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=================================================================
EZGraph Notes
=================================================================
Copyright PM Enterprises 1990. All Rights Reserved.
---------------------------------------------------
PM Enterprises
2315 El Paseo
Las Cruces, NM 88001
--------------------
A few excerpts from the EZGraph user manual are provided
here. These notes will enable you to get EZGraph up and running.
PM Enterprises appreciates you taking the time to evaluate
our product. We feel confident that you will find EZGraph very
easy to use and quite robust.
Don't forget, upon reciept of your registration fee we will
rush you a printed user manual. This manual will fully explain
the various features of EZGraph and show you how to use the
options to create many different types of graphs. In addition you
will be provided with a telephone number that can be used to
receive customer support.
Copyright 1990 by PM Enterprises
=================================================================
Introduction
=================================================================
EZGraph creates 2 dimensional scientific type graphs from
simple ASCII data files. EZGraph has many features and options
that allow you to customize almost every aspect of a graph.
Nevertheless, all the features in the world are useless if you
can't use them or if you don't know what affect they might have.
This is why EZGraph was designed with pull-down menus and a
WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) display that provides
instant feedback about the decisions you make.
The EZGraph menu system provides two different ways to work
with the program. Menu items can be selected with the keyboard or
you can use a Microsoft compatible mouse. Most of the options in
EZGraph can be changed with the mouse alone, hence our products
slogan: "Scientific Line Graphs At The Tip Of Your Finger".
Regardless, not all operations can be performed with a mouse, you
just can't beat an old fashioned keyboard for things like text
and numeric entry.
EZGraph allows you to create both line and bar type graphs.
With the line graphs you have several different choices of line
type including thick lines and symbols. Bar graphs can be
customized with different bar styles and can be used in
conjunction with line graphs. EZGraph can plot up to five data
sets in a graph. A data set is an ASCII file that can contain an
(almost) unlimited number of X,Y data pairs arranged in a column
format. Each data set is independent and can have it's own line
type and line color.
EZGraph provides a tremendous amount of control over the
graph design. You have complete control over the axis scaling,
the number and type of graph grid lines, the position of each
axis, even the decimal format of the axis grid labels. Each axis
of the graph can be plotted with a linear or a logarithmic scale.
You can place an axis title on each of the four graph borders.
You can set up a graph legend that automatically updates itself.
You can place text anywhere on the graph with the freehand
annotation feature and you can add lines and boxes to the graph.
Large blocks of text can be placed on the graph with the text
block function. All of the text placed on a graph may contain
super and sub-scripts.
Because EZGraph deals only with the vectors required to draw
a graph, a graph and all of the annotation can be thought of as a
unit. The actual size of this unit is defined by the physical
corners on the page (screen) and the graph is always drawn
relative to the four physical corners. Using the cursor you can
set the physical corners of the graph anywhere on the page.
Changing the size of the graph has no effect on the internal
appearance of the graph unit, all of the relationships are
maintained. The graph simply appears smaller or bigger. This
Copyright 1990 by PM Enterprises
capability allows you to place a graph of any size anywhere on
the page and makes it possible to put as many graphs as you want
on a page.
After you have designed your graph and are content with its
appearance, you can save all of the graph parameters in a format
file. A format file is like a recipe in that it contains all of
the information necessary for EZGraph to reproduce your graph.
You may have tried the demos that came with EZGraph, these demos
are created from a format file.
EZGraph will also allow you to save an entire image of the
screen to disk. Visual slide shows can be created by saving
screen images for later playback. Your registration kit includes
a new program called EZGShow. You can use this program to set up
custom slide shows that run automatically.
EZGraph can dump screen images to a printer or it can
reproduce your graph exactly on a HPGL graphics plotter. Screen
dumps are supported for standard 9-pin, 24-pin, and laserjet
printers. EZGraph uses simple bit-mapped techniques to send the
printer an image of the screen. This leads to the problem of
hardware dependent resolution and less than optimal graphs.
