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/ Gnuplot / NEWS.txt

$Id: NEWS.txt 302 2008-01-14 22:15:19Z bmcage $

This file describes the changes introduced in each version of the Gnuplot.py package.

Version ?.?

Version 1.8:

- hardcopy allows for terminal=`svg` (using a patch from Spyros Blanas)
- Use with_ instead of with as that will be a python keyword in the future.
- Added an option "filename" to Data and GridData in PlotItems.py. This allows saving the data to a permanent, rather than temporary, file. (Patch contributed by Matthew Fulmer.)
- Added a `pdf` terminal definition (using a patch from Jim Kleckner).
- Added close() and __del__() methods to the Gnuplot class. This might help with some cases of premature temporary file deletion. (Suggested by Jim Kleckner.)

Version 1.7:

- Relaxed license from GPL to LGPL.
- Significant reorganization of PlotItem.py:

  + Deleted the AnyFile classes from PlotItem: AnyFile, TempFile, ArrayFile, and TempArrayFile. Those classes weren't pulling their weight.

  + Added a new _FileItem class to represent all forms of data that gnuplot treats as a file.

  + Added a new _TempFileItem class to represent PlotItems that are based on a temporary file.

  + Added a new _InlineFileItem class to represent PlotItems whose data is passed to gnuplot inline.

  + Changed PlotItems.File() and PlotItems.Data from classes into factory functions that produce instances of the classes mentioned above.

- Slightly changed the PlotItem interface to support the new derived classes:

  + Removed the basecommand argument to the constructor. Instead added a get_base_command_string() method to retrieve that string. This function is not defined in PlotItem so it is added to the derived classes. (This function is used by _FIFOFileItem as the hook where _FIFOWriters are created.

  + Added a new get_command_option_string() method which abstracts out the construction of the option part of the command() method.

- Added support for sending data to gnuplot via FIFOs (named pipes) via a new _FIFOFileItem class. This mechanism removes the ambiguity about when temporary files should be deleted, therefore making it easier to use Gnuplot.py in script environments, etc. This feature is only implemented under nix because Python doesn't implement the required threading module and os.mkfifo() on other operating systems. Added two new configuration options, support_fifo and prefer_fifodata, to the gp.py files to switch the new feature on and off.
- Started adding support for running Gnuplot.py under Jython/Java. Added gp_java.py, which is a functioning low-level interface to gnuplot via java.lang.Process objects. The rest might work, too, if you have JNumeric <http://jnumerical.sourceforge.net/> installed. (Gnuplot.py relies on the Numeric library; JNumeric is the Jython equivalent.) If I find the time I might try to produce a version that doesn't require Numeric at all, under either Python or Jython.
- Removed the oldplot.py module: (1) I doubt anybody is still using it. (2) It seems to be broken anyway. (3) I don't have the energy to fix or maintain it. Let me know if I'm wrong about point 1.
- Started a new FAQ.txt file and added an answer to the single most frequently asked question.

Version 1.6:

- Introduced a general mechanism to make it easy to support multiple gnuplot terminal types in the Gnuplot.hardcopy() function. Added definitions for `postscript`, `png`, `fig`, and `cgm`. Other terminal types can now be added easily.
- Changed names of Exceptions to be more consistent with other modules: OptionException -> OptionError and DataException -> DataError. Moved both to Errors.py and derive both from Errors.Error.
- Incorporated several changes for Mac OS suggested by Jon Moody.
- Added a gp_macosx.py file to support Mac OS X. The only difference between this and gp_unix.py is the default terminal selection.
- Moved import statement in demo.py to global scope for Python 2.2.
- Removed claims that demo.py can be run before installing Gnuplot.py.

