DOCUMENTATION FOR GNUPLOT TERMINAL DRIVER WRITERS

By Russell Lang 1/90

Updated for new file layout by drd 4/95

Paragraphs about inclusion of TERM_HELP added by rcc 1/96

No change to the interface between gnuplot and the terminal drivers,

but we would like to make the terminal drivers standalone

1) in order move the support for the terminal drivers outside of the

support for the main program, thereby encouraging a library of

contributed drivers

2) To make it easy for users to add contributed drivers, by adding

a single #include line to term.h

3) To allow individual compilation on DOS, to save the overlay

manager from having to load _all_ drivers together.

CORRECTION - scale() interface is no longer supported, since it

is incompatible with multiplot.

Whole of terminal driver should be contained in one <driver>.trm file,

with a fairly strict layout as detailed below - this allows the

gnuplot maintainers to change the way the terminal drivers are

compiled without having to change the drivers themselves.

term.h, and therefore each file.trm file, may be loaded more than once,

with different sections selected by macros.

Each driver provides all the functions it needs, and a table of

function pointers and other data to interface to gnuplot.

The table entry is currently defined as follows in plot.h:

struct TERMENTRY {

/* required entries */

const char *name;

const char *description;

unsigned int xmax,ymax,v_char,h_char,v_tic,h_tic;

void (*options) __PROTO((void));

void (*init) __PROTO((void));

void (*reset) __PROTO((void));

void (*text) __PROTO((void));

int (*scale) __PROTO((double, double));

void (*graphics) __PROTO((void));

void (*move) __PROTO((unsigned int, unsigned int));

void (*vector) __PROTO((unsigned int, unsigned int));

void (*linetype) __PROTO((int));

void (*put_text) __PROTO((unsigned int, unsigned int, const char*));

/* optional entries */

int (*text_angle) __PROTO((int));

int (*justify_text) __PROTO((enum JUSTIFY));

void (*point) __PROTO((unsigned int, unsigned int,int));

void (*arrow) __PROTO((unsigned int, unsigned int, unsigned int,

unsigned int, int));

int (*set_font) __PROTO((const char *font)); /* "font,size" */

void (*set_pointsize) __PROTO((double size)); /* notification of set pointsize */

int flags; /* various flags */

void (*suspend) __PROTO((void)); /* after one plot of multiplot */

void (*resume) __PROTO((void)); /* before subsequent plot of multiplot */

void (*boxfill) __PROTO((int style, unsigned int x1, unsigned int y1, unsigned int width, unsigned int height)); /* clear part of multiplot */

void (*linewidth) __PROTO((double linewidth));

void (*pointsize) __PROTO((double pointsize));

void (*waitforinput) __PROTO((void));

};

One consequence of (1) is that we would like drivers to be backwards

compatible - drivers in the correct form below should work in future

versions of gnuplot without change. C compilers guarantee to fill

unitialised members of a structure to zero, so gnuplot can detect old

drivers, in which fields have not been initalised, and can point

new interface entry pointers to dummy functions.

We can add fields to the terminal structure, but only at the end of the list.

If you design a terminal that cant work without a new interface being defined,

and consequent changes to the main gnuplot source, please contact

bug-gnuplot@dartmouth.edu simply to ensure that you have the most

up to date defn of the terminal structure. Also, please ensure that

the 'set term' command checks for 0 values in added fields when an

old driver is selected, and a pointer to a suitable 'cant do' function

is provided. It is therefore not required (and in fact not possible)

to add padding fields to the end of all drivers.

Similarly, if you add an optional field to an old driver, take care

to ensure that all intervening fields are padded with zeros.

Some of the above fields are required - this should not be a problem,

since they were all required in earlier releases of gnuplot.

The later fields are interfaces to capabilities that not all devices

can do, or for which the generic routines provided should be adequate.

There are several null ('cant do') functions provided by term.c which

a driver can reference in the table. Similarly, for bitmap devices, there

are generic routines for lines and text provided by bitmap.c

Here's a brief description of each variable:

The char *name is a pointer to a string containing the name

of the terminal. This name is used by the 'set terminal' and

'show terminal' commands.

The name must be unique and must not be confused with an abbreviation

of another name. For example if the name "postscript" exists, it is not

possible to have another name "postscript2".

Keep the name under 15 characters.

The char *description is a pointer to a string containing a

description of the terminal, which is displayed in response

to the 'set terminal' command.

Keep the description under 60 characters.

xmax is the maximum number of points in the x direction.

The range of points used by gnuplot is 0 to xmax-1.

ymax is the maximum number of points in the y direction.

The range of points used by gnuplot is 0 to ymax-1.

v_char is the height of characters, in the same units as xmax and ymax.

The border for labelling at the top and bottom of the plot is

calculated using v_char.

v_char is used as the vertical line spacing for characters.

h_char is the width of characters, in the same units as xmax and ymax.

The border for labelling at the left and right of the plot is

calculated using h_char, for example.

If the _justify_text function returns FALSE, h_char is used to justify

text right or centre. If characters are not fixed width, