dev

Open PGPLOT graphics device

 Usage: dev $device, [$nx,$ny, $opt];

$device is a PGPLOT graphics device such as "/xserve" or "/ps", if omitted defaults to last used device (or value of env var "PGPLOT_DEV" if first time). $nx, $ny specify sub-panelling. The function returns the id of the newly created window - this can subsequently be used as argument to "focus_window" to select the window.

The result of this command can be modified using options. The options recognised are the same as for "new_window" - which primarily and in addition it is possible to set the default values for a window that are defined in PDL::Graphics::PGPLOTOptions, see this for details but see below for a synopsis.

In addition "dev" recognises the option "NewWindow" which allows the user to specify that a "dev" command is to create a new window rather than closing the previous. This allows a large number of output destinations to be open at the same time, which occasionally can be convenient.

Here is a quick summary of the most useful additional options that can be given:

Device

Alternative to $device.

AspectRatio

The aspect ratio of the output window

WindowWidth

The width of the plot window in inches

AxisColour

The axis colour to be used as default for plots in this window. In the same way it is possible to set the default character size ("CharSize") and axis and box styles. See PDL::Graphics::PGPLOTOptions for details.

WindowName

The name of a window. This name can subsequently be used to refer to the window instead of its ID, making interactive use somewhat more intuitive.

To open a X-window output that will stay on screen:

  $win = dev('/xs');

To open two windows, one small and square, one large and wide:

  $win1 = dev('/xs', {Aspect => 1, WindowWidth => 4});
  $win2 = dev('/xs', {Aspect => 0.5, WindowWidth => 10});

new_window

Open a PGPLOT graphics device

  $win = new_window($dev, $nx, $ny, $opt);

This function is identical to dev except that it always creates a new window. This means that the user is required to close all windows explicitly using close_window. All functionality is otherwise like "dev" so see the documentation for dev for details of use.

close_window

Close a PGPLOT output device

 Usage: close_window($id)

This function closes a PGPLOT output device created with "dev" or "new_window". It requires the id of the window to close. If $id is left undefined, the currently focussed window is deleted and focus is transferred to the lowest numbered window in existence. If many windows have been created and deleted this might not be what you expect, so it is recommended to make an explicit call to focus_window after any call to "close_window".

_get_windownumber

Internal function to obtain the ID of a window. This allows the user to refer to a window with its name.

focus_window

Switch to another output window.

 Usage: focus_window($id);

This command is used to switch output focus to another window created by dev or new_window. The window can be referred to either by its ID or by its name.

  $win1 = dev('/xs', {WindowName => 'X-output'});
  $win2 = dev('test.ps/ps', {WindowName => 'PS-output'});
  focus_window('X-output');  # Or focus_window($win1);
  <.. Commands ..>
  focus_window($win2);       # Or focus_window('PS-output');
  <.. Commands ..>

window_list

Return a list of ID numbers and names of the windows currently opened using dev or new_window.

 Usage: ($numbers, $names)=window_list();

$numbers and $names are anonymous arrays giving the ID numbers and names of the open windows respectively.