graphing program
18 messages in this thread
I'm looking for a program that will plot points on a graph and produce a
line or curve of best fit. It must be capable of manipulating data and
printing and saving the results. It is for my physics and chemistry
homework
Chris
Chris,
I have used a program called PlotXY a few times for data plotting. It
will not manipulate data but will "connect the dots" on the plot. I also
use Mathamation by Progresive Peripherals for both function plotting and
data plotting. Mathamation will give a best fit to the data points using
either a line, polynomial or exponent. I tend to save the plots as an IFF
and send them to Deluxe Paint to "pretty them up" with text and the like,
then print them out.
Fred Fish Disk #373 has a program called Multiplot on it. I have not
tried it myself but the description looks good.
I'm pretty sure that PlotXY is in the LIBS here on CIS, and if not I can
upload it for you.
JP
I'll check through the library to see if I can find PlotXY. Is Mathmation
a copyrighted program? Thanks for the prompt responce!
Chris
Yes, Mathamation is a commercial program. Before you spend your bucks, you
should know that Mathamation will not be upgraded in the future. I called
Progressive Peripherals a few months back about add on "modules", but they
said that the programmer that developed it will not upgrade it. As it
stands now, though, it's not too bad a program.
I've also heard of a program called MathVision, but know nothing about
it.
I'd have to see about buying a program like that. For now, this is a short
term problem seeing that I probably won't need to plot any more graphs in a
year or so….
Chris, Look in Library 13 for graphing programs like you want. There are
several there that are really excellent. That's Lib. 13 of AmigaUser.
Betty
Thanks again for the help around here. I hope I'm not keeping you too
busy, am I? Anyhow, I'm off to look around in the libraries. Thanks in
advance.
Chris
Chris,
The major job of sysops around here is to help. Hope you find a good one
that meets your needs. You might look around there for some other programs
that help with physics, too. I seem to recall a program written by a
physics professor especially to help his students with their work, but I
don't recall what it was. You might search using the keyword PHYSICS.
Betty
I downloaded the one called XYPlot, and it seems to be what I need. My
only bugs are that the data can't be entered from within the program, and
the method used to fit a curve doesn't really produce an accurate curve.
For example, I entered some data from a physics lab; a plot of voltage vs
resistance. The curve was supposed to go to zero, but the curve that was
fitted started to climb back up at that point.
I remember reading that you are a mathmatician. Do you know "a" formula
that will use the points to figure out a curve that would fit the points?
If you don't, which math would it be consider in? My College has plenty of
textbooks I can poke around in, but I don't know where to start. I think I
may try to develop a better graphing program. I have some ideas of what it
should include. Although, I think by the time I finish it (or even get
started) I won't have any purpose for it!
Chris, perhaps some of these would suit your needs better:
APT20C.LZH/B 209K 19-Feb-90 Amiga Plot, vn 2.0c – Mathematical plotting
prog.
FORMUL.ARC/B 34K 02-Sep-88 Plotting program, 17 algebraic and trig.
functions
GRAPHX.ARC/B 20K 06-Dec-89 Data Plotting Utility — VERSION 1.1
PLTV13.ZOO/B 79K 14-Feb-90 Great plotting program, send HPGL to any
printer
I have not used these programs, since I'm no longer teaching and have no
need for them now, but they sound like programs that you could use. I
don't know at what level of physics you are studying, but in the early
levels – high school and early college work, most of your electrical
equations should require only algebra and trigonometry.
All of the programs above are from Library 13, General Apps.
Betty
An interpolating function along the lines of a Lagrange Polynomial or
Cubic Spline will calculate a function that will pass through each data
point on a plot. There are numerous techniques like these to be found in
any text on Numerical Methods, normally with example programs (typically in
Fortran).
I'd suggest people interested in a really serious graphing program wait
until the Spring. Maple V is coming, and watch out Mathematica! It sounds
like it will be really excellent. According to them, the kernal is finished
and the interface is all that's left. They're porting their XWindows
interface to AmigaDOS. It will work with postscript.
— Ethan
Is Maple V on any computer now? I have not heard of it. I use MathCad on
the PC's at school and would love it if something of that level comes to
the Amiga. I've heard of Mathematica but have not seen it work. Do you know
who is producing Maple and what other expected features there will be on
it?
John, someone in Toronto is selling Maple for the Amiga. I think it is
through the University of Toronto, but I'm just not sure. They have had it
a long time, and update from time to time. I read about it on Usenet
occasionally.
Betty
Maple is being developed at SUNY Albany. Apparently it is available for
Unix.
— Ethan
I will browse through those files. Still, I think I may try to make my own
package. Only I know what I want in the program. PlotXY helped me with a
chemistry assignment last night, but I was sad to see that the printout was
just a screen dump. Also, I uncovered a few bugs. Do you know if the
writer of PlotXY is here? I would like to notify him of the bugs.
I'm going to see if I can get into the McGill University library in
Montreal. I want to see what they have for computers. Also, I am going to
find out where the Montreal Public library is located.
I just downloaded MultiPlot XLNc tonight and played with the demo's and was
most impressed. I'd rate it a couple levels above PlotXY after a first
glance. This is the latest version of MultiPlot on the Fred Fish disk I
mentioned. A very nice user interface with data smoothing, curve fitting,
zooming, etc… You might want to try it out.
I think I will. I believe I will still work on my own program (I have some
more ideas of how it should look when I'm done–Physics and Chemistry
problem solving…) and eventually, I want it to write lab reports for me!
That is, it will help me write them 🙂