{QUAD-Plot was designed with ease of use and speed in mind. Many current plotting make preparing a simple graph a laborious process. In QUAD-Plot a high quality graph can be produced by simply dragging a text file over the QUAD-Plot icon and selecting GO! from the PLOT menu!
QUAD-Plot is not meant to be a clone of more expensive plotting packages. It is a ``Quick and Easy'' method of displaying data as two-dimensional plots or histograms. It operates in just the way I have always found most useful: I don't want to waste time viewing the data as a table before it is graphed, and I usually want to do my own analysis seperately. QUAD-Plot is designed to let you look at the results of your own analysis IMMEDIATELY. The resulting plots are professional quality and DON'T look clunky and primitive, or worse still, misleading.
The number of points which can be plotted is limited only by the memory you allot to the program but is over 25,000 for the default memory allocation. Data sets can be cut and pasted from window to window in a familiar way. The resultant window can be printed as is, or can be placed on a page using the innovative new "View Page..." options. These allow you to snap the plots into a grid (eg. 2 plots by 3) which you specify, or to place a plot anywhere on the page by moving and stretching its rectangular outline. These two placement options make positioning and printing numerous graphs on a page a breeze.
More elaborate plots including error-bars, colored lines/symbols or a variety of symbols and line styles can all be easily made. Individual datasets can be exported as text files. Whole plots can be copied and pasted into other applications or exported as high resolution PICT files to word processors and illustration packages. An on-line help system guides you through these features.
QUAD-Plot is a SHAREWARE program. We believe that it is extremely good value for money and useful for anyone who wants to view tabular data, whether for school, for business, or for professional research. In order to register your copy please follow the instructions in the "Registration" file.
If you have any suggestions or comments, or if you find any bugs, then please contact Robin Harmon either by EMAIL at r.harmon@kagi.com or r.harmon@soc.soton.ac.uk or by regular mail. If you would like to use regular mail see Registration below for the address. Queries by regular mail may take 14 days or more to be answered (due to forwarding delays), but they will be answered.}
\subTitle{Aims}
{• A minimum number of keystrokes/dialogs in order to produce a high quality plot.
• Simple importation of SPACE or TAB separated text files.
• Import and view large datasets (limited by computer memory only).
• Intelligent default values for plot characteristics.
• Fast plotting of data, either XY-pairs or histograms.
• Convenience in viewing multiple plots on one screen.
• Easy and intuitive selection and modification of individual datasets on a plot.
• Ease in organising and printing high quality copies of one or more plots per page.
}
\subTitle{Features}
{Importation of data:
------------------
1. SPACE or TAB separated files imported either by drag-and-drop or via. a standard file dialog.
2. The limit on the size of file is set by the available memory (>25,000 points by default).
3. Files may contain comments, preceded by a percent sign, or blank lines.
4. PC or Mac text files imported with no fuss.
5. File importation is faster than many other packages.
Plotting Graphs:
--------------
1. Columns to be plotted are selected on menus.
2. Data can be drawn as (x,y) pairs or binned and drawn as a histogram.
3. Symbols can be chosen from a pallet of 25.
4. A range of line styles may be used to connect the data.
5. Lines and symbols can have one of eight colors.
6. Data can have error-bars easily attatched and modified.
Viewing Graphs:
---------------
1. Intelligent defaults are used to ensure that a plot is immediately of good quality.
2. The contents of windows can be set to re-scale as the window is grown/shrunk so that many windows can be conveniently viewed at once on the screen.
Editing Graphs:
--------------
1. A dataset can be easily selected by clicking next to one of its points (or bins).
2. Cutting and pasting datasets is like working with text in a word-processor.
3. A dataset can be easily cut from one window and pasted into another.
Printing Graphs:
---------------
1. Single or multiple plots can easily be positioned on a page for printing.
2. Hairlines can be used to take advantage of the high resolution of a printer.
Exporting Graphs and Data:
-------------------------
1. Plots can be exported as PICTs.
2. The resolution of a PICT can be kept high for quality printing when included in another document.
3. Individual datasets may be exported as text files.
Speed:
------
QUAD-Plot is faster than most other commercial packages at importing and plotting data. On a Quadra 660 it can import 25,000 points in just under 5 seconds, plot them for the first time in 30 seconds and subsequently update the window in 12 seconds. For a small number of points (up to 1000) these times are all of order 1 second or less. Part of QUAD-Plot's speed advantage lies in how easy it is to set up a plot.
No other plotting package that I have tried performs as well.
The PowerPC version of QUAD-Plot runs even faster still - typically 2 to 4 times faster than the emulated code!
Help:
-----
1. A convenient on-line help system can be read while you use the application.
REQUIREMENTS.
