XDL Graphics Quick Start 🚀

✅ Ready to Use NOW

Your graphics system is fully functional with GUI support!

🎯 Run Your First Plot (30 seconds)

Step 1: Launch the GUI 

cd /Users/ravindraboddipalli/sources/gdl/xdl
./target/release/xdl-gui

Step 2: Load Demo Script

In the GUI menu:

  • File → Open
  • Navigate to: examples/plot_demo.xdl
  • Click Open

Step 3: Execute

Click the Execute button

Step 4: Watch Magic! ✨

An interactive plot window will appear with a sine wave!

🎨 What You Get

✅ 44 Graphics Procedures - All working ✅ Interactive FLTK Windows - Resizable, beautiful ✅ Color Tables - 5 predefined (grayscale, rainbow, etc.) ✅ PNG Fallback - Works in CLI mode too ✅ Multiple Windows - Create as many plots as you need

📝 Simple Examples

Example 1: Basic Plot 

x = FINDGEN(100) / 10.0
y = SIN(x)
PLOT, y, x

Example 2: Histogram 

seed = 42
data = RANDOMU(seed, 1000)
HISTOGRAM, data

Example 3: Bar Chart 

values = [10, 25, 15, 30, 20]
BAR_PLOT, values

Example 4: With Colors 

LOADCT, 13  ; Rainbow colors
x = FINDGEN(50)
y = SIN(x / 5.0)
PLOT, y, x

🛠️ Available Commands

Plotting

  • PLOT - Line plots
  • OPLOT - Overplot
  • CONTOUR - Contour plots
  • SURFACE - 3D surfaces
  • HISTOGRAM - Histograms
  • BAR_PLOT - Bar charts
  • PLOT3D - 3D line plots

Window Management

  • WINDOW, n - Create window n
  • WSET, n - Switch to window n
  • WDELETE, n - Delete window n
  • ERASE - Clear current window

Colors

  • LOADCT, table_num - Load color table
    • 0 = Grayscale
    • 1 = Blue-Red
    • 2 = Blue-White
    • 3 = Green-Red-Blue-White
    • 13 = Rainbow

Image Display

  • TV, image - Display image
  • TVSCL, image - Display with scaling

🎮 GUI Features

In the main GUI window:

  • File → Open - Load .xdl scripts
  • File → Save - Save your code
  • Execute Button - Run current script
  • Clear Button - Reset editor
  • Variable Browser - View all variables

In plot windows:

  • Resizable - Drag corners to resize
  • Plot Info Button - View statistics
  • Close - Continue script execution

💡 Pro Tips

  1. Use the GUI for interactive work
  2. Use CLI (./target/release/xdl script.xdl) for batch jobs
  3. Close plot windows to continue script execution
  4. Multiple plots? Each PLOT command creates a new window
  5. Save plots? Take screenshots or export to PNG

🐛 Troubleshooting

Q: Plot window doesn’t appear A: Make sure you’re using xdl-gui, not xdl CLI

Q: Get PNG files instead A: That’s the CLI fallback - use GUI for interactive plots

Q: GUI won’t start A: Make sure FLTK dependencies are installed (they should be if it compiled)

📚 More Information

  • Full Documentation: docs/GRAPHICS_IMPLEMENTATION.md
  • Examples: examples/plot_demo.xdl
  • Test Scripts: tests/test_graphics.xdl

🎉 You’re Ready

Try it now:

./target/release/xdl-gui

Load examples/plot_demo.xdl and click Execute!

Enjoy your new graphics system! 🎨📊✨