n); z(n))

info not available

plpoly3

Signature: (x(n); y(n); z(n); int draw(m); int ifcc())

info not available

plhist

Signature: (data(n); datmin(); datmax(); int nbin(); int oldwin())

info not available

plfill

Signature: (x(n); y(n))

info not available

plsym

Signature: (x(n); y(n); int code())

info not available

plsurf3d

Signature: (x(nx); y(ny); z(nx,ny); int opt(); clevel(nlevel))

info not available

plstyl

Signature: (int mark(nms); int space(nms))

info not available

plAllocGrid

Signature: (double xg(nx); double yg(ny); longlong [o] grid())

FIXME: documentation here!

plAlloc2dGrid

Signature: (double xg(nx,ny); double yg(nx,ny); longlong [o] grid())

FIXME: documentation here!

init_pltr

Signature: (P(); C(); SV* p0; SV* p1; SV* p2)

FIXME: documentation here!

plmap_pp

Signature: (minlong(); maxlong(); minlat(); maxlat(); SV* mapform; char* type)

info not available

plmeridians_pp

Signature: (dlong(); dlat(); minlong(); maxlong(); minlat(); maxlat(); SV* mapform)

info not available

plshades_pp

Signature: (z(x,y); xmin(); xmax(); ymin(); ymax();
                clevel(l); int fill_width(); int cont_color();
                int cont_width(); int rectangular(); SV* defined; SV* pltr; SV* pltr_data)

info not available

plcont

Signature: (f(nx,ny); int kx(); int lx(); int ky(); int ly(); clevel(nlevel); SV* pltr; SV* pltr_data)

FIXME: documentation here!

plmesh

Signature: (x(nx); y(ny); z(nx,ny); int opt())

FIXME: documentation here!

plmeshc

Signature: (x(nx); y(ny); z(nx,ny); int opt(); clevel(nlevel))

FIXME: documentation here!

plot3d

Signature: (x(nx); y(ny); z(nx,ny); int opt(); int side())

FIXME: documentation here!

plot3dc

Signature: (x(nx); y(ny); z(nx,ny); int opt(); clevel(nlevel))

FIXME: documentation here!

plscmap1l

Signature: (int itype(); isty(n); coord1(n); coord2(n); coord3(n); int rev(nrev))

FIXME: documentation here!

plshade1_pp

Signature: (a(nx,ny); left(); right(); bottom(); top(); shade_min();shade_max(); sh_cmap(); sh_color(); sh_width();min_color(); min_width(); max_color(); max_width();rectangular(); SV* defined; SV* pltr; SV* pltr_data)

FIXME: documentation here!

plimage

Signature: (idata(nx,ny); xmin(); xmax(); ymin(); ymax();zmin(); zmax(); Dxmin(); Dxmax(); Dymin(); Dymax())

info not available

plxormod

$status = plxormod ($mode)

See the PLplot manual for reference.

plGetCursor

%gin = plGetCursor ()

plGetCursor waits for graphics input event and translate to world coordinates and returns a hash with the following keys:

type:      of event (CURRENTLY UNUSED)
state:     key or button mask
keysym:    key selected
button:    mouse button selected
subwindow: subwindow (alias subpage, alias subplot) number
string:    translated string
pX, pY:    absolute device coordinates of pointer
dX, dY:    relative device coordinates of pointer
wX, wY:    world coordinates of pointer

Returns an empty hash if no translation to world coordinates is possible.

plgstrm

$strm = plgstrm ()

Returns the number of the current output stream.

plgsdev

$driver = plgdev ()

Returns the current driver name.

plmkstrm

$strm = plmkstrm ()

Creates a new stream and makes it the default. Returns the number of the created stream.

plgver

$version = plgver ()

See the PLplot manual for reference.

plstripc_pp

Signature: (xmin(); xmax(); xjump(); ymin(); ymax();xlpos(); ylpos(); int y_ascl(); int acc();int colbox(); int collab();int colline(n); int styline(n);  int [o] id(); char* xspec; char* yspec; SV* legline;char* labx; char* laby; char* labtop)

FIXME: documentation here!

plgriddata

Signature: (x(npts); y(npts); z(npts); xg(nptsx); yg(nptsy);int type(); data(); [o] zg(nptsx,nptsy))

FIXME: documentation here!

plbtime

my ($year, $month, $day, $hour, $min, $sec) = plbtime($ctime);
Calculate broken-down time from continuous time for current stream.

plconfigtime

plconfigtime($scale, $offset1, $offset2, $ccontrol, $ifbtime_offset, $year, $month, $day, $hour, $min, $sec);

Configure transformation between continuous and broken-down time (and vice versa) for current stream.

plctime

my $ctime = plctime($year, $month, $day, $hour, $min, $sec);
Calculate continuous time from broken-down time for current stream.

pltimefmt

pltimefmt($fmt);

Set format for date / time labels. See the PLplot manual for more details.

plsesc

plsesc($esc);

Set the escape character for text strings. See the PLplot manual for more details.

plhlsrgb

Signature: (double h();double l();double s();double [o]p_r();double [o]p_g();double [o]p_b())

info not available

plgcol0

Signature: (int icolzero(); int [o]r(); int [o]g(); int [o]b())

info not available

plgcolbg

Signature: (int [o]r(); int [o]g(); int [o]b())

info not available

plscmap0

Signature: (int r(n); int g(n); int b(n))

info not available

plscmap1

Signature: (int r(n); int g(n); int b(n))

info not available

plgcol0a

Signature: (int icolzero(); int [o]r(); int [o]g(); int [o]b(); double [o]a())

info not available

plgcolbga

Signature: (int [o]r(); int [o]g(); int [o]b(); double [o]a())

info not available

plscmap0a

Signature: (int r(n); int g(n); int b(n); double a(n))

info not available

plscmap1a

Signature: (int r(n); int g(n); int b(n); double a(n))

info not available

plscmap1la

Signature: (int itype(); isty(n); coord1(n); coord2(n); coord3(n); coord4(n); int rev(nrev))

FIXME: documentation here!

plcalc_world

Signature: (double rx(); double ry(); double [o]wx(); double [o]wy(); int [o]window())

info not available

WARNINGS AND ERRORS

PLplot gives many errors and warnings. Some of these are given by the PDL interface while others are internal PLplot messages. Below are some of these messages, and what you need to do to address them:

  • Box must be a ref to a four element array

    When specifying a box, you must pass a reference to a four-element array, or use an anonymous four-element array.

    # Gives trouble:
$pl->xyplot($x, $y, BOX => (0, 0, 100, 200) );
# What you meant to say was:
$pl->xyplot($x, $y, BOX => [0, 0, 100, 200] );

  • Too many colors used! (max 15)

AUTHORS

Doug Hunt <dhunt@ucar.edu>
Rafael Laboissiere <rlaboiss@users.sourceforge.net>
David Mertens <mertens2@illinois.edu>

SEE ALSO

perl(1), PDL(1), http://www.plplot.org/

The other common graphics packages include PDL::PGPLOT and PDL::TriD.