--------------
QUAD-Plot will work on any Mac running System 7.0 or later with at least 768 kilobytes of free memory (1MB for the PPC version). The default memory allocation allows up to ~30,000 points to be plotted.
}
\title{A Quick Plot}
{To Create A Plot:
----------------
1. Drag a text file icon over the QUAD-Plot icon. This will import the text file.
2. Select "Go!" on the Plot menu (Command G). This will cause the second column to be plotted against the first in the default symbol and without lines joining the points.
To Modify A Plot:
----------------
1. Click in the plot window near a point of the dataset you wish to modify. This will select that dataset.
2. Change the dataset characteristics reflected on the menus.
3. Click outside the plot border to remove selection of this dataset or click near another dataset to select it.
To Print A Plot:
--------------
1. Check "Page Setup" on the Files menu. Is the correct printer selected?
2. Select "Print" on the Files menu.
To Save A Plot:
--------------
1. Select "Save As" on the files menu.
}
\title{FILES}
{The Files menu deals with the input and output of QUAD-Plot files, import and export of data, the printing of QUAD-Plot windows/files and exiting the application.
}
\subTitle{New} {Opens an empty window for subsequent plotting operations. }
\subTitle{Open} {Opens an existing QUAD-Plot file. }
\subTitle{Close} {Closes the frontmost window, prompting if it may need to be saved first. }
\subTitle{CloseAll} {Closes all of the plot windows WITHOUT prompting first. }
\subTitle{Save} {Saves the frontmost window. }
\subTitle{Save As} {Saves the frontmost window under a new name. }
\subTitle{Import}
{Prompts for the name of a file to import.
QUAD-Plot can import a text file of data with columns separated by space(s) or TAB(s).
• Any text following a percent sign is treated as a comment and ignored.
• Blank lines are ignored.
• PC generated text files are read without problem.
• Each row of data in the file should contain the same number of columns.
• The maximum line length is 512 characters.
Memory.
--------
The default allocation for QUAD-Plot is 768Kb. This will allow you to plot up to about 30,000 points in your windows. If you would like to work with larger datasets then increase the memory allocation by about 250Kb per 20,000 points to be plotted. If you want to cut and paste datasets of this size then you will require twice as much memory. You can change the memory allocation by selecting the QUAD-Plot icon in the Finder and opening the Information option on the Files menu. Change the Prefered size and close the information panel.
}
\subTitle{Release File}
{QUAD-Plot will write-lock an imported file open until another is imported.
If you would like to edit the current file using another program then you must first release it with this menu option (or import another file).}
\subTitle{Export}
{This menu has two options:
• Export Dataset. This option will export a selected dataset as a file of text separated by spaces.
• Export Plot as PICT. The entire plot will be written out as a PICT file. A dialog prompts for a scale factor to be applied to the resolution of the plot before writting it out. This is used to produce an image at high resolution that can be included in a document to be printed. The default of 400% should give a resolution suitable for printing on a 300DPI laser printer.
}
\subTitle{Page Setup} {Selects the general page features for printing.}
\subTitle{View Page}
{This calls up a dialog in which you can place many plots quickly and conveniently on one page. The dialog contains a representation of the page and a number of controls to bring plots onto the "page" and make it easy to position them once they are there.
• Plots are gathered together using the "Select a Plot" popup menu and the "Fetch" button. Each time the "Fetch" button is pressed a plot will be brought onto the page.
• The plots initial position is determined by the "Grid Plots" check box. If this is not checked then the it will appear at the top left corner of the writeable area (marked by the rectangle just inside the page boundary). It will have the same size as on the screen. If there is a check in the "Grid Plots" box then you can set up a grid of positions on the page into which plots will be sent. Each plot will then go into the first available empty grid spot. Try setting up a grid and fetching the same plot a few times to see what happens! If you want a plot to fill the page then set up a 1x1 grid!
• All plots can be dragged around and resized once they are on the page. The "Fix Aspect Ratio" check-box forces the aspect ratio to remain the same as you drag the corner of a plot.
• The "Guidelines" check-box causes a grid in either inches or centimeters to be overlaid on the view of the page and makes manual positioning of plots simple.
• When you are ready to print press "Print"!
}
\subTitle{Print} {Sets the details of the printing job.
You may want to have the Labels scaled for aesthetically pleasing printed plots.}
\subTitle{Save Preferences} {Saves the current settings of QUAD-Plot.}
\subTitle{Quit} {Leaves the application QUAD-Plot.}
\title{EDIT}
{Datasets can be cut, copied or cleared from any window and pasted into any other.
Some of these operations are reversible and the first item in the menu will indicate if this is so.
Addition or removal of any dataset from a window will cause the ranges to be automatically adjusted to best display the window contents if the "Default" option is chosen on the ranges menu.
