Skatgraf QuickStart System Requirements SkatGraf.exe is written for IBM-compatible computers running MSDOS. At least a 386 processor is required to run this package and a coprocessor, although not required, will speed up the display of the graphs. SkatGraf is currently setup for a colour VGA system. If you have a different graphics display refer to the Appendix. Running SkatGraf Change to the directory where SkatGraf was installed and type SKATGRAF followed by a carriage return to start the program. Getting Started If this is the first time you have used SkatGraf you may like to follow the mini-tutorial below which will introduce you to some of the features the package offers. Start SkatGraf as described in the "Running SkatGraf" section above. A window will be displayed on the screen; this is the main SkatGraf window from which most commands are issued. Accessing on-line help SkatGraf comes complete with an on-line help system for the benefit of the novice user. To start the Help system: a) with a mouse click on the word Help on the menu bar and choose Index from the drop-down menu. b) with the keyboard press the Alt key to activate the menu bar, press the H key to select the Help menu and then press I to select the Index menu option. Loading the Example Data File Access the File menu by using the mouse or keyboard as described above for the Help menu, and choose the Select menu option. The main SkatGraf window will be hidden and a dialogue box prompting you for a filename will be displayed . If necessary use the drive and directory boxes to change to the SKATGRAF directory. Select the file EXAMPLE.DAT from the file list box and choose the OK button. The main SkatGraf window will be redisplayed and you will see the selected file name appear in the box on the window. Displaying a graph on the screen Select the Display option from the Graph menu. The Graph Selection window will appear. Select which data to plot from the list of available histograms in the "Data to Plot" box. When you have made your selection press the "Load" button. A warning message will be displayed to tell you that the data is being loaded from the data file. When the data has loaded the "Graph Settings" window will be displayed. The Graph Settings window is designed to allow you to customise your graph. You may change labelling of the axes, the title of your graph and, for 3D (dual- parameter) graphs you may also change the angle from which the graph is viewed. When you have made all of the changes that you require press the OK button and your selected graph will be displayed on the screen. Press any key to clear the graph from the screen. To make any further changes to the graph just go through the graph display process again. Printing your graph To print the graph select the Print option from the Graph menu. A dialogue box will be displayed prompting you for the type of printer and the destination of the printout (printer or file). If you choose the Postscript printer driver you will be prompted for some additional information such as print orientation and font size. Saving data for use in other packages To save the data from your Skatron data file into formats which can be read by other packages select the Save Data option from the File menu. A dialogue box will be displayed, prompting you for the type of data to save and the format you wish to save it in Select the type of data you wish to save from the list on the left hand side of the dialogue box. If you choose a single parameter histogram, and you have entered suitable calibration data (see on-line help) then you may save the calibrated data to the file. If you choose one of the dual-parameter data sets then you must specify whether the data is to be saved in grid format or as X Y Z data triplets. When you have made your selections press the OK button and you will be prompted for a file name to be used to save your data. You will be warned if the name you specify exists and be given the choice of changing to a new name or overwriting the old file. For more detailed information on these and other features of SkatGraf please consult the on-line help --------------------------------------------------------------- Appendix: A description of the SkatGraf files. The following is a description of some of the files on the installation disk. Some of these files can be modified in order to customise SkatGraf to your needs. I recommend that you do not modify the files on the distribution disk, but rather that you modify those on your computer following installation. The files in the SkatGraf directory Controlp.ini - Used by SkatGraf to store the user's preferred screen colours. This file should not be modified manually. It is altered from within SkatGraf when you make changes within the Options-Colours dialogue box. Example.dat - An example Skatron data file used in the tutorial. Gnuplot.gih - The on-line help for Gnuplot interactive sessions. Do not modify or delete this file. Gnuplot.ini - There are two copies of this file, one in the SkatGraf directory and one in the Gnuplot subdirectory. These files hold the screen type for your computer which is used by Gnuplot for displaying graphs on the screen. On the installation disk they are set up for a colour VGA screen by the line set terminal vgalib If your system differs then select the appropriate driver from the list below. hercules = IBM PC clone with Hercules graphics board egamono = IBM PC clone with monochrome EGA graphics board egalib = IBM PC clone with colour EGA graphics board vgalib = IBM PC clone with colour VGA graphics board vgamono = IBM PC clone with monochrome VGA graphics board svgalib = IBM PC clone with VESA Super VGA graphics board ssvgalib = IBM PC clone with VESA 256 colour 1024 by 768 SVGA So to setup Gnuplot for a mono EGA graphics board replace the line set terminal vgalib with set terminal egamono Note that Gnuplot is case sensitive and the command must be given entirely in lower case. Print.set - This file instructs Gnuplot to load the files required for printing the graph Printer.prf - This file is overwritten by Gnuplot every time a graph is printed. It specifies the printer driver to use. In this way SkatGraf "remembers" which printer was used the last time that a graph was printed. Settings.prf - This file contains some of the settings used by Gnuplot that are not sent from SkatGraf itself. (i.e. these settings are constant across all graphs printed). This file can be modified by experienced Gnuplot users to automate customisation of certain graph features as an alternative to using the Interactive Gnuplot option from the Graph menu. Show.set - This file instructs Gnuplot to load the files required for displaying the graph on the screen. SkatGraf.exe - This is the program file. SkatGraf.hlp - This is the on-line help file. The files in the Gnuplot directory With the exception of Gnuplot.ini (described above) the files in this directory should not be modified in any way. The files provided in the Gnuplot subdirectory constitute a complete and fully functional version of Gnuplot and thus Gnuplot can be used independently of SkatGraf.