[Matrix-SIG] Re: Dislin is a nice plotting package

[scolsen@uci.edu]

 <pine.lnx.4.10.9908021807550.12462-10000-@us2.mayo.edu> wrote: 
original article:http://www.egroups.com/group/matrix-sig/?start=1742
> A users experience with plotting under Python:
> 
> I know plotting has been discussed on this list before.  Many people
> indicate that the lack of quality plotting is preventing them from
using
> Numerical Python as a complete replacement for IDL or MATLAB.  
> 
> I have been using gist for the past several months and found it to be
> excellent for investigative plotting (except I miss axes on surface
> plots).  The plot quality and flexibility with gist is excellent (it
is
> particularly easy to use for me with the matlab-like plotting
commands I
> implemented) 
> 
> However, recently I needed to produce plots with legends on them so I
> turned to DISLIN.  I had seen DISLIN before and even had it installed
but
> it looked pretty complicated to use so I hadn't tried it since I
wasn't
> desperate for good plots.  Well, I've now tried it and I'm impressed.
> It is a COMPLETE plotting system.  After a bit of reading to
understand
> the plotting paradigm (it is a very powerful but non-obvious system)
I can
> now make any plot I need with the system, and configure it to my
hearts
> content.  
> 
> There are even quick plotting functions defined so that I can make  
> surface plots (with axes) and color plots with an automatic color bar,
> with a single plot command.  I can even use dislin and gist together
which
> works very well.
> 
> An object-oriented wrapper around the quick-plots so that all the
> properties could be set easily would make dislin quite phenomenal for
use
> with Python. 
> 
> I don't mean this post to discourage work on the fine plotting efforts
> underway with PIDDLE, GRAPHITE, and Snow.  These packages will only
> improve the plotting choices under Python.  I just wanted to express
my
> pleasure at using DISLIN under Python and encourage others who may be
> frustrated about their ability to produce quality output now or who
> may be holding back from adopting Python as their interactive
> analysis environment to check out DISLIN and see for yourself if it
will
> serve you.
> 
> -Travis
> 
> P.S. The dislin homepage is 
> 
> http://www.linmpi.mpg.de/dislin

I've had the same good experience with DISLIN and I've hacked 
together a little bit of a class structure based on DISLIN.
It's far from perfect but it does what I need it to do. It doesn't 
do any 3-d stuff but that would be easy to add. It could probably
be cleaned up into something useable.

It's here along with a few other Python things.
http://essgrad.ps.uci.edu/~olsen/Pages/LinuxPython/Tools.html

Seth
scolsen@uci.edu