plottx

Process Help

PLOTTX - plot text from a file

Process Name	Menu Path	Link to Command Table
PLOTTX	Command line only	Click here

Introduction
Files, Fields and Parameters
Notes
Example
Errors

Introduction

Generates a plot from a text file. This enables legends, text etc. to be added to any plot file.

Files, Fields and Parameters

Input Files

Name	Description	I/O Status	Required	Type
IN	Input text file.	Input	Yes	Undefined
PROTO	Plot prototype file. Must contain the fields X, Y, S1, S2 and CODE (numeric, explicit) and XMIN, XMAX, YMIN, YMAX, XSCALE, YSCALE (numeric, implicit).	Input	Yes	Plot Prototype

Output Files

Name	I/O Status	Required	Type	Description
PLOT	Output	Yes	Plot	Output plot file.

Parameters

Name

Description

Required

Default

Range

Values

XSTART

X position, in millimetres, for start of text (top left hand corner of box).

Yes

Undefined

YSTART

Y position, in millimetres, for start of text (top left hand corner of box).

Yes

Undefined

ANGLE

Angle of text clockwise from the X axis (0).

Undefined

NOBOX

Option	Description
0	a box is plotted around the text, =1 a box is not plotted around the text (0).

0,1

MARGIN

The margin, in millimetres, between the text and the surrounding box (3).

Undefined

SPACE

A word which if encountered as the first word in a text record is interpreted as a blank line. Must be between quotes; e.g '----'. Default is ' '.

Undefined

CHARSIZE

Character size in millimetres (3).

Undefined

ASPRATIO

Aspect ratio, width / ht. for chars (0.9).

0.9

Undefined

Colour [as 'pen' number] for plot (1).

Undefined

APPEND

Plot append flag. If set to 1 then the new plot will be appended to the PLOT file, if it exists and is a valid plot file (0).

0,1

Notes

No additional notes.

How to use

The text file is normally set up by the INPUTC process. However, any file containing explicit alphanumeric fields may be used. All alphanumeric words from the file will be amalgamated together, irrespective of the field name. Any implicit or numeric fields will be ignored with a warning message.

Because a blank line is ignored in a text file, blank lines are simulated by use of a four character combination. This is **** by default; any line starting with **** in the first four characters will be plotted as a blank line. If required, this set of four characters may be redefined using the @SPACE parameter.

A box is plotted around the text by default; this may be suppressed by setting @NOBOX=1. The box is separated from the text lines by a margin which is 4 millimetres wide by default. This may be changed by setting the @MARGIN parameter to the required distance. The size of the box is determined by the longest line of text in the file, rounded up to the nearest word (4 characters).

Positioning of the text is carried out by use of the @XSTART and @YSTART parameters, which give the position on the plot, in millimetres, of the top left hand corner of the box around the text (whether this box is plotted or not) from the plot origin (bottom left hand corner). The first line of text is plotted a distance of margin size plus 1.3 character sizes below this point, and starting margin size to the right of this point; each subsequent line of text starts 1.3 character sizes below the last, leaving a gap of 23 character sizes between each line of text.

The angle of the text may be specified by use of the optional @ANGLE parameter. Rotation angles specified in degrees clockwise about the X axis; 0 is parallel to the axis, 90 is vertically down, and -90 is vertically upwards. The text is rotated around the point @XSTART, @YSTART.

Because the text is positioned by millimetres on the plot, part of the plot prototype used is the total plot area, defined by the fields XPICRT, YPICTP in the plot prototype. The data area is ignored, and therefore data area parameters such as @XMIN,........@YSCALE are not needed.

The process tests that the point @XSTART,@YSTART lies in the plot region; however the user must ensure that there is space for the full text within the region.

Example

First a text file is generated:

!INPUTC &OUT(TEXT)

SYSFILE><return>

DATA >****
DATA >XYZ CORPORATION LONDON, U.K.
DATA >****
DATA >-----------------------------------
DATA >****
DATA >RED LION DEPOSIT BENCH PLANS
DATA >****
DATA >-----------------------------------
DATA >Drawn by :Studio 3 Date :25/9/88
DATA >Checked by: Date :
DATA >-----------------------------------
DATA >****
DATA > Legend
DATA >****
DATA > 43.5 Fe grade
DATA > 2.7 P2O5 grade
DATA >****
DATA >!!

note that the **** string has been used to denote a blank line. The text file is now plotted using PLOTTX.

!PLOTTX

&IN(TEXT),&PROTO(BENCH.P),&PLOT(TEXT.P),@XSTART=550,@YSTART=60,@CHARSIZE=2

The plot prototype used is the previously existing bench plan bench.p. Knowing the size of this plot, and the location of the data area, the text (with box) is plotted at a start point of 550,60 millimeters from the plot origin. Since the text size chosen is 2 millimeters, the total length of the text is:-

17 (lines) * 1.3 * 2 (each line is charsize * 1.3)
+ 8 (top and bottom margins) = 52.2 millimeters.

Hence the text starts 60 millimeters from the bottom.

Error and Warning Messages

Message	Description	Solution
>>> CANNOT APPEND TO NON-EXISTENT OUTPUT FILE. >>> A NEW OUTPUT FILE WILL BE CREATED	The @APPEND parameter has been set to 1, but the specified plot file does not exist. A new file will be created to contain the new plot being produced.

>>> ERROR - CANNOT APPEND TO PLOT FILE AS IT DOES >>> NOT CONTAIN ALL THE REQUIRED FIELDS. >>> THE PLOT FILE WILL BE OVERWRITTEN.	The @APPEND parameter has been set to 1, the specified plot file exists but is invalid. The existing plot file will be overwritten by the new plot being produced.

>>> FATAL ERROR, BAD SCALE/RANGE COMBINATION(S) <<< >>> XMIN, XMAX = nnnnnnnnnn.nn nnnnnnnnn.nn >>> YMIN, YMAX = nnnnnnnnnn.nn nnnnnnnnn.nn >>> XSCALE, YSCALE = nnnnnnnnnn.nn nnnnnnnnn.nn	Either insufficient scale information had been entered (at least two of XMIN, XMAX, XSCALE or Y equivalents must be entered either from the prototype of from parameters) or the combination given of XMIN, XMAX, and XSCALE (or their Y equivalents) was impossible. Often caused by entering a null plot prototype and no parameters. Fatal; the process is exited.

>>> IMPLICIT FIELDS IGNORED <<<	Implicit fields were found in the input text file. They are ignored, and processing continues.

>>> NUMERIC FIELDS IGNORED <<<	Numeric fields were found in the input text file. They are ignored, and processing continues.

>>> TEXT X,Y START POSITION OUTSIDE THE PLOT AREA <<<	The @XSTART, @YSTART parameters define the top left of the text box to be outside the plot region defined by the XPICRT, YPICTP fields in the plot prototype file. Fatal; the process is exited.