If you need higher quality then you can use the vector-based
HPGL plotter output to create presentation quality graphs.
EZGraph supports any HPGL device that is compatible with the 7470
series of Hewlett Packard plotters. In addition, there are
currently several products available that will allow you to
produce high quality HPGL output on both dot-matrix and laserjet
printers.
It should also be mentioned that most modern desktop
publishing programs like Ventura Publisher and PageMaker will
accept HPGL files, which means you can import your EZGraph plots
directly into a document.
EZGraph uses simple ASCII data files that can come from many
sources. The data files are column based and easy to work with.
You may have some sort of experimental data that you have
collected on your own, in this situation you can use a text
editor or word processor to enter the data directly into an ASCII
file.
Perhaps you have written a BASIC or FORTRAN program that
generates data, in this case you can have your program output the
results to a file.
If you are using a spreadsheet, all you need to do is save
the appropriate columns of data in an ASCII file.
EZGraph includes a run-time function generator that can be
used to evaluate simple or complex mathematical formulas. Suppose
Copyright 1990 by PM Enterprises
you have a math function and you would like to see what kind of a
curve the formula generates. You can use EZGraph to evaluate the
function over a finite interval and generate a data file with the
results.
And finally, EZGraph is capable of performing some very
useful tasks like curve fitting and smoothing. The data
manipulation routines that EZraph provides are normally found
only in programs costing hundreds of dollars.
=================================================================
Getting Started
=================================================================
** Hardware Requirements...
EZGraph requires an IBM compatible PC or AT computer with
graphics capabilities. The computer will need at least 512K of
memory and if present, EZGraph will utilize a math co-processor.
EZGraph supports the four major IBM video standards; MGA
(Hercules), CGA, EGA, and VGA. EZGraph uses DOS function calls to
drive the graphics equipment, therefore it is important that your
video adapter be sufficiently compatible.
EZGraph can be used with dual floppy disks or a hard disk.
EZGraph will work with any Microsoft compatible mouse or
trackball.
EZGraph can send screen dumps to any Epson compatible 9-pin
or 24-pin dot matrix printer as well as Hewlett Packard
compatible laserjet printers.
EZGraph generates plotter data that can be used by any
plotter or plotter emulation program that accepts the standard
HPGL graphics language.
** Setting up EZGraph...
Before you do anything you should make back-up copies of
your original EZGraph diskettes. If your not sure how to do this
refer to the DISKCOPY command in your DOS manual. If you are
going to use EZGraph on a dual-floppy PC you will need to set up
three disks, a working disk for the EZGraph program, one for the
auxiliary programs and another to store data files.
If you are going to use EZGraph on a hard disk then you
should create a directory for EZGraph and a directory for your
data files. If your not sure how to do this refer to the MKDIR
and CHDIR commands in your DOS manual. Once you have an EZGraph
directory, for example C:\EZGRAPH, copy all of the files on your
original EZGraph diskettes into this directory.
Copyright 1990 by PM Enterprises
EXAMPLE: C:\MKDIR EZGRAPH
C:\CHDIR EZGRAPH
C:\EZGRAPH COPY A:*.*
To run the program, make sure you are in the EZGraph
directory and type EZG at the DOS prompt.
** Running EZGraph on a MonoGraphics system...
If your computer has a monographic (MGA or Hercules) video
adapter you need to take a special step before starting EZGraph;
you must load the driver program called EZGherc. EZGherc is a
special driver program that enables EZGraph to use your
monographics video card, without it, EZGraph simply won't work.
The best thing to do is use a batch file to make sure
EZGherc gets loaded each time you run EZGraph. Just such a batch
file has been provided for you in the distribution diskette, it
is called EZGh.BAT.
To start EZGraph on a monographic system type EZGH at the
DOS prompt.
** Running EZGsetup...
Before you begin you should configure EZGraph for your
particular computer by running the EZGSetup program.
