View

View is a data manipulation and plotting tool written by Dave Gillespie. View is primarily useful for processing and displaying large collections of one-dimensional data curves. Volume and surface visualizations are not supported. Programs in View language can be interactively entered at a shell prompt, or interpreted as batch files. Features of View include:

Data manipulation

View language supports math operations on curves as basic operations, as well as scalar math operations and vector-to-scalar reduction operations. Other operations allow the extraction and insertion of scalars into vectors. Many math functions (trigonometric, hyperbolic, and rounding) are included. Symbolic functions can be evaluated over ranges specified by curves, supporting the comparison of experimental data with theory. View supports automatic curve fitting for arbitrary non-linear functions.

Data plotting

Auto-scaling plotting of data curves is supported, included dual Y axis scales, broken line variants, and symbol plotting. Plots can be interactively previewed. Postscript, HPGL, and the file format for the Chipmunk graphics editor Until are supported.

Libraries

Libraries written in View language support error bar generation, histogram generation, numerical integration, zero-crossing detection, and data smoothing.

Compatability

View accepts data file input from the Log data visualization system, supporting data analysis and plotting of simulation data from Log simulators (Analog and Diglog).

Instrument Control

View includes an HPIB instrument control library, Mt , and drivers for several HP and Keithly instruments. Another HPIB package included with view interfaces directly to a Tektronics 2430 scope. These programs were used under Unix in a Sun Sparc environment to interface to instruments using an IOTech HPIB card; rewriting the low-level interface for a different hardware environment should be feasible.

Users not requiring the power of a commercial data plotting and manipulation tool such as MATLAB sometimes find View a cost-free alternative; Log users sometimes find View to be an effective post-processing tool for simulation results. These two classes of users make up the current View userbase.

To learn more about View, you can start exploring its detailed documentation .

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