In addition to operations involving individual datasets, the entire plot can be copied as a PICT to the clipboard.
The hilite state can be changed so that only one point of a dataset is hilited when a dataset is selected. This is useful if you have many points on display and don't want to wait for all of them to be hilit when you select the dataset.}
\subTitle{Undo} {Reverses the effects of the last editing operation (Cut or Paste) or last "Go".}
\subTitle{Cut} {Deletes the currently selected dataset and copies it to the copy buffer.}
\subTitle{Copy} {Copies the currently selected dataset to the copy buffer.}
\subTitle{Paste} {Pastes the currently copied dataset into the frontmost window.}
\subTitle{Clear} {Deletes the selected dataset.}
\subTitle{Copy Plot} {Copies the entire plot to the clipboard.}
\subTitle{Hilite All Points} {All data are hilited when you select a dataset in a plot window.
To remove the hiliting click outside the plot border but still in the window.}
\subTitle{Hilite One Point} {Only the datum nearest the cursor is hilited when you select a dataset.
This is preferable if you are dealing with datasets of more than say 1000 points.
To remove the hiliting click outside the plot border but still in the window.}
\title{LABELS} {The labels on the frontmost plot and their characteristics can be adjusted through this menu.}
\subTitle{None} {No labels will be displayed on the current plot.}
\subTitle{Default} {The labels on the current plot will refer to the last file from which data was chosen.
• The title is set to the name of the file.
• In XY-Plot mode the X and Y labels reflect the column numbers of the last dataset added.
• In Histogram mode the X label reflects the last column that was binned onto the plot and the Y label is set to the letter "N".
}
\subTitle{User Defined} {The labels are set to those defined by you in the "Set User..." menu item.}
\subTitle{Set User}
{Presents a dialog in which you can enter strings for the X and Y labels and the plot title. In the dialog there are 2 buttons in addition to Cancel and OK.
• Defaults - copies of the default labels are written into the editable areas.
• Use - QUAD-Plot will switch to the "User" option on exiting the dialog.
}
\subTitle{Font} {Permits selection of the font to be used for the X and Y labels and the plot title.}
\subTitle{Size} {Permits selection of the font size to be used for the X and Y labels and the plot title.}
\subTitle{Style} {Permits selection of the font style to be used for the X and Y labels and the plot title.}
\subTitle{Scale/Don't Scale}
{One of the convenient features of QUAD-Plot is that you can change the size of a window and its contents are scaled to the new size. This allows you to shrink your windows and view several of them on the screen at the same time without overlap. The full contents of each are visible albeit at a reduced size.
The Scale/Don't Scale option affects the labels on the plot. If you choose "Scale" then the labels are scaled in size so that only in the zoomed-out view do they have the size you set in the "Size" sub-menu. If you choose "Don't Scale" then they are displayed at your selected size regardless of the window size.
When you print a plot the labels will look more appropriately proportioned (for the default font size) if you scale them.}
\title{AXES} {The coordinate ranges and axes displayed on the frontmost plot can be adjusted through this menu. }
\subTitle{Default Ranges} {The X and Y ranges on the current plot are set to be 10% larger than the absolute range of the data in the window.}
\subTitle{User Ranges} {The coordinate ranges used to display the data are those defined by you in the "Set User..." menu item.
If none have been set then they default to the interval from -1 to +1 in X and Y.}
\subTitle{Set User Ranges}
{Presents a dialog in which you can enter coordinate ranges in X and Y. The OK button is disabled if the current ranges are not readable. There are 2 buttons in the dialog in addition to Cancel and OK.
• Defaults - copies of the default ranges are written into the editable areas.
• Use - QUAD-Plot will switch to the "User" option on exiting the dialog.
}
\subTitle{Draw X-axis} {A coordinate axis will be drawn at Y = 0. Tick marks are drawn at the same positions as on the graph border.}
\subTitle{Draw Y-axis} {A coordinate axis will be drawn at X = 0. Tick marks are drawn at the same positions as on the graph border.}
\subTitle{Thickness} {You can set the thickness of the axes and tick-marks using this menu. Printers with a resolution higher than that of the screen can make use of lines less than one point in width.}
\subTitle{Justify/Don't Justify}
{
• Justify - equal coordinate intervals along the X and Y axes will have equal lengths on the screen (or page).
• Don't Justify - the coordinate scales in X and Y will be chosen to fill the window and hence will be unequal in general.