EZGSetup creates a file named EZG.CFG that contains
information about your EZGraph configuration. Each time you
install EZGraph on a new computer, or EZG.CFG gets deleted, you
should run EZGSetup. If you want, you can keep different copies
of EZG.CFG and use batch files to select the appropriate copy for
different tasks.
EZGSetup is located on the auxiliary disk, to start the
program type EZGSetup at the DOS prompt. If you are working on a
dual floppy system, put your EZGraph working disk in drive A: and
your auxiliary disk in drive B:. At the A: prompt type
B:EZGSetup. This will ensure that EZG.CFG ends up on the EZGraph
disk.
When you run EZGsetup you will be asked several different
questions. To select an item on the menu, use the cursor bar to
highlight your choice and then press return.
EZGsetup will want to know which type of printer you are
using. You may choose between a 9-pin, 24-pin, and a laserjet
printer. If your not sure which type of dot-matrix printer you
have there is a simple rule of thumb; If your printer outputs NLQ
(Near Letter Quality) then you have a 9-pin printer, if your
printer outputs LQ (Letter Quality) then you have a 24-pin
printer. Some 9-pin printers are the EPSON FX and IBM ProPrinter.
Some 24-pin printers are the EPSON LQ and NEC PinWriter. If you
Copyright 1990 by PM Enterprises
select a 24-pin printer and it doesn't work then run EZGsetup
again and select a 9-pin printer.
You will be asked which port your printer is connected to,
either LPT1 pr LPT2. If your not sure just make a guess, most
probably your printer is connected to LPT1. You can run the
EZGsetup again if your guess is wrong.
EZGsetup will ask you to select one of 7 available startup
graphics modes: You may select any video mode that your hardware
supports. Don't worry If you select a video mode that is not
supported by your hardware, EZGraph will automatically default to
the highest resolution video mode that your hardware can display.
If you are going to be using a plotter with EZGraph, you
will need to select the serial port and baud rate that your
plotter is using. You will need to know which serial port you are
using, COM1 or COM2. Again if your not sure just guess, you can
come back later and select the other port if your guess is wrong.
As for the baud rate that your plotter is using, if your not
sure then you will need to check the documentation that came with
your plotter. Make sure you get this right as EZGraph won't plot
a thing if the baud rate is wrong. The serial communication
parameters that EZGraph uses are no parity, 8 data bits, and 1
stop bit. Almost all plotters uses these parameters as their
default settings, if your having trouble with your plotter
connection you might want to double check that the plotter is in
fact set up with these parameters.
If your not using a plotter then just select anything at
these prompts, it doesn't matter.
Finally, you will need to tell EZGraph which plotter pens to
associate with the 16 colors that your computer screen can
display. HPGL compatible plotters have anywhere from 1 to 8 pens.
Consult your plotter documentation if your not sure how your
plotter numbers the pens.
The information you will be providing will tell EZGraph
which pen to select when it is drawing something with a
particular color. If your not going to do any plotting just keep
pressing return until you have answered the 16 prompts. If you
intend to use a plotter, take some time to develop a strategy for
using your different color plotter pens.
Feel free to select the same pen to use with different
screen colors. Note that if you are using EZGraph on a MGA or CGA
monitor, the only screen colors are 0 and 1, so the only plotter
pens that will ever be selected are the ones you choose for these
two colors.
Copyright 1990 by PM Enterprises
** Using a mouse...
If you are going to use a Microsoft compatible mouse with
EZGraph, you need to do a few things before you start. Most
mouses (mice ?) utilize a special mouse driver program. Typically
you will load this driver either in your CONFIG.SYS file or in
your AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
EZGraph uses the mouse driver and if you have not loaded it
prior to running EZGraph, the mouse won't work. If your not sure
how to load the mouse driver please check the documentation that
came with your mouse, it will explain what you need to do.
** Using the keyboard...
Although EZGraph works best with a mouse, you don't have to
have one to use the program. You can use the keyboard cursor keys
instead.
If you have an enhanced keyboard you can use either set of
cursor keys, if you are using the cursor keys on the numeric
keypad, make sure the NumLock is off. The F1 and F2 keys on your
keyboard act like the left and right mouse buttons on a mouse.
Whenever you are at a place in the program that requires
pressing the left or right mouse button, you can press the F1 or
F2 key instead, respectively. Remember this while reading the
manual and whenever you see the phrase "press the left/right
mouse button" you can replace it with "press the F1/F2 key".
One of the nicest things about a mouse is that you can move
the cursor very rapidly. In an attempt to match this performance
with the cursor keys, EZGraph keeps track of how long you have
held a cursor key down.
If you hold a cursor key down for more than a brief moment
the cursor begins to "accelerate", taking bigger and bigger
steps. After you release the cursor key EZGraph will wait a few
seconds and then slow the cursor back down to the slowest speed.
If your trying to position the cursor and it is taking steps
that are to big, tap the spacebar; this will slow the cursor down
immediately.
If you are running EZGraph on an AT computer, see the
discussion on "improving keyboard cursor speed" in the tips and
techniques section on how to speed up your cursor.
** Operating the menu...
When you start EZGraph you will see a menu across the top of
the screen. Just to the right of the menu is a display that
indicates the position of the cursor. In the upper right hand of
the screen is the help button.
Copyright 1990 by PM Enterprises
You will notice that each menu item has one character in
uppercase, this is called the "key" character. On color monitors
the key character will also appear in a different color. You can
select a menu item by pressing its respective key character.
Alternately, you can move the cursor to the menu area of
the screen and a highlight bar will appear. The highlight bar
will follow the cursor. By pressing the left mouse button you
will select the currently highlighted menu item.
All of the EZGraph menus follow this convention; press the
key character or use the cursor to highlight the menu item.
When you select a menu item from the main menu you will see
a sub-menu drop down. Again you can use the methods discussed
above to select a menu item. If you want to make the drop down
menu go away, press the ESC key or move the cursor outside of the
menu area and press the left mouse button.
Whenever you are using the EZGraph command system, you can
always back up without making any changes by pressing the ESC
key. You can also back out of menus by moving the cursor out of
the menu area and pressing the left mouse button.
EZGraph has an on line help facility that will give you a
brief description of the various menu commands. Whenever the help
facility is available you will see the help button in the upper
left hand corner of the screen.
You may activate the help by pressing the F10 key or by
moving the cursor onto the help button area and pressing the left
mouse button. After you have read the help message you can return
to the menu by pressing any key.
=================================================================
EZGraph Data Files
=================================================================
** The format of a regular data file is:
X1 Y1 S1
X2 Y2 S2
. . .
. . .
Xn Yn Sn
Where Xn is the nth X coordinate, Yn is the nth Y
coordinate, and the optional Sn is the standard deviation of the
Y coordinate. If error bars are selected the length of the error
bar will be 2Sn.
The only rule regarding the placement of numbers in a
regular data file is that the numbers be separated by at least
Copyright 1990 by PM Enterprises
one space.
** The format of a bar graph data file is:
YMIN1 YMAX1 LABEL1
YMIN2 YMAX2 LABEL2
. . .
. . .
YMINn YMAXn LABELn
Where YMINn is the minimum Y coordinate of bar n, YMAXn is
the maximum Y coordinate of bar n, and LABELn is the label that
will be placed directly underneath bar n.
The only rule regarding the placement of data in a bar graph
data file is that the numbers and labels be separated by at least
one space.
** Comments is data files...
You may include comments in your data files. Any line that
begins with a semicolon ";", will be treated as a comment. It is
a good idea to put comments in your data files noting where the
data came from.
=================================================================
Sample Session
=================================================================
** Creating a line graph...
The first thing you must do is create some data files. For
the purpose of this example we will assume that you are creating
the data files in the same directory as the EZGraph program. Use
a text editor or a word processor to enter the following data and
create a file named MCELLS.DAT:
;Example data file MCells.Dat
;
2 10 3
5 16 4
10 28 6
18 39 7
32 47 8
64 64 9
;End
Now create another data file named PCELLS.DAT by entering
the following data into the file:
Copyright 1990 by PM Enterprises
;Example data file PCells.dat.
