PLplotWiki - User contributions [en]

Using PLplot

2009-02-16T21:13:29Z

Altendky: /* C/C++ */ Added links to win32 wx-config binaries

The next step after you have successfully managed to configure and build the PLplot library is to build your own program using PLplot. Basically one has to tell the compiler where to find the include files and the library. This depends on the programming language you use and the platform you are working one. It's always a good idea to have a look in the <tt>Makefiles</tt> which on Linux are based in <tt>/usr/local/share/plplot/examples/language</tt> if you installed PLplot in the standard location.

== Linux ==
=== C/C++ ===
If the <tt>pkg-config</tt> is available and CMake found it during the configuration stage than programs might be compiled for C via:
gcc `pkg-config --cflags --libs plplotd` prog.c -o prog
For C++:
g++ `pkg-config --cflags --libs plplotd-c++` prog.cpp -o prog

== Windows ==
=== C/C++ ===

Although <tt>pkg-config</tt> is not a standard Windows utility, there is a win32 binary available from [http://www.gtk.org/download-windows.html GTK] [http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/binaries/win32/dependencies/pkg-config-0.23-2.zip (Direct link)]. Be sure to set the <tt>PKG_CONFIG_PATH</tt> variable to the <tt><PLplot install>\lib\pkgconfig</tt> directory so it can find the PLplot files. You will still not be able to call <tt>pkg-config</tt> directly from the gcc/g++ command since the Windows CLI does not support `` (backticks), but at least you can copy and paste the options.

If you built PLplot with the wxWidgets driver, a win32 binary of [http://wxconfig.googlepages.com/ wx-config] [http://wx-config-win.googlecode.com/svn/binary/wx-config.exe (Direct link)] may also be useful.

== Mac OS X ==
=== C/C++ ===

Using PLplot

2009-02-16T21:08:39Z

Altendky: /* C/C++ */ Added links to a win32 pkg-config binary and comments on how to use

Configuration of wxWidgets driver

2009-02-16T20:57:43Z

Altendky: /* CMake Options */ Created section

== CMake Options ==

The following options let you specify to the CMake build system what options you used to compile your wxWidgets libraries:

* <tt>-DwxWidgets_LIB_DIR=%WXWIN%\lib\gcc_lib</tt>: correct for your wxWidgets root directory and static vs. dynamic libraries
* <tt>-DwxWidgets_CONFIGURATION=mswu</tt>: msw -> MicroSoft Windows; u -> Unicode; d -> Debug
* <tt>-DwxWidgets_MONOLITHIC=ON</tt>: monolithic as opposed to individual libraries
* <tt>-DwxWidgets_USE_UNICODE=ON</tt>: compiled with Unicode support

For more options refer to FindwxWidgets.cmake in your CMake installation.

More may be required for a successful Unicode build. Depending, incorrect Unicode configuration may result in errors during PLplot compilation or may not show up until later when compiling your actual application. Example errors are as follows:

[ 60%] Building CXX object bindings/wxwidgets/CMakeFiles/plplotwxwidgetsd.dir/wx
PLplotwindow.obj
Linking CXX shared library ..\..\dll\libplplotwxwidgetsd.dll
Creating library file: ..\..\dll\libplplotwxwidgetsd.dll.a
CMakeFiles\plplotwxwidgetsd.dir\wxPLplotwindow.obj:wxPLplotwindow.cpp:(.text$_ZN
12wxStringBaseC2EPKc[wxStringBase::wxStringBase(char const*)]+0x27): undefined r
eference to `_imp___ZN12wxStringBase8InitWithEPKcjj'
collect2: ld returned 1 exit status

D:\Projects\wxWidgetsTest\Libraries\plplot-5.9.2\buildmingw\install\lib/libplplotd.a(wxwidgets.obj):wxwidgets.cpp:(.text+0xd2a):
undefined reference to `wxStringBase::InitWith(char const*, unsigned
int, unsigned int)'
D:\Projects\wxWidgetsTest\Libraries\plplot-5.9.2\buildmingw\install\lib/libplplotd.a(wxwidgets.obj):wxwidgets.cpp:(.text+0xd6e):
undefined reference to `wxStringBase::InitWith(char const*, unsigned
int, unsigned int)'
- followed by a bunch more undefined references

Note that in both cases the errors do not specify a Unicode error but are string or character related. The follow was mentioned on the maillist and worked for me:

This is due a bug FindwxWidgets.cmake, either add

add_definitions(-D_UNICODE)

to CMakeLists.txt in the plplot main file. Or look for wxUNICODE in gcc_dll/mswu/setup.h
(or similar) and set it to 1. This flag is always 0 even if you compiled wxWidgets with
UNICODE=1, you have to do it on your own, or set the _UNICODE flag on the command line.

