Re: using columns for labels

[Daniel J S. <dan...@ie...>]

Giuseppe G. N. Angilella wrote:

>Hi Dan,
>
>sorry for having been unclear.
>
>  
>
>>What are you trying to plot?  Column 3 is a number and you want to 
>>convert it to text so that the text is plotted on the screen?
>>    
>>
>
>Column 3 may be a text string. Say something like:
>
>1 0.088 H
>2 0.205 He
>3 0.542 Li
>4 1.82  Be
>5 2.47  B
>...
>
>plot 'above.dat' u 1:2 w p t '$3'
>
>(mass densities of the elements, vs the atomic number, with the element's 
>name as a label for each point.)
>
>I am aware that in the example above there would not be enough symbols for 
>all the elements. Indeed, it would be useful if it could be possible to 
>iterate a command like
>
>ex=0.1
>ey=0.1
>
>set label '$3' at $1+ex,$2+ey
>
>for each line in above.dat, so that the symbol of the element appears 0.1 
>units at the right and 0.1 units at the top of each point in the plot.
>

Sounds like something useful.  Perhaps a "with labels" option?  It might 
be nice to not tie it to something else having to be plotted.  The 
default coordinates you suggest could perhaps be generated from a 
formula, e.g., $2+0.1.  Something to think about.  (Has this sort of 
thing been discussed here before?  It seems vaguely familiar.)

Dan