                                   
                                   MDIPLOT
                                   =======

MDIPLOT is a simple no-frills Windows 3.1 program for graphical 
display and printing of data. The program is located in the
\prism directory. It may be useful for PRISM users who have no 
other means of creating graphical printer output.

MDIPLOT is fairly limited in what it can do, but it should
serve the purpose of presenting routine scientific data as figures
suitable for posters or journals. You can get some nice results,
but you have to work at it, so it isn't recommended for the
casual computer user. But at least it's free.

MDIPLOT is intended to be used in concert with the PRISM data processing 
utility, and accepts data files created by PRISM (the .DAT format). 
It also creates, re-reads .GRF files holding the finished graphs. 
(A few examples are provided.) 

PRISM can be executed via the File|Prism option in the MDIPLOT menu
provided PRISM.EXE is found in the \PRISM directory.

MDIPLOT's diagrams are based on the conception of a graph as
a composite of the following independent elements:
 - Pane (the window in which the current graph is drawn)
 - Frame (1 allowed per pane)
 - Sets of (x,y) data 'buffers'(up to 9 allowed per pane, as in PRISM)
 - Text items ('labels': any number allowed)

MDIPLOT must be run under Windows.

To load raw data from a text file use File|NewData option.
(Default data file extension is .DAT, whose format is pairs
of numbers in columns or free format , separated by white space only:
for instance:

  45.0 10
  46   10.3
  47.0   10.5
)

Frame and curve displays are controlled via the MENUS (see below).

Label displays are controlled exclusively via the MOUSE:

RIGHT CLICK: (button up displays the font dialog box):
(a) On 1st character of an existing label (eg the T of Text) allows
you to edit that label (if OK button is pressed in dialog box) or
delete it (if Cancel is pressed);
(b) Otherwise you are prompted for parameters to create a label
(not saved if you press Cancel or enter no text).

Tips on the font dialog box:
- Tick 'symbols' + 'Roman' to get access to Greek letters (sic)
  or 'symbols' + 'Swiss'/'Decorative' to get picture symbols. In
  other words, there are 2 kinds of 'symbols mode'. You might
  be interested to know that Ascii (picture) symbols above 128
  (see SYMBOLS.GRF) correspond to a multitude of fancy arrow symbols.
- Escapement is the text tilt angle: 90 corresponds to vertical text.
- Orientation seems not to have any effect on my system.
- Tick 'Chem. formula' to get numbers as subscripts and +,- as
  superscripts.
- Suggest you use only default pitch (ie ignore this parameter).
- Most font widths are around 60-70%  of the height normally.
- Modern font: like typeface; cheap looking
  Roman font: like newsprint; traditional look, but doesn't reduce well
  Swiss: clear and good for figs. (but boring)
  Script, Decorative: too fancy for serious work
- Don't forget that you can access Ascii symbols above 128 by using
  Alt+numeric keyboard. For example Alt143 = .

LEFT CLICK: this is used for dragging text around the screen.
Again, you have to click the first letter of the label, which will then
become highlighted. The text upper left corner will move to the point
at which the mouse button was released upwards. You can also use
the left mouse click to resize the top-left and bottom-right corners
of the frame.

A graph, consisting of Frame, Data, Labels may be stored on disk via
the File|Store graph option (default extension .GRF). It can later
be retrieved (overwriting all existing screen data) via the File|Load graph
option.

File|Merge literally 'appends' information in a .GRF file to what
is currently on screen. The graph scale parameters (frame, height, width)
remain unaffected. When using Merge, make sure the source .GRF data 
doesn't occupy the same buffer as the on-screen data (otherwise you'll 
get a flyback line when the combined data are plotted: the new data will 
be appended to any existing data). If your data doesn't appear, it is 
probably because the existing scale parameters are inappropriate and cause 
it to be drawn off screen.

A graph is printed via File|Print. Use File|Printer setup if
you wish to change the default printer used by Windows, or change
the default paper orientation/size parameters.

Edit|Frame lets you modify the span of the frame in DATA units, and
lets you specify the frequency and length of tic intervals (use a
negative interval to draw tics inwards).

Edit|Width and Edit|Height rescale the data curves and frame on the
screen, but do not affect the labels. You should carry out these
operations before you commit yourself to postioning lots of labels.

Edit|Delete curve and Edit|Swap let you delete a set of data, or transfer
it to another buffer respectively. (The symbols plotted depend on the
index of the curve). Edit|Clear deletes all information.

Edit|Replace text provides a simple 'undo' facility for text operations
associated with the mouse: the text item will be pasted back at its
original position. The edited item is not deleted, so this option
also serves as a text copy facility. (To delete a text item, select it
with the right mouse button, then close the font dialog box with
the cancel button.)

The Display and Style options differ from Edit options in that they represent
properties which aren't stored in the .GRF files - they are
considered extraneous to the graph object itself. Using the Display options
you can choose which buffers will display data as lines and/or points.
The default option on start-up is to display lines only. 

  The Style|Display option allows a choice of display options
(e.g. points may be marked by symbols,dots,icons or none of these).
The Style|Frame and Style|Lines options let you select pen styles.
Concerning icons, it is intended that the the default icons
should be modified in MDIPLOT.EXE as required by the user: to do this,
you would need some access to a proprietory resource editor utility
such as Resource Workshop from Borland or Windows SDK from MicroSoft.
Such editors are able to work directly on the .EXE file, without
any need for recompilation.
The symbols used by each buffer differ. You can see which is
which using the Information|Icon symbols menu option. If you 
edit these icons yourself, the dialog display will update itself
accordingly.

The only hot keys (other than those used by Windows) are those
used for shifting graphs around the screen:
horizontal (X) displacements: Left & Right arrow keys, Home & End;
vertical (Y) displacements: Up & Down arrow keys, PageUp & PageDown.

TIPS:
  (1) Text can be aligned along a particular direction by using
  a label consisting of blanks with the 'underline' option ticked
  as a ruled line: the text items' upper edges can be placed
  flush with the line, which can be deleted later.
  (2) The Alt+PrintScrn key combination copies the current window
  to the Windows clipboard, from which it can be pasted into another
  Windows application (e.g. a word processor). This image will, however,
  require editing (trimming) as the window frame is also copied. There are a
  number of bitmap editors available that will do the job, including
  the Paintbrush programme that comes with Windows (others are: Microsoft
  Software Development Kit for Windows, Borland Resource Editor,
  Superset Software's WinGif). These programmes can also be used to
  touch up or add graphical elements to a graph. The steps required
  to load the graph into Paintbrush for example are:
  (a) Maximise the graph window, then press Alt-PrintScreen (copies to
  clipboard).
  (b) Start Paintbrush from your Windows Accessories group.
  (c) Set Options|Image attributes to a width of 640,
   height of 480 and set units checkbox to pixels.
  (d) Choose Edit|Paste. Your graph will appear. Move to the right-hand
  edge by clicking the horizontal scroll bar. If the graph appears to be clipped
  you should choose View|Zoom in prior to Edit|Paste. You may have to choose
  Edit|Paste more than once before your graph appears. When it does, you
  can then choose View|Zoom Out to proceed with editing.
  You can save a graph modified in this fashion as a .BMP file, or print it
  using the Paintbrush File|Print option. However, you can't read it back
  into MDIPLOT.