Version 1.5:

- Broke up the module a bit for better maintainability. The most commonly-used facilities are still available through "import Gnuplot", but a few more specialized things have been moved to separate modules, in particular funcutils.py and PlotItems.py. __init__.py now just imports things from other modules.
- funcutils.tabulate_function() can be used to evaluate a function on a 1-D or 2-D grid of points (this replaces grid_function, which only worked with 2-D grids).
- Added two helper functions, funcutils.compute_Data and funcutils.compute_GridData, which compute a function's values on a set of points and package the results into a PlotItem.
- GridFunc is no longer an independent class; it is now a factory function that returns a GridData. GridFunc is deprecated in favor of funcutils.compute_GridData.
- Changed set_option to work from a table, so that it doesn't need to be overloaded so often.
- Made changes like those submitted by Matthew Martin <r47854@email.sps.mot.com> to allow the `smooth' option.
- Implemented test_persist for each platform to make it easier for users to determine whether the `-persist' option is supported.
- Added a prefer_persist option to serve as the default `persist' choice.
- Following a suggestion by Jannie Hofmeyr <jhsh@iafrica.com>, use "from os import popen" for Python 2.0 under Windows. I don't use Windows, so let me know how this works.
- Added a setup.py file so that Gnuplot.py can be installed using Python distutils.
- Added support for the `axes' parameter of the `plot' command.
- Reworked the comment strings in an effort to make them work nicely with happydoc.

Version 1.4:

- Added support for the Macintosh, thanks to help from Tony Ingraldi.
- Split the platform-dependent code, including the configuration options, into separate modules: gp.py, gp_mac.py, and gp_win32.py. The GnuplotProcess class defined in those files is a lightweight interface to the gnuplot program that could also conceivably be useful to somebody.
- Allow access to all of the postscript printer driver options through the hardcopy() method.
- Fixed an import problem in test.py.

Version 1.3:

- Converted to package format. The main file is now called __init__.py, so that it can be loaded by typing `import Gnuplot`.
- Passing GridData a callable function was basically broken because of the kludgey way of overloading the argument. Instead of trying to fix it, I moved that functionality to a new type of PlotItem called `GridFunc`.
- Added a new keyword argument, `ufunc`, to grid_function and to GridFunc. If that argument is nonzero, then the function is evaluated matrix-wise (in that case it must be composed only of ufunctions or ufunction-like routines).
- Fixed a `typecode` problem with grid_function (typecode is apparently a positional, not a keyword, argument in the Numeric library).
- Separated the demonstration code into a separate file, demo.py, to shorten __init__.py a bit.

Version 1.2 (8 Aug 1999):

- Support for MS Windows, using the `pgnuplot.exe' program. Thanks go especially to Craig Schardt for help with this.
- Support for using binary files to send grid data to splot. This saves a lot of time and usually saves space compared with the old text files. (Only works with recent versions of gnuplot.)
- Support for sending data to gnuplot as `inline data' (i.e., "plot '-'"). This method should be faster than the alternate method, temporary files. (Only works with recent versions of gnuplot.)
- Allows PlotItem options to be modified after the PlotItem is constructed.
- Simplified the PlotItem inheritance hierarchy (Data and GridData are no longer derived from File).
- Added several configuration options (see top of Gnuplot.py).
- Separated function-based interface into a separate file (Gnuplot_plot.py).
- Added a test module, Gnuplot_test.py, which tests most of the features of Gnuplot.py.
- A README file, lots of documentation changes, etc.

Version 1.1a (9 Apr 1999):

This version just addresses a couple of minor portability issues.

Version 1.1 (31 Jan 1999):

- 3-D plots are now supported through the new `splot` method: + To create a scatter plot, pass splot a 2-D array containing (x,y,z) triplets; + To create a grid plot, pass a 3-D array consisting of a 2-D array of (x,y,z) triplets; or + Use the new `GridData' PlotItem to plot gridded data (data tabulated on a rectangular grid).
- It is now easier to pass data to gnuplot. The `Data` PlotItem now accepts multiple arguments representing subsequent `columns` of the dataset; e.g., what used to be written as

  g = Gnuplot.Gnuplot() x = numpy.arange(100)/10.0 y = x**2 # Create an array of (x,y) pairs: g.plot(Gnuplot.Data(numpy.transpose((x, y))))

  ### can now be shortened to

  # Plot y vs. x directly: g.plot(Gnuplot.Data(x, y))

  (both examples plot x squared vs. x). Similarly, splot can be passed three arrays representing the values of x, y, and z. Note that the old interpretation is still used if a single argument is passed to `Data'.

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