== Antialiasing ==

The wxwidgets driver provides antialzing support, which can be turned on with the option antialized=1.

Output of example 1 with antializing OFF:
[[Image:non_antialized.png|800px|non antialized]]

Output of example 1 with antializing ON:
[[Image:antialized.png|800px|antialized]]

Install 3rd party libraries

2009-02-16T20:36:22Z

Altendky: /* wxWidgets Library */ Added link to wxWidgets specific page

In opposition to Linux, where installing development files for certain 3rd party libraries is only a matter of seconds (depending on the distribution), in Windows much more work needs to be done. In the following we provide extensive instructions how to install 3rd party libraries with the corresponding development files so that the plplot library can use them.

You actually need none of these libraries to get PLplot compiled - they are needed for drivers or some features which are not available than.

== QHull Library ==

=== Description ===

QHull is a library/program to determine the convex hull of a set of
points in n dimensions. The CSIRO library that is part of PLplot uses this for certain
interpolation methods (convex hulls in n dimensions are related to Voronoi
diagrams and Delaunay triangulations in n-1 dimensions). For further information visi http://www.qhull.org/ .

=== Instructions ===

* Download [http://www.qhull.org/download/qhull-2003.1.zip QHull for windows]
* Unzip qhull-2003.1.zip package in a suitable place
* Copy the custom <tt>CMakeLists.txt</tt> from <tt>plplot\cmake\external\libqhull</tt> into the new directory (qhull-2003.1)
* Cd into the new directory
* Than (e.g. for MSVC):
mkdir build
cd build
cmake -G "NMake Makefiles" -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=OFF -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=local ..
nmake install
* a static library will be built and the library and the include files will copied into <tt>build\local\lib</tt> and <tt>build\local\include</tt> respectively - a shared library can only be build with MinGW or Cygwin
* set environment variables
set QHULLDIR=path-to\qhull-2003.1\build\local
set CMAKE_INCLUDE_PATH=%QHULLDIR%\include
set CMAKE_LIBRARY_PATH=%QHULLDIR%\lib

CMake is now able to find the qhull library and headers.

== AGG Library ==

=== Description ===
The AGG (Anti-Grain Graphics) Library is used by the wxWidgets driver (so there is no need for this library, if you don't use this driver) to display the plots nicely antialized. Note, that from Version 2.5 on, the AGG library is now GPL, so for the time being Version 2.4 should be used for binary packages of PLplot, which is free also for commercial applications. Visit http://www.antigrain.com for further information.

=== Instructions ===
* Download [http://www.antigrain.com/agg-2.4.zip AGG v2.4 Windows]
* Unzip agg-2.4.zip package in a suitable place
* Copy the custom <tt>CMakeLists.txt</tt> from <tt>plplot\cmake\external\libagg</tt> into the new directory (agg-2.4)
* Cd into the new directory
* Than (e.g. for MSVC):
mkdir build
cd build
cmake -G "NMake Makefiles" -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=OFF -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=local ..
nmake install
* a static library will be built and the library and the include files will copied into <tt>build\local\lib</tt> and <tt>build\local\include</tt> respectively - a shared library can only be build with MinGW or Cygwin
* set environment variables
set AGGDIR=path-to\agg-2.4\build\local
set CMAKE_INCLUDE_PATH=%AGGDIR%\include
set CMAKE_LIBRARY_PATH=%AGGDIR%\lib

CMake is now able to find the agg library and headers.

== CD Library ==

=== Description ===
The CD library is needed for the cgm driver. The CGM format is vector-based and is widely used as an interchange format between drawing and plotting programs.

=== Instructions ===
* Download [http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/plplot/cd1.3.tar.gz?download CD library]
* Untar cd1.3.tar.gz package in a suitable place
* Copy the custom <tt>CMakeLists.txt</tt> from <tt>plplot\cmake\external\libcd</tt> into the new directory (cd1.3)
* Cd into the new directory
* Than (e.g. for MSVC):
mkdir build
cd build
cmake -G "NMake Makefiles" -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=OFF -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=local ..
nmake install
* a static library will be built and the library and the include files will copied into <tt>build\local\lib</tt> and <tt>build\local\include</tt> respectively - a shared library can only be build with MinGW or Cygwin
* set environment variables
set CDDIR=path-to\cd1.3\build\local
set CMAKE_INCLUDE_PATH=%CDDIR%\include
set CMAKE_LIBRARY_PATH=%CDDIR%\lib

CMake is now able to find the cd library and headers.

