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Re: ePiX GUI
Andrew D. Hwang wrote:
> The fact that ePiX is a library lends itself to a window interface that
> calls library functions and writes their output to a specified file (i.e.,
> to writing a graphical front end for eepic:)
I would suggest using Pyepix to leverage existing windowing toolkits
for Python (wxWindows, Tk, PyFLTK) to quickly put together a front end
for ePiX. Although I'm with Andy on this one...I don't see the need for
a GUI.
And don't look at me...I hate writing GUI's :-(
> A bit of a tangent: Has anyone used gnuplot extensively, and if so, what
> are its strengths and deficiencies? Is there anything resembling a GUI?
> Many people on comp.text.tex mention gnuplot when the subject of graphing
> comes up, but I never had a good experience with it (nor, to be fair, a
> truly bad experience, just a few annoying encounters).
I use gnuplot occasionally. I have found it somewhat difficult to master,
mostly because the "gems" that are built-in are pretty hard to uncover.
The nice thing about gnuplot is that handles the data-vector plotting
tasks that ePiX isn't really meant to handle well. You can get some very
nice-looking plots out if you're willing to put in the work. And it can
all be done from script files so you can tweak the files a little at a
time and quickly experiment. It will even do on-the-fly function plotting
so you don't have to create a vector of data first.
Gnuplot still does not hold a candle to professional programs like MATLAB,
which unfortunately cost a fair amount of money.
As far as a gnuplot GUI, if it has one, I haven't come across it.
So I use....
...MATLAB for complicated plots that require things like shading,
viewpoints, contours, surfaces (all based on matrices of data,
not equations)
...gnuplot for 2-D plots, especially as a back-end filter for other
programs (it works well with pipes), or when I don't want to wait
for MATLAB to load and occupy half my memory :-(
...ePiX for plots based on equations or parametric placement of
components, or when I want to easily embed LaTeX equations/symbols
into the figure. MATLAB is not very good for this (it has some
TeX symbols, but not fractions, for example) and gnuplot isn't great
either (but this may be a "gem" I haven't discovered yet).
I've used xfig quite a bit (mostly replaced by ePiX now) and
have dabbled with tgif. I'd like to dabble with tgif more, since it
seems to support embedding equations, but it's got a steep learning
curve.
--
Andrew Sterian | <steriana@claymore.engineer.gvsu.edu>
Assistant Professor | <http://claymore.engineer.gvsu.edu/~steriana>
Padnos School of Engineering | (616) 331-6756
Grand Valley State University |
- References:
- Re: ePiX GUI
- From: Jay Belanger <belanger@truman.edu>
- Re: ePiX GUI
- From: "Andrew D. Hwang" <ahwang@mathcs.holycross.edu>