;
2 1 2
5 2 2
10 3 3
18 5 4
32 9 6
64 12 8
;End
Now start up EZGraph by typing EZG at the DOS prompt.
Select the File sub-menu.
Select file-1: enter "MCELLS.DAT"
Select file-2: enter "PCELLS.DAT"
Press ESC and Select the Data sub-menu.
Select Clear scrn.
Select the Data sub-menu again.
Select Plot now, EZGraph will re-draw the screen.
Select the Size sub-menu.
Select Axis endpts.
Select the X-axis.
Enter 0 for the min coordinate and 80 for the max
coordinate.
Select Axis endpts.
Select the Y-axis.
Enter 0 for the min coordinate and 80 for the max
coordinate.
Press ESC and select the Grids sub-menu.
Select X axis grids and enter 8 major grids and 1 minor
grid.
Select Y axis grids and enter 8 major grids and 1 minor
grid.
Press ESC and select the Text sub-menu.
Select axis Titles.
Select the Bottom title and enter: Contrast (%)
Select axis Titles.
Select the Left title and enter: Response (ips)
Press ESC and Select the Data sub-menu.
Select Clear scrn.
Select the Data sub-menu again.
Select Plot now, EZGraph will plot the two data files.
You now have a simple line graph displayed on the page. If
you like you can continue to experiment with the different graph
parameters.
** Creating a bar graph...
Use a text editor or a word processor to enter the following
data and create a file named BULBS.DAT:
Copyright 1990 by PM Enterprises
;Example file BULBS.DAT.
;
0 20 5
0 50 6
0 120 7
0 250 8
0 580 9
0 410 10
0 430 11
0 70 12
0 60 13
0 10 14
;End
Now start up EZGraph by typing EZG at the DOS prompt.
Select the File sub-menu.
Select file-1: enter "BULBS.DAT"
Press ESC and Select the Data sub-menu.
Select Line type.
Select Bar and press Enter at the next prompt.
Select Crss.
Select Clear scrn.
Select the Data sub-menu again.
Select Plot now, EZGraph will draw the bar graph.
Select the Size sub-menu.
Select Axis endpts.
Select the Y-axis.
Enter 0 for the min coordinate and 1000 for the max
coordinate.
Press ESC and Select the Text sub-menu.
Select axis Titles.
Select the Bottom title and enter: LifeTime In Hours
Select axis Titles.
Select the Left title and enter: Frequency
Press ESC and Select the Data sub-menu.
Select Clear scrn.
Select the Data sub-menu again.
Select Plot now, EZGraph will plot the two data files.
You now have a bar graph displayed on the page. If you like
you can continue to experiment with the different graph
parameters.
=================================================================
Tips And Techniques
=================================================================
** Improving keyboard cursor speed...
If you are using an AT class computer and you don't have a
mouse, you may use the supplied program named FASTKEY to speed up
the keyboard cursor keys. Simply run FASTKEY before you start
EZGraph, in fact you may want to have your AUTOEXEC.BAT file run
Copyright 1990 by PM Enterprises
FASTKEY every time you start your computer.
** Improving performance with a cache or a RAM-disk...
If you are working with large data files and are finding
that EZGraph takes to long to re-draw the graph, you should
consider using a disk-cache or a RAM-disk.
If you use a hard-disk cache, the computer will usually be
able to find the data that EZGraph needs in the cache.
If you don't have a cache program you may want to use a
RAM-Disk similar to the DOS VDISK program. Before starting
EZGraph, copy your data files into the RAM-Disk. Before you turn
your computer off don't forget to copy the modified RAM-Disk data
files back on to a floppy or hard disk.
** Overlaying line plots on bar graphs...
It is possible to superimpose line plots over bar graphs.
