gnuplot-beta

Is there any reason why it can not take a list of numbers ?

[<pl...@pi...>]

Hi,


the iteration in gnupllot is an excellent feature but can not take an 
irregular sequence of numerical variables.

it's either a straight integer series or a list of _string_ variables.


Is there any reason why it can not take a list of numbers ?

eg. if I want vertical arrows  at  x= 11,13,17  it does not seem 
possible with the existing iteration.


help tells me:

Two forms of iteration clause are currently supported:

        for [intvar = start:end{:increment}]
        for [stringvar in "A B C D"]




why not for [intvar = 11,13,17]   ?


is there a trick to a string value in set arrow ?

set     for [stringvar in "11 13 17"]  arrow  from  ???, 0 to ???,1


Is there a problem to specify intvar with a list of values instead of a 
regular series?

Thanks, Peter.

Re: Is there any reason why it can not take a list of numbers ?

[sfeam <sf...@us...>]

On Saturday, 17 September 2016 10:52:20 AM pl...@pi... wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> 
> the iteration in gnupllot is an excellent feature but can not take an 
> irregular sequence of numerical variables.
> 
> it's either a straight integer series or a list of _string_ variables.
> 
> 
> Is there any reason why it can not take a list of numbers ?
> 
> eg. if I want vertical arrows  at  x= 11,13,17  it does not seem 
> possible with the existing iteration.
> 
> 
> help tells me:
> 
> Two forms of iteration clause are currently supported:
> 
>         for [intvar = start:end{:increment}]
>         for [stringvar in "A B C D"]
> 
> 
> 
> 
> why not for [intvar = 11,13,17]   ?
> 
> 
> is there a trick to a string value in set arrow ?
> 
> set     for [stringvar in "11 13 17"]  arrow  from  ???, 0 to ???,1

Works for me:

gnuplot> set for [a in "11 13 17"] arrow from a,0 to a,1
gnuplot> show arrow

        arrow 1, head nofilled back lt black linewidth 1.000 dashtype solid
          from (11.0000, 0.00000, 0.00000) to (11.0000, 1.00000, 0.00000)
        arrow 2, head nofilled back lt black linewidth 1.000 dashtype solid
          from (13.0000, 0.00000, 0.00000) to (13.0000, 1.00000, 0.00000)
        arrow 3, head nofilled back lt black linewidth 1.000 dashtype solid
          from (17.0000, 0.00000, 0.00000) to (17.0000, 1.00000, 0.00000)


> Is there a problem to specify intvar with a list of values instead of a 
> regular series?

In the development version you could use an array:

    array list[3] = [11, 13, 17];
    set for [i=1:3] arrow from list[i],0 to list[i],1
 
This could probably be extended a bit.
For example:
  cleanly handling empty array slots, 
  allowing [1:*] to represent the full array,
  promoting the array name into the iterator:   for [i indexing array] ...

	Ethan

Re: Is there any reason why it can not take a list of numbers ?

[<pl...@pi...>]

On 17/09/16 18:12, sfeam wrote:
> gnuplot> set for [a in "11 13 17"] arrow from a,0 to a,1


Many thanks Ethan. , I have to admit I did not try that since I consult 
the doc when I don't know syntax and do not waste time doing other 
things than what is documented  in the wild  hope of discovering 
undocumented features.

So we have a documentation bug , that syntax is not proposed for intvar 
and apparently it should be.

I did do a fair bit of searching trying to find a work around or a trick 
and did  not find anything. So it looks like most people like me believe 
what they read and are not profiting form this excellent feature.

Regards.  Peter.

Re: Is there any reason why it can not take a list of numbers ?

[sfeam <sf...@us...>]

On Saturday, 17 September 2016 08:09:09 PM pl...@pi... wrote:
> On 17/09/16 18:12, sfeam wrote:
> > gnuplot> set for [a in "11 13 17"] arrow from a,0 to a,1
> 
> 
> Many thanks Ethan. , I have to admit I did not try that since I consult 
> the doc when I don't know syntax and do not waste time doing other 
> things than what is documented  in the wild  hope of discovering 
> undocumented features.
> 
> So we have a documentation bug , that syntax is not proposed for intvar 
> and apparently it should be.

Not exactly.  It's more of an unintended (but useful) consequence of 
promotion from string to integer wherever the program knows that a 
number is expected.

In the above example a is a string variable not an integer variable.
But the "set arrow" command is looking for a number, not a string,
so it does the conversion silently.   Just as the following both work
    plot foo lt 2
    plot foo lt "2"

This does _not_ work for floating point number however.
That's why I think it might be a good idea to allow iteration over
the elements in an array.  Then you could have something like
array value[3] = [1.11, 2.22, 3.33]

  plot for [V in value] f(V)

> I did do a fair bit of searching trying to find a work around or a trick 
> and did  not find anything. So it looks like most people like me believe 
> what they read and are not profiting form this excellent feature.
> 
> Regards.  Peter.