Date: 22 April 2002 (draft v1)
Contributors: S. Digel (SU-HEPL)
This is a general-purpose plotting and image display package. It should provide platform-independent operation (among the operating systems supported), and be capable of generating PostScript output. It should accept input directly from other tools and have provision for returning graphical inputs, e.g., cursor positions. At a minimum, x-y plotting with linear and combinations of log scales should be supported, along with 2-dimensional contour maps and image displays with color bars. A selection of color tables must be provided, as well as means for specifying and saving user-defined color tables. Image scaling must also be adjustable. Overlaying of images and contours and images and plotted points should also be supported. For images, axis ranges must be specifiable and must be properly indicated in the displays. The package might also have an interactive version, in which case FITS images and tables and ASCII tables must be accepted for data input and the interface must be scriptable and optionally log-able.
Desirable features: 3-dimensional plots, surface plots, histogramming
Inputs (for both interactive and non-interactive versions)
· Data values
· Plots: axis ranges, axis scaling, plotting symbol
· Images: axis ranges, contour levels or color table and image scaling
None
A display window or a PostScript file
The display generation must be quick enough for useful interactive use of the analysis tools that generate displays, but this is not likely to be a problem.
None
Client computer.
Perhaps ChIPS (Chandra Image Processing System, http://cxc.harvard.edu), Paul Kunz’s plotting package (descended from Hippodraw), and likely others
None.