(xmaxima.info)Openmath plots

---

Next: The browser Prev: Session control Up: Top

---

Enter node , (file) or (file)node

5 Openmath plots
****************

"Openmath" can be used either directly or from Maxima, to plot 2d and 3d
graphs.  From Maxima, it will be used by the functions 'plot2d' and
'plot3d', if the option '[plot_format, openmath]' is used.  There are
other plotting functions in Maxima that will only work in openmath:
'plotdf', 'openplot_curves' and 'graph2d'.  All those plotting functions
are documented in the Maxima Reference Manual.

   A command used to create a 2d openmath plot, for example:

     plot2d(sin(x), [x, -%pi, %pi], [plot_format, openmath]);

   creates a window with a menu bar with the following options:

   * "Close".  Destroys the plot window and sends the control back to
     Maxima.

   * "Config".  Allows you to change some configurations of the plot.

   * "Replot".  After configuration changes are made, this menu option
     should be selected, to activate the new settings.

   * "Zoom".  Will change the behavior of the mouse so that it will
     allow you to zoom in on a region of the plot by clicking with the
     left button.  Each click near a point magnifies the plot, keeping
     the center at the point where you clicked.  Holding the 'Shift' key
     while clicking, zooms out to the previous magnification.

   * "Dragging".  Holding the right mouse button down while the cursor
     is moved, the plot can be moved sideways or up and down.

   * "Save".  Can be used to save a copy of the plot in a Postscript
     file.

   * "Help".  Will show a short summary of the plot window options.

   By default, each plot will be opened in a new separate window.
However, the plot windows can be embedded into Xmaxima's text window, by
selecting the option 'Plot windows -> Embedded' in the 'Options' menu,
before the plot command is issued.

   The 3d plot has a menu very similar to that obtained with 'plot2d',
but with one additional option: "Rotate".  Normally, if you click on the
plot, it will not be enlarged, as the 2d plots.  Clicking on the left
button, while dragging the mouse, will rotate the plot, allowing to
control two angles: azimuth and elevation.

   The menu option 'Zoom', will change that default behavior, making the
mouse enlarge the plot, as in the 2d case.  To return to the default
behavior (the mouse makes the plot rotate), the Rotate button should be
used.

   If Xmaxima is executed from the command line, giving as argument the
name of a file, it will open that file and interpret it as a plot
command, with a syntax specific of openmath.  The graph generated by the
commands in the file will be plotted in a plot window, and the main
window of Xmaxima will not be opened and no communication with Maxima
will be established.  An example of the contents of a file that can be
passed directly to Xmaxima is the following:

     plot2d -xfun "sin(A*x);cos(x)" -yradius 10
            -sliders {A=1:6} -parameters {A=1}

   that file will generate a plot of a cosine function with fixed
period, and a sine function with a period that can be changed by moving
the slider that appears on the bottom.

   the sliders option of openmath is one feature that cannot be accessed
directly from 'plot2d' in Maxima.  Other examples of input files for
openmath are the files 'maxout.openmath' that Maxima creates; when
Maxima is run from the command line, and a plotting function that
involves openmath is used, the data is not passed directly to Xmaxima,
but it is rather saved into that file and then xmaxima is executed with
the name of that file as argument.

   The strings used in those files must be properly represented as
Tcl/Tk strings.