== GD Libary ==

=== Description ===
The gd library is needed by the gd driver of PLplot to produce png, jpeg or gif files. See http://www.boutell.com/gd/ for details.

=== Instructions ===

* Download the gd library for Windows from http://www.boutell.com/gd/ . The latest version is [http://www.boutell.com/gd/http/gdwin32.zip 2.0.33] (Windows dll).
* Unzip the archive to a suitable place.
* The package provides a dll and an import library for the MinGW compiler. To obtain an import library for the MSVC compiler run the <tt>makemsvcimport.bat</tt> batch file in a CLI with the correct environment settings for MSVC.
* In order to let cmake find the gd library files you need to set environment variables (best in batch file - see above), e.g.
set GDLIBDIR=C:\DevZone\gdwin32
set CMAKE_INCLUDE_PATH=%GDLIBDIR%
set CMAKE_LIBRARY_PATH=%GDLIBDIR%

CMake should than be able to find the gd library and headers and the gd driver (png, gif, jpeg) will be automatically compiled into the library.

== Freetype Library ==

=== Description ===

FreeType 2 is a software font engine that is designed to be small, efficient, highly customizable, and portable while capable of producing high-quality output (glyph images). It can be used in graphics libraries, display servers, font conversion tools, text image generation tools, and many other products as well. http://www.freetype.org reveals more information.

=== Instructions ===

* Download [http://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/freetype/ft221.zip Freetype library]
* Unzip the ft221.zip package in a suitable place
* Cd into the new directory
* Than for MinGW (call <tt>mingw32.make</tt> twice!):
mingw32-make
mingw32-make
copy objs\freetype.a objs\libfreetype.a
* Or for Visual C++ (you need to use GNU-Make not nmake - download it from http://prdownloads.sf.net/mingw/mingw32-make-3.80.0-3.tar.gz?download or http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/make.htm):
path_to_gnu_make\mingw32-make setup visualc
path_to_gnu_make\mingw32-make
* For Visual C++ 2005 you need to change line 69 of <tt>freetype-2.2.1\builds\compiler\visualc.mk</tt> to
CFLAGS ?= /nologo /c /Ox /W3 /WX /D_CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE
* set environment variables
set FREETYPEDIR=C:\freetype-2.2.1
set CMAKE_INCLUDE_PATH=%FREETYPEDIR%\include
set CMAKE_LIBRARY_PATH=%FREETYPEDIR%\objs

CMake is now able to find the freetype library and headers.

== wxWidgets Library ==

See [[wxWidgets]] for other instructions.

=== Description ===

wxWidgets is a cross platform GUI toolkit which also provides other common classes as wxString, wxMap etc. and is known to work well on Windows, Linux and MacOSX. The wxWidgets toolkit is used for the wxWidgets driver. Version 2.6.x and 2.8.x of wxWidgets can be used for the wxWidgets driver. Surf to http://www.wxwidgets.org for more information.

=== Instructions ===

* Download [http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/wxwindows/wxMSW-2.6.3.zip wxWidgets 2.6.3 library as zip] (exe installer is also available, wxWidgets 2.8.0 has problems with MinGW in the moment)
* Unzip the wxMSW-2.6.3.zip package in a suitable place
* The following instructions will build a shared, unicode, release version of wxWidgets. If you use plplot within your wxWidgets application you have already a wxWidgets library ready for use - see <tt>cmake-2.4.5\share\modules\FindwxWidgets.cmake</tt> for the options for your special wxWidgets library.
* Cd into <tt>wxWidgets-2.6.3\build\msw</tt>
* Than for MinGW:
mingw32-make -f makefile.gcc SHARED=1 UNICODE=1 BUILD=release
* set environment variables (MinGW)
set WXWIN=C:\wxWidgets-2.6.3
set PATH=%WXWIN%\lib\gcc_dll;%PATH%
* Or for Visual C++:
nmake -f makefile.vc SHARED=0 UNICODE=1 BUILD=release
* set environment variables (Visual C++)
set WXWIN=C:\wxWidgets-2.6.3
set PATH=%WXWIN%\lib\vc_dll;%PATH%

CMake is now able to find the wxWidgets library and headers, if you additionally set the following cmake options for MinGW:
-DwxWidgets_LIB_DIR=%WXWIN%/lib/gcc_dll -DwxWidgets_CONFIGURATION=mswu -DENABLE_MIX_CXX=ON
and for Visual C++:
-DwxWidgets_LIB_DIR=%WXWIN%/lib/vc_dll -DwxWidgets_CONFIGURATION=mswu -DENABLE_MIX_CXX=ON

WxWidgets

2009-02-16T20:31:04Z

Altendky: /* MinGW command line tools */ Added caution regarding search methods used by CMake to find wxWidgets

== Description ==

wxWidgets is a cross platform GUI toolkit which also provides other common classes as wxString, wxMap etc. and is known to work well on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. The wxWidgets toolkit is used for the wxWidgets driver. Version 2.6.x and 2.8.x of wxWidgets can be used for the wxWidgets driver. Go to http://www.wxwidgets.org for more information. The display quality can be enhanced by additionally compile the [[Freetype]] library and the [[AGG]] library into the driver.

