This HTML based manual consists of numerous command reference sections plus an introduction, some short examples, a few tutorials, and an index. The tutorials range from first time user applications to extremely subtle and complex analysis problems. The command sections are ordered by function, hopefully in the relative order of usefulness. The summary sections and index hopefully will help you find things. The online help will remain as it is, but this HTML based document will soon supercede all other on-line information.
There are numerous internal changes from version 1.0 to 2.0, in particular the fact that arrays index from 0 now instead of 1. Due to the many changes, we would suggest that old time users at least scan the summary section. First time (and older) readers are warned that there are some subtleties to the command parsing language in GENPLOT, and all users should attempt to muddle through the discussion in Section J and Appendix T at some point. For those delving deeply into GENPLOT, Appendix T attempts to instill an understanding of the token concept and how GENPLOT splits up command lines, an understanding which is of immense value in making GENPLOT work the way you want within the syntax which is built into the program. Section J likewise explains the function and expression evaluators within the command processors.
During installation, a desktop icon will have been created for GENPLOT, or the executable for GENPLOT will have been installed into a directory on the path. For OS/2 and NT, there are the two programs - GENPLOT and XGENPLOT. They differ only in the command window -- as long as it is stable, XGENPLOT is the preferred program. GENPLOT, a non-window application, may be useful for batch file processing.
GENPLOT wakes up to the user with a blank data set of X,Y points. Associated with this X,Y data set are two variables called NPT and NPTMAX. NPT specifies the number of points which are currently valid in the X,Y set while NPTMAX gives the dimensioned size of the X,Y arrays (or the initial maximum value of NPT). This X,Y curve is referred to as the DEFAULT curve and is used by most of the GENPLOT commands unless you specify otherwise. Other curves may also be defined, as discussed later. By definition, a CURVE refers to a collection of real X,Y points and an integer representing the number of points, NPT.
The full format of the (X)GENPLOT initialization is:
GENPLOT [-BufferThe initial buffer size may be modified from the default 2048 points using the -buffer option; however, this is seldom necessary since GENPLOT will automatically expand the curve as necessary to accomodate the data. Likewise, an initialization file may be specified using the -ini option; if no file is specified, the program assumes GENPLOT.INI. The -HELP option lists out the format of the GENPLOT command and returns immediately.] [-Inifile ] [-Quiet] [-Help]
Once GENPLOT is running, commands are typed at a GENPLOT: prompt in a pseudo English format. Commands and arguments are taken from the typed command line sequentially. The command processor (see Appendix T) allows multiple commands and arguments to be given on a single command line. There is little difference to GENPLOT if commands are given entirely on a single line or broken into multiple lines; GENPLOT will prompt in each case for the information necessary to continue. For the first time user, it is probably better to let GENPLOT prompt each time for the information until one learns the order of parameters for each command. Like many computer programs, the format of the commands is somewhat strict and arguments are usually required in a specific order. The order of these arguments is considered ``natural'' by the author, but if in doubt the command reference and online help provide the specific format for each command. Some commands also accept optional arguments or modifiers which may be given in any order following all required arguments.
GENPLOT can also be called as a subroutine from within your own C programs. This capability allows you to generate data from within your own program and use the GENPLOT interface for the graphics. Alternatively, GENPLOT has the ability to call user subroutines which may manipulate the data in ways we never imagined necessary. These capabilities are detailed in Appendix S.