}
\title{SYMBOLS} {The choice of symbol to be assigned to the next plotted dataset (or the currently selected one) is made using this menu. The symbol characteristics which may be set are size, color and whether or not it is scaled with the window size.}
\subTitle{None} {A convenient way of turning off symbols for the next dataset to be plotted or the currently selected one.}
\subTitle{Default} {Sets the symbol choice to be the next-to-smallest point which corresponds to the second symbol on the pallet.}
\subTitle{Pallet} {You may choose any symbol from this pallet.}
\subTitle{Size} {The size of the symbols attatched to the next dataset or the currently selected one are set here.}
\subTitle{Color} {The color of the symbols attatched to the next dataset or the currently selected one are set here.
On a black and white monitor the color blocks beside each option are all white. You may still change the symbols' color so that when the plot is displayed on a color machine it is displayed in your chosen color.}
\subTitle{Scale/Don't Scale}
{This option is identical to that for the Labels around the plot border. The size of a symbol may be scaled with the window size for convenient viewing of many windows on one screen or you can insist that it have the size you choose at all window sizes.}
\title{LINES} {The points in a dataset may be joined with a line drawn in one of a range of styles, widths and colors. The characteristics set on this menu will be assigned to the next plotted dataset (or the currently selected one).}
\subTitle{None} {A convenient way of turning off lines for the next dataset to be plotted or the currently selected one.}
\subTitle{Style} {Sets the line-style to be applied to the next dataset plotted or the currently selected one.}
\subTitle{Width} {You may draw the line in any width. Line thicknesses of less than one point will be apparent on any printer with a high enough resolution.}
\subTitle{Color} {The color of the line joining the points of the next dataset or the currently selected one is set here.
On a black and white monitor the color blocks beside each option are all white. You may still change the lines' color so that when the plot is displayed on a color machine it is displayed in your chosen color.}
\title{COLUMN(S)} {When a data file is Imported the Column menus change to reflect the number of columns in the file. The choice of which column to plot against which is made here. }
\subTitle{Errors}
{Scientific data usually comes with errors attatched. At the bottom of each column menu there is an Errors sub-menu or item and this enables you to draw the error-bars on your data.
The available error-bar choices depend on the plot type but include:
Symmetric Error Bars.
- Fixed percent: the error-bar size is plus or minus a percentage of each data value.
- Poisson: the error-bar size is the square root of the magnitude of each data value.
- Column: the error-bar size is given by the data column selected.
Asymmetric Error-Bars.
- the minimum and maximum values are determined by two columns of data from the current data file.
• For XY-Plots:
- The New option disposes of any existing error structure attatched to the selected dataset and will use the currently imported file from which to get the new error information. If the current file has not got the same number of rows as the selected dataset then you may only choose error options which are independent of the current file.
- The Modify option allows you to keep the error structure currently attatched to the selected dataset but to choose one of the alternate options.
• For Histogram Plots:
- There are no options to add error-bars to binned data other than those where the error-bar magnitude is dependent on the number of items in the bin only. There is therefore no need for the New option.
Error-Bar Style:
Error-bars can be either the same color as the symbols or histogram bins to which they are attatched or black. They may be drawn with or without terminating cross-bars and they may have cross-bars of varying length. These options are presented in all Error dialog boxes.}
\title{BINS} {When a histogram is being created or modified the menu-bar contains a Bins entry. This lists options related specifically to histograms such as the number of bins, the range over which to bin and whether to draw the binned data as a histogram or as a set of points optionally joined by lines.}
\subTitle{Number/Other} {Permits you to change the number of bins for either the next histogram to be drawn or for the currently selected one.}
\subTitle{Bin Range} {Presents a dialog which you can use to set the range over which QUAD-Plot will bin the data.
Unlike the Ranges menu which controls what interval of the world coordinate space is visible on the plot, this option allows you to choose the range over which to bin the data. There are 3 choices:
• Full data Range:- all of the data will be included in the binning process.
• Mean ±3 standard deviations:- the mean and standard deviation of the data are determined and the binning range restricted accordingly. This is useful as a quick way of looking at the data but will loose outliers.
• User Range:- you can input any range you like here.}
\subTitle{Draw/Don't Draw}
{The binned data can be drawn either as:
- a histogram,
- a histogram with a symbol at each bin-center,
- a line,
- a set of points,
- a set of points joined by a line.
• If you choose Draw then the bins will be drawn in the line-style selected in the Lines menu. There may or may not be a symbol at each bin-center depending on the Symbols menu.
• If you choose Don't Draw then no bins will be drawn and the binned data will be marked by either lines or symbols or both depending on the state of the Lines and Symbols menus.
}
\title{PLOT} {This menu controls the plot-type and causes a plot to be produced.}
\subTitle{Go!} {This menu instructs the application to Go ahead and add a dataset to the active window using the settings in the other menus}
\subTitle{XY-Plot} {This sets the type of the next plot to represent a set of X, Y pairs selected from the currently imported file.}
\subTitle{Histogram} {This sets the type of the next plot to represent a binned column of data from the currently imported file.}
