🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <29278@prls.UUCP> lim@prls.UUCP (Fredric Lim) writes:
>I have heard that Igor is a good graphing program.  My questions are
>who makes it, where can I get it, and how much does it cost?  Also,

Igor $195

WaveMetrics
PO Box 2088
Lake Oswego, OR 97035
503/635-8849

>is it simple to do data manipulation like Kaleidagraph's formula option?

Yes.  I've used Igor for much of the data manipulation i've done over
the past year.  It's great for this--it has a fairly simple, yet
complete language, enabling you to write functions (compiled) or macros
(interpreted) for things you do more than once.  You can build an
expression in a dialog box, or enter it in the command window.  Here's
an example:
DynPress = 0.5 * rho * velocity^2

Here DynPress and velocity are "waves" (equivalent to columns in Cricket
graph -- basically vectors) and rho is either another wave or a variable
(constant).  This single line preforms the operation on each element of
each wave, and is incredibly fast, even for huge waves.

>Can you overlay line and scatter plots like Cricket Graph?  Do you have

There is virtually no limit to the ways you can combine the display of
several variables on the same axes.

>to have the data file open for the graph to exist (this is one feature
>about Kaleidagraph that disturbed me).  I am only interested in doing

Igor works with "experiments" or collections of data, graphs, macros,
layouts, etc., rather than individual graphs or data files (even though
all the components are stored in individual files if you want to get
inside and fiddle with things).  So after you're done working with a set
of data and graphs and want to save it for future use, you give it one
name - and the experiment is saved as this name with all its files in an
associated folder.  Then, the next time you want to work with it, just
launch the experiment, and Igor proceeds to recreate all your tables,
graphs, etc., EXACTLY AS YOU LEFT THEM.  No more hunting around for
missing data files ("Let's see, which data file did I use to create this
graph?...") or straining to recall the manipulations you did.  Igor
saves all your previous commands, whether typed in directly or using
menus, in a command history, visible in the upper portion of the command
window.  You can also re-execute complex commands by copying and pasting
onto the command line.

>line and scatter plots - all that business stuff I can live without.

Igor doesn't do pie graphs, and no distinction is made between the graph
types it does do when you create one.  You can modify the way a given
wave is displayed just by double-clicking on it.  You can choose between
dots, markers (selectable symbols, size, transparency, etc), lines
(selectable thickness in fractional pixels, 5 or 6 dash types, color,
smoothness), lines with markers, histogram bars, cityscape (as if you
pushed the bars together and traced the upper contour), and maybe
another that i forget.  Also, you get true 300 dot per inch resolution
on your graphs, not 72 like Cricket Graph.

Igor makes Cricket Graph look like a toy.
-- 

                                               - Scott