Re: [Gnuplot-info] Suggestion

[Joe K. <jko...@co...>]

A couple of general comments.

First, Excel has a very bad, inflexible plot package, and has had it for
many years. I cringe when I see an Excel plot in published documents. Almost
anything is better. By doing an Excel "Save As" to tab text, a gnuplot user
should be able to access most Excel data with only a little editing.

Second, there are some commercial plot programs that will import Excel files
directly. On my Mac, I use Kaleidagraph, which is available for both Mac and
PC, and is not too expensive as software goes. Kaleidagraph reformats each
Excel workbook into a separate Kaleidagraph data file. This proves that it
can be done. I'm sure there are others that do the same, but cost money.

Joe


on 10/2/04 6:12 PM, Hans-Bernhard Broeker at br...@ph...
wrote:

> On Sat, 2 Oct 2004, ccharron1 wrote:
> 
>> I'm discovering gnuplot and I'm trying to use it to do some 3D-graph
>> representation of data (real x, y and z graph). As my data are in an excel
>> sheet, it would be very usefull if gnuplot would have an option to import
>> directly the data from an excel file, as a command in a GUI.
> 
> I don't think that'll happen.  If you have data stuck in the bowels of
> some Excel file, it's the duty of Excel and you to get it out of there,
> not gnuplot's.  And, luckily, it can do it: you can export the data you
> have to a CSV file, and gnuplot will be able to read it.
> 
>> To be able to select the data file directly from the GUI, without having
>> to write the name in the command line windows would be nice.
> 
> It is nice --- you can do it right now.  If it *is* a data file, rather
> than some Excel blob, that is.
> 
>> Are you developping a preference setting to choose the language of
>> Gnuplot ?
> 
> No.  But maybe I just didn't understand that question.  What "language of
> gnuplot" to you want to make preference-settable there?  gnuplot uses
> essentially only one language, and that only to write documentation in and
> derive keywords from.   Neither of which seems to be what you're asking
> about.  So: what kind of change do you have in mind there?