== Instructions for Mac OS X ==

=== Mac OS X 10.5 ===
The wxWidgets library version 2.8.4 is already installed on Mac OS X 10.5.1 and later. This version is known to work well with the wxWidgets driver, therefore just run cmake as described on the [[Main Page]]. The wxWidgets library should be discovered automatically. This can be checked at the end of the cmake output:

Language Bindings:
ENABLE_f77: OFF ENABLE_f95: OFF
ENABLE_cxx: ON ENABLE_java: ON
ENABLE_python: ON ENABLE_octave: OFF
ENABLE_tcl: ON ENABLE_itcl: OFF
ENABLE_tk: ON ENABLE_itk: OFF
ENABLE_pdl: OFF ENABLE_wxwidgets: ON
ENABLE_gnome2: OFF ENABLE_pygcw: OFF
ENABLE_ada: OFF

== Instructions for Linux ==
The simplest way to install the wxWidgets (wxGTK) library and development files is to install the corresponding packages for your distribution, e.g. in Ubuntu Hardy Heron install the libwxgtk2.8-dev package, which dependes on libwxbase2.8-0, libwxbase2.8-dev, libwxgtk2.8-0 and wx2.8-headers.

== Instructions for Windows ==

* Download [http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/wxwindows/wxMSW-2.8.9.zip wxWidgets 2.8.9 library as zip] (exe installer is also available)
* Unzip the wxMSW-2.8.9.zip package in a suitable place
* Set the WXWIN environment variable (either system wide or only for your CLI session), e.g.
set WXWIN=C:\wxWidgets-2.8.9
* The following instructions will build a shared, unicode, release version of wxWidgets. If you use plplot within your wxWidgets application you have already a wxWidgets library ready for use - see <tt>cmake-path\share\modules\FindwxWidgets.cmake</tt> for the options for your special wxWidgets library.

=== MinGW command line tools ===
* To compile wxWidgets with the MinGW compiler run
cd %WXWIN%\build\msw
mingw32-make -f makefile.gcc SHARED=1 UNICODE=1 BUILD=release
* set environment variables
set PATH=%WXWIN%\lib\gcc_dll;%PATH%
CMake is now able to find the wxWidgets library and headers, if you additionally set the following cmake options for MinGW:
-DwxWidgets_LIB_DIR=%WXWIN%/lib/gcc_dll -DwxWidgets_CONFIGURATION=mswu -DENABLE_MIX_CXX=ON

'''CAUTION:''' If you have used other guides to compile wxWidgets ([http://wiki.wxwidgets.org/Eclipse,_CDT_%26_MingW_%26_MSYS_Setup_Guide Eclipse, CDT & MingW & MSYS Setup Guide] in my case), be aware that there is a significant difference between having compiled wxWidgets with ./configure in MSYS and the above commands using [http://www.cmake.org/ CMake]. Although both result in Windows libraries, they will not place them in the same paths. The location of build.cfg may also be a significant factor. [http://www.cmake.org/ CMake], as is used by PLplot, can search for wxWidgets via two independent methods labeled 'unix' and 'win32'. The ./configure method is not compatible with the 'win32' search method.

=== VisualC command line tools ===
* To compile wxWidgets with the Visual C++ command line toolset run
cd %WXWIN%\build\msw
nmake -f makefile.vc SHARED=1 UNICODE=1 BUILD=release USE_GDIPLUS=1
This builds a shared, unicode release library of wxWidgets with GDI+ support for wxGraphicsContext included.
* Open the file <tt>%WXWIN%\lib\vc_dll\mswu\wx\setup.h</tt> and change
#define wxUSE_GRAPHICS_CONTEXT 0
to
#define wxUSE_GRAPHICS_CONTEXT 1
* set environment variables (Visual C++)
set PATH=%WXWIN%\lib\vc_dll;%PATH%
* CMake is now able to find the wxWidgets library and headers, if you additionally set the following cmake options for Visual C++:
-DwxWidgets_LIB_DIR=%WXWIN%/lib/vc_dll -DwxWidgets_CONFIGURATION=mswu -DENABLE_MIX_CXX=ON