Return to README.nex CVS log

Up to [local] / OpenXM_contrib / gnuplot / docs / old

Initial revision

The 3.6 version of gnuplot is proud to include a new NeXTstep
terminal driver.  The new driver offers the following new
features:

1) Multiple windows
2) Resizable windows
3) Direct print interface from windows
4) Titleable and re-addressable windows
5) A real NeXTstep-style interface to the terminal driver

The driver runs as a separate application, and hence has
it's own set of controls and interfaces.  It registers itself
with the operating system as a distributed objects "GnuTerm"
server, and thereafter accepts requests from any gnuplot instances
on the machine.

Nick Strobel's original single-viewport NeXTstep terminal is available 
as an option to the next terminal.  It can be invoked from the gnuplot 
command line as:
gnuplot>  set term next old
There are several reasons why one might choose the older terminal.
First, the new terminal will probably not work on NeXT systems
running a pre-3.0 version of the operating system.
Second, because all of the postscript must be buffered in order
to allow re-sizing and printing of the window's contents, the
new terminal can be a memory hog for very complicated plots.
The original README.nex file for the original next terminal is 
included at the end of this document.


Installation
------------

In addition to enabling the #include next.trm in term.h before
compiling gnuplot, the GnuTerm.app application must be separately
built and installed.  All of the source code is included in
the NeXT subdirectory of the gnuplot distribution.  GnuTerm.app
can be built for the current architecture by cd-ing to the NeXT
directory and type "make".  For more complicated installations,
or to build the application "FAT" (to run on more than one
processor architecture), it's easiest to fire up NeXT's 
ProjectBuilder.app and open NeXT/PB.project.

GnuTerm.app can be installed in any directory contained in the
WorkSpace's ApplicationPaths dwrite.  For most situations,
this means installing GnuTerm.app in either /LocalApps or
~/Apps.  

If you wish to locate the GnuTerm.app somewhere other than ~/Apps 
or /LocalApps, you can "setenv GNUTERMPATH  /newpath" to tell 
gnuplot where to find it.
Example (wherein GnuTerm.app is in /LocalApps/Data):

host%  setenv GNUTERMPATH "/LocalApps/Data"

Robert Lutwak
robert@amo.mit.edu
July 14, 1996


Following is the README.nex that accompanied the original 
(single viewport) next terminal, which is still accessible
as "set term next old".
-------------------------------
        This directory contains version 2 of the additional files
you'll need to get gnuplot3.0 to display it's postscript directly to a
window instead of going through the klunky process of writing the
postscript to a file and launching Previewer to view the file.  Note
that all input is still done at the shell level! Fancier NeXTStep
interfaces will be a future project.

        This version is faster and leaner than the old method.  It
also does not eat up swap space like the older version (this was
particularly noticeable when doing animation-like plots).  To do this
I used DPS function calls instead of creating a NXImage and
compositing the stream of commands. I based my code on the program
called "epsview" in the hackkit tar file on the archive servers.

        The next.trm (next terminal) is basically the post.trm
(postscript terminal) with the fprintf replaced by DPSPrintf and
outfile by the DPSContext d.  You'll also see that I also used some
code (with modifications) from David S. Joerg's MovieApp.  Using the
DPS functions enabled me to slim down the EpsViewer.[hm] and
EPSView.[hm] files.

        No claim is made to code elegance or to it being a good example of
objective-c coding.  This is my first (well, second, sort of) objective-c
program. It seems to work for me. Any constructive criticism would be
appreciated.  I can be reached at strobel@phast.phys.washington.edu

cheers!

nick strobel
-----------------------------------