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JcGraph
(Demo v0.903 on FredFish 671)
(Demo v1.100 on FredFish 760)
Copyright 1992, Jean-Christophe Clément
Internet:clemj00@dmi.usherb.ca
Amiga, AmigaDos, WorkBench are a trademark of Commodore-Amiga Inc.
PostScript is a trademark of Adobe system corp.
Professionnal Page is a trademark of Gold Disk Inc.
PageStream is a trademark of Soft-Logik corp.
Saxon Publisher is a trademark of Saxon Industries Inc.
AegisDraw2000 is a trademark of Oxxi/Aegis Inc.
Advantage is a trademark of Gold Disk Inc.
File requester: Copyright 1990 Khalid Aldosery.
HyperText system by Dominic Giampaolo.
Note to the purists: English is my second language.
WARNING:
This software is now freely-redistributable but is still copyrighted to
his author, Jean-Christophe Clement.
Table of content:
-----------------
0.Introduction.
1.Required configuration, Hardware and Software.
2.JcGraph's installation.
3.Step by step example of a graph's creation.
4.Menu options summary.
5.Control panel window.
6.File format: Input.
7.File format: Output.
8.Graph's modification.
9.Keyboard equivalent.
10.Palette requester.
11.TOOLTYPE and command line options.
12.ARexx interface.
13.Graph type file format.
14.The future of JcGraph.
15.JcGraph history.
0.Introduction:
---------------
a.What is JcGraph ?.
Specialised in business graph generation, JcGraph will output your data
as Pie, line, bar, stack charts,(etc...more) in two or three dimension. You
will then be able to rotate the resulting graph in X,Y,Z axes and output
them to: EPS,Geo 3D, AegisDraw2000 or IFF ILBM.
b.Why I have created JcGraph ?
Because, after having tried some commercial software that were "supposed"
to produce professionnal quality business graphs, I found that none were up
to what is available for Macintosh or IBM PC compatibles. Considering the
Amiga reputation as a "Multimedia" computer, it was time for a change.
c.JcGraph's philosophy.
The first goal of Jcgraph was to produce highest quality business
graphics with the greatest visual impact with the least effort possible.
So, I asked myself: "What is the single most difficult thing to do when
someone is making a business graphic without any specific tool other than a
paint program ?". The answer is quite simple: "The main graphic itself!".
I mean, once the main graph is designed, the process of adding title,
annotation, graduated background, etc... is trivial.
JcGraph reflects this thinking; it will help you create a great looking
graphic and the flexibility of it's export modules will let you add all the
fancy details in other specialized software.
d. Style guide compliance.
Well, I tried as much as possible to stick to the Style guide book. If you
take into account the limited ressources I had to invest in JcGraph, I think
it is quite good.
1.Required configuration, Hardware and Software:
------------------------------------------------
Minimal:
Any Amiga (more than one is not a necessity :-).
1meg RAM.
WorkBench 1.3.
1 floppy disk.
Suggested:
Accelerated Amiga.
1.5+ meg RAM.
WorkBench 2.0+.
Hard-Disk.
JcGraph has been tested and judged fully functionnal under these system
configurations:
-Amiga 500, 1 floppy, 1 meg RAM, WB 1.3, 68000.
-Amiga 2000HD, 52 Megs HD, 3 megs RAM, WB 2.0, 68000.
-Amiga 3000/16, 50 Megs HD, 2 megs RAM, WB 2.0, 68030/16Mhz
-JcGraph has some problems working in AGA 256 color modes, so, if you got
one of the new machine, stay with 16 colors or less...
2.JcGraph's installation:
-------------------------
A-Logical assigns:
------------------
For example: If you copy JcGraph in "Work:MyJcGraph",
add this line to the file "s:startup-sequence":
"assign JcGraph: Work:MyJcGraph".
B-Directory and files required (After having done A):
-----------------------------------------------------
libs:icon.library :On WB 1.3 (in ROM under 2.0).
libs:kd_freq.library :File-requester Library. (For <2.0 user)
libs:IffParse.library ;Library used for IFF ILBM .
JcGraph:Graphtype :Contain all graph types.
JcGraph:Template :Contain all Templates.
JcGraph:HelpFile :Contain all help files.
JcGraph:Rexx :Contain all Rexx scripts.
JcGraph:HelpFile/ht :On-line Help engine.
JcGraph:JcGraph :Main program.
If you haven't done so yet, go to jcgraph:libs directory and type (in a
shell) "copy #?.library libs:". Everything should be functionnal from now.
Note that I CANNOT distribute 'IffParse.library' that comes with WB 2.0,
so, you should manage to get it somewhere else.
3.Step by step example of a graph's creation:
---------------------------------------------
We will produce a graph made of 3 rows of 3 planes each and output it as
AegisDraw2000.
The first step is data creation. To do so, use your favorite text editor.
It is important that it should not produce a file containing special control
characters that would not be recognized by JcGraph (stay ASCII international).
After your text editor is loaded, start by entering "1002" (without the
"" delimiters). This sequence help JcGraph identify the file type, to be sure
that it is really compatible. Note that all value should be comma-separated.
Next, enter the number of column that your file will contain, "3" in our
example. Do the same thing for the number of line. Follows a number which
will set the space between each cotation in the scale on the side of the
graph; for example, if your data range from 0 to 100 and you specify 25,
the cotation scale will output "0","25","50","75","100". This number use
the same value unit as the data itself.
The next number (floating point), is the one by which every cotation
value will be multiplied ; for example, if you enter "1.24", each cotation
of the scale will be muliplied by 1.24. This permits to access floating
point value without changing the data itself. Note that only 3 decimals
positions will be kept for now and that a value of 0 will result in an
integer form (ie no decimal point).
The next step is the value entry. As we chose to produce a 3 by 3 data
file, there will be 9 consecutive values (they can be on the same line but
should always be comma-separated).
The 3 next value are text strings that will identify your columns (they
should always be filled). Same procedure for each line. Note that the
orientation is always the same. Rows represents variation and lines are
diferent products type.
Here is the resulting data file from the example:
1002,
3,3,10,0,
10,20,30,
50,60,60,
15,32,17,
Jan,Fev,Mar,
Gaz,Oil,Fer,
Save this result as "test3X3.asc".
The next major step is to load this data file in JcGraph. First, run
JcGraph. Note that once JcGraph is started, there can be a 3 to 5 second
break (more with default ARexx script) before you see anything happen, this
is normal.
Now, choose "Open..." from the project menu (Amiga+O)
IMPORTANT: JcGraph accepts command from the interface window only. So, every
time you want to perform an operation, you should select it (if not already
selected). It is also worth to mention that when there is no data loaded in
JcGraph, the interface's title bar will display "No Data".
A file requester will pop up asking "Choose an ASCII data file". It's
utilisation is not described here for brievty but can get extended help by
pressing HELP or SHIFT-F1 when it is active.
Find et select your file "test3X3.asc" and select "Open" from the lower
left corner of the file requester's window. The mouse pointer will change
for a small clock until your data file is openned. This should'nt be long.
The title bar should now display "test3X3.asc".
The window titled "Preview" gives an approximation of what the final
graph will look like, in this case, data is graphed as 3D blocks. For
example purpose, we will choose another type of graphic.
Choose "Load..." (Amiga+T) from the "GraphType" menu. Another file
requester should