| need more plotting symbols please [message #50060] |
Thu, 31 August 2006 15:14  |
Dilkushi@gmail.com
Messages: 21
Registered: August 2006
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Junior Member |
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Dear All
In my assignment the number of variables I am requested to plot are
increasing (exponentially !!).. hence I need new plotting symbols
please.. I would appreciate it if somebody could point me to a
database..
Hoping to hear from you
Thanks
dilkushi
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| Re: need more plotting symbols please [message #50423 is a reply to message #50060] |
Mon, 02 October 2006 11:30  |
David Fanning
Messages: 11724
Registered: August 2001
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Senior Member |
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Jean H. writes:
> Why not using a keyword, so the user can keep the old indices (default),
> or use the shiffted ones? ... everybody would be happy!
Well, everybody except the person who maintains the code. :-(
Yes, I did give this a couple minutes of thought, but
rejected it because that path leads to convoluted and
impossibly ugly code on this end. If I ever want to make
*another* change to the program I want to make a change
in ONE place, not in several places. Plus, I'd like
to be able to read the darn code a couple of months
from now.
Cheers,
David
--
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.dfanning.com/
Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")
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| Re: need more plotting symbols please [message #50424 is a reply to message #50060] |
Mon, 02 October 2006 11:14 |
Jean H.
Messages: 472
Registered: July 2006
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Senior Member |
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Why not using a keyword, so the user can keep the old indices (default),
or use the shiffted ones? ... everybody would be happy!
just a thought...
Jean
David Fanning wrote:
> David Fanning writes:
>
>
>> Oh, right. I didn't think of that. I'll fix that myself. I've screwed
>> up index 8, too. Humm. I should have spent a few more minutes thinking
>> about this, it looks like. :-(
>>
>> I'll have something new later today.
>
>
> OK, here is another interface dilemma. I screwed up
> before by not thinking as clearly as I should have about
> what I was doing. (I'm certain this doesn't happen to you.)
>
> So, out of 44 indices, I should have reserved 8 and 10 for
> what the user expects them to be. I didn't. So now I want
> to reserve them. This means I either (1) map this functionality
> to unused index numbers, say 45 and 46, which REALLY defeats
> the user's expectation, or (2) map these to what the user
> expects but change the old numbers out from under all the
> thousands of users (I'm being facetious) that have already
> downloaded SYMCAT.
>
> I've chosen option 2. I've thought hard about it. I don't
> like it. But that's what I've done. Mostly this decision
> stems from a GREAT reluctance to change an already-defined
> interface, and from a bet that not too many people have
> already downloaded and are using SYMCAT in their programs.
> I could be completely wrong, but that's how these kinds
> of decisions get made, for better or worse. :-)
>
> Cheers,
>
> David
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| Re: need more plotting symbols please [message #50427 is a reply to message #50060] |
Mon, 02 October 2006 11:00 |
David Fanning
Messages: 11724
Registered: August 2001
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Senior Member |
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David Fanning writes:
> Oh, right. I didn't think of that. I'll fix that myself. I've screwed
> up index 8, too. Humm. I should have spent a few more minutes thinking
> about this, it looks like. :-(
>
> I'll have something new later today.
OK, here is another interface dilemma. I screwed up
before by not thinking as clearly as I should have about
what I was doing. (I'm certain this doesn't happen to you.)
So, out of 44 indices, I should have reserved 8 and 10 for
what the user expects them to be. I didn't. So now I want
to reserve them. This means I either (1) map this functionality
to unused index numbers, say 45 and 46, which REALLY defeats
the user's expectation, or (2) map these to what the user
expects but change the old numbers out from under all the
thousands of users (I'm being facetious) that have already
downloaded SYMCAT.
I've chosen option 2. I've thought hard about it. I don't
like it. But that's what I've done. Mostly this decision
stems from a GREAT reluctance to change an already-defined
interface, and from a bet that not too many people have
already downloaded and are using SYMCAT in their programs.
I could be completely wrong, but that's how these kinds
of decisions get made, for better or worse. :-)
Cheers,
David
--
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.dfanning.com/
Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")
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| Re: need more plotting symbols please [message #50430 is a reply to message #50060] |
Mon, 02 October 2006 10:23 |
David Fanning
Messages: 11724
Registered: August 2001
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Senior Member |
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don.woodraska@gmail.com writes:
> It's not a problem, just a preference. Being a mac person, I expect
> things to just work, especially when the intent is clear. I love the
> function as it stands, but I like having the flexibility to be lazy and
> not worry about it.
Well, the problem is that when you write new programs you
have to be careful not to improve things too much. That is
to say, if you change the interface, even if you are changing
a LOUSY interface, you better have a VERY good reason for
doing so. (If you need examples, consider just about anything
from a Microsoft Windows program).
For example, if you were writing the PLOT command over
again, you would not make the dependent data the first positional
parameter if there was one parameter and the second positional
parameter if there were two parameters. You would write
the arguments as people tended to use them. But if you
write a wrapper to the PLOT command, you would be foolish
to change the way the PLOT command does things or you would
confuse *everyone*. (The LIMIT keyword to MAP_SET, in which
the order is [y,x] instead of the usual [x,y] is another
example. I don't think I have *ever* written the LIMIT
correctly in one go.)
So, in this case, I prefer to allow the user to place the
minus sign outside the symbol number because that's how IDL
does it. I'd confuse myself if I tried something else. :-)
> I also just realized that we're sacrificing the histrogram-like psym=10
> option. I may remap that symbol to another number.
Oh, right. I didn't think of that. I'll fix that myself. I've screwed
up index 8, too. Humm. I should have spent a few more minutes thinking
about this, it looks like. :-(
I'll have something new later today.
Cheers,
David
>
>
>
--
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.dfanning.com/
Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")
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| Re: need more plotting symbols please [message #50435 is a reply to message #50060] |
Mon, 02 October 2006 10:02 |
don.woodraska
Messages: 13
Registered: October 2005
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Junior Member |
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It's not a problem, just a preference. Being a mac person, I expect
things to just work, especially when the intent is clear. I love the
function as it stands, but I like having the flexibility to be lazy and
not worry about it.
I also just realized that we're sacrificing the histrogram-like psym=10
option. I may remap that symbol to another number.
Thanks again!
David Fanning wrote:
> don.woodraska@gmail.com writes:
>
>> I modified your code, symcat.pro, to support negative symbols. For
>> those who don't know, negative symbols produce lines that connect the
>> points in a plot. Thank you David for writing clean code that allowed
>> me to only change 3 lines.
>
> Huh!? I can do it in NO lines!
>
> Plot, findgen(11), PSym=-SymCat(34)
>
> Did you find that to be a problem?
>
> Cheers,
>
> David
> --
> David Fanning, Ph.D.
> Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
> Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.dfanning.com/
> Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")
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| Re: need more plotting symbols please [message #50437 is a reply to message #50060] |
Mon, 02 October 2006 09:24 |
David Fanning
Messages: 11724
Registered: August 2001
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Senior Member |
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don.woodraska@gmail.com writes:
> I modified your code, symcat.pro, to support negative symbols. For
> those who don't know, negative symbols produce lines that connect the
> points in a plot. Thank you David for writing clean code that allowed
> me to only change 3 lines.
Huh!? I can do it in NO lines!
Plot, findgen(11), PSym=-SymCat(34)
Did you find that to be a problem?
Cheers,
David
--
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.dfanning.com/
Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")
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