PGPLOT version 5.2.0

This version includes bug fixes, improvements in existing routines, new
routines, and new device drivers. All changes are intended to be compatible:
existing programs should run unchanged and produce the same output (except
for a few bug fixes).

Tested Systems

Version 5.2.0 has been tested with the following operating systems and
compilers. Drivers tested include: GI, GL, NU, PG, PP, PS, TT, TK, VT, WD,
X2, XM, XW (but not all combinations of drivers and systems have been tested
exhaustively).

   * Solaris 2.5.1 (SunOS 5.5.1), Sun Fortran (f77) 3.0.1, Sun C (cc) 3.0.1
     (tested on SPARC Ultra-1) [sol2 f77_cc].
   * Solaris 2.5.1 (SunOS 5.5.1), GNU Fortran (g77) 0.5.18, GNU C (gcc)
     2.7.2.1 (tested on SPARC Ultra-1) [sol2 g77_gcc].
   * SunOS 4.1.3, Sun Fortran (f77), GNU C (gcc) (tested on Sun SPARCStation
     2) [sun4 f77_gcc].
   * OpenVMS AXP V6.1, DEC FORTRAN V6.2, DEC C V4.0, DECwindows Motif 1.1
     (tested on DEC 3000/M600).
   * OpenVMS VAX V6.1, DEC FORTRAN V6.2, DEC C V4.0, DECwindows Motif 1.2
     (tested on VAXstation 4000-90).

New PGPLOT routines

The following routines are documented in the list of subroutines, and will
be explained more fully in the manual.

pgaxis
     Draw a linear or logarithmic axis (more options will be added in later
     versions).
pgconf
     Shade area between two contours.
pgerr1
     Draw a single error bar (useful for systems which cannot pass a scalar
     to a routine that expects an array).
pgpt1
     Draw a single graph marker (useful for systems which cannot pass a
     scalar to a routine that expects an array).
pgsclp, pgqclp
     Set/query clipping status (used by PGBOX and PGAXIS to ensure that axes
     are not clipped against the viewport).
pgqdt, pgqndt
     Inquiry routines used to determine the list of device types available
     in a PGPLOT installation; useful for building menus, etc.
pgscrl
     Scroll a rectangular region of the screen; useful for making animated
     displays without redrawing the whole screen; currently only supported
     on X Window and related devices.
pgtick
     Used by pgaxis to draw single labelled tick mark; may be called
     directly, e.g., for special non-linear axes.

Modified PGPLOT routines

Internal changes that do not affect the API are not listed. Several routines
have been modified to improve their descriptions or improve speed.

pgctab
     The behavior of the arguments "brightness" and "contrast" has been
     changed slightly. The color indices set by this routine will be
     slightly changed from earlier versions of PGPLOT, except when these
     arguments have their "default" values (0.5 and 1.0). The routine is
     designed for use in an interactive environment in which the user can
     explore the effect of changing these parameters; in the new version
     they behave somewhat more as one might expect.
pgqinf
     Added ability to determine whether a device supports pgscrl.

New device drivers

pgdriv (device type /PGMF)
     Creates a disk file in a private PGPLOT Metafile format. This is a
     portable file format using only printable ASCII characters. It is
     intended to replace the old metafile (created by MFDRIV) which uses a
     binary, machine-dependent format. Subroutines are being prepared to
     allow a PGPLOT program to read and display files written in this format
     (an example program is provided in directory pgplot/pgmf). The driver
     uses only standard Fortran-77 and so should be portable to all
     operating systems on which PGPLOT is supported.
tkdriv (device type /XTK)
     For plotting in PGPLOT TCL/Tk widgets under the X Window System (UNIX
     systems only). An example program is included. Feedback on this driver
     would be appreciated: send e-mail to Martin Shepherd
     (mcs@astro.caltech.edu).

Modified device drivers

lxdriv
     LaTeX picture environment driver. Fixed bug: picture size can now be
     adjusted with PGPAP. (Note: The PostScript driver gives much better
     results than this one, if your LaTeX environmant allows PostScript
     files to be included in LaTeX documents.)
xmdriv
     Motif widget driver. Added support for scrolling; improved cursor
     handling; bug fixes.
xwdriv
     X Window driver. Added support for scrolling; bug fixes. The PGPLOT
     cursor can now be moved horizontally and vertically with the keyboard
     arrow keys, which can be more precise than using the mouse. Each
     keystroke moves the cursor by one pixel, or 10 pixels if the SHIFT key
     is depressed.

Deprecated drivers

The following drivers are probably no longer useful, and their use is
discouraged. They have been moved from pgplot/drivers to pgplot/drivers/old.
If you still need any of these drivers, please contact Tim Pearson.

imdriv, vidriv
     Imagen printers.
irdriv
     Silicon Graphics workstations: use the X-window drivers instead.
svdriv
     Sun workstations running SunView: use the X-window drivers instead.

Changes to installation procedures

The installation instructions have been rewritten. There are two changes you
should be aware of:

  1. All the UNIX configuration files (pgplot/sys_*/*.conf) have been
     modified to add new parameters that may be required for the new widget
     drivers. If you have made modifications to configuration files and
     haven't sent them back to Tim Pearson, you will need to change them
     again.
  2. If you need to modify a configuration file for your system, it is now
     recommended that you make a new configuration file called "local.conf"
     in the build directory, by editing a configuration file for a related
     system. makemake will now read this file if you do not specify a
     configuration on the makemake command line.

New and modified demonstration programs

pgdemo1
     Now uses new routine pgpt1 when a single marker is to be drawn.
pgdemo2
     Modified text-sample page.
pgdemo3
     Added demo of new routine pgconf. Demo of pgvect has been moved to
     pgdemo15.
pgdemo4
     Demo of pgimag: modified to use slightly more realistic transformation
     matrices, to show the use of pgctab, and to show how the color palette
     may be modified interactively.
pgdemo6
     Now uses new routine pgpt1 when a single marker is to be drawn.
pgdemo13
     Now uses new routine pgpt1 when a single marker is to be drawn.
pgdemo15
     New demo for routine pgvect (formerly in pgdemo3).
pgdemo16
     New demo for bar and column charts. This uses a general-purpose
     subroutine that may get included in a future version of pgplot,
     although not exactly in this form.
pgdemo17
     New demo, from Dr Martin Weisser, showing animated rotation of a
     molecular structure.

Changes to C binding

The program that creates the PGPLOT C binding (pgbind) can now generate a
binding for MS-Powerstation (Windows).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tim Pearson, California Institute of Technology, tjp@astro.caltech.edu
Copyright © 1997 California Institute of Technology