Each bar is located with an X coordinate evenly divisible by
10. For example, in a bar graph with 4 bars the first bar will be
centered about 10, the second bar at 20, the third at 30 and the
fourth at 40. In this example the auto-scale function would set
the X-axis endpoints at 5 and 45.
The Y-axis coordinates are determined by the actual height
of the bars.
To place a line plot over the bar graph, create a regular
data file with the proper values to fall within the endpoints
determined by the bar graph (the normalize routine may be useful
to transform a data file into a range compatible with the bar
graph).
** Batch processing with format files...
If you create a graph format file by using the save format
command, you can give the name of this file on the EZGraph
command line and EZGraph will immediately load the format and
display the graph.
The last line of the format file contains a NOP command. You
can use an editor to replace this NOP command with a PRINT or
PLOT command. This will cause EZGraph to perform the indicated
operation when the format file is passed in on the command line.
After the graph is plotted or printed, EZGraph will quit and
return to DOS.
** Batch plotting HPGL files...
If you use EZGraph to send HPGL plotter data to a disk file,
you can plot this file at a later date without using EZGraph.
Copyright 1990 by PM Enterprises
You will need to use the DOS MODE and COPY commands to do
this. If you are not familiar with the MODE command refer to your
DOS documentation.
As an example, suppose your plotter is connected to COM1:
and is running at 2400 Baud and your data file is named
PLOTTER.DAT and is located in the current directory. The
following commands will do the trick:
MODE COM1:2400,N,8,1
COPY PLOTTER.DAT COM1:
=================================================================
Using EZGShow
=================================================================
EZGShow is a program that allows you to create, edit, and
maintain screen image slide shows. You can use the program with
screen images that EZGraph has stored to disk. EZGShow can
display each screen in the slide show for a predetermined amount
of time or it can wait for a keypress after an image is loaded.
EZGShow is located on the auxiliary disk, to start the
program type EZGShow at the DOS prompt.
When the program is started you will be asked if you want to
run, create, or edit a slide show.
Before you can run a slide show must create a slide show
file. A slide show file contains a list of screen image filenames
and time delay values to determine how long the images will be
displayed. Each slide show file can hold up to 100 screen image
filenames.
When you choose to create a slide show you will be asked to
provide a valid DOS filename for the slide show file.
You will then go into slide show edit mode. You will see a
list of slide show slots. In the list you will see a column for a
screen image filename, a column labeled PT, and a column labeled
PK. The PT stands for "Pause Time" and the PK stands for "Press
Key". If the pause time is 0 there will be an X in the PK column,
indicating that the image will be displayed until a key is
pressed.
In edit mode you can enter a screen image filename into any
of the 100 slots. Use the cursor keys, the Page-Up, and the
Page-Down keys to highlight the image slot you wish to edit, then
press return.
When you have selected a file position you will be asked to
enter a valid DOS filename for the screen image. You will then be
asked to enter the pause time for the image. You may enter the
Copyright 1990 by PM Enterprises
number of seconds you wish to have the image displayed. If you
enter 0 then the image will be displayed until a key is pressed.
When you are done editing the slide show press ESC to return
to the main menu.
If you choose to edit a slide show from the main menu the
procedure will be just like creating a slide show. The difference
is that you will be prompted for the old slide show filename
instead of a new filename.
When you run a slide show you will be asked for the slide
show filename. As soon as you have entered the filename the slide
show will begin. EZGShow will display each file that it finds in
the slide show and either pause for the requested time or wait
for a keypress. Press the ESC key at any time to abort the slide
show and return to the main menu.
If a screen image has been displayed and EZGShow is waiting
for a keypress, you can press the F1 key to have the screen
printed.
You can pass the name of a slide show file on the EZGShow
command line and EZGShow will automatically start running the
slide show.
When displaying screen images, EZGShow will use the video
mode that it finds in the EZG.CFG file. You must make sure that
the screen images you are loading were created in the same video
mode that you select with EZGSetup.
Copyright 1990 by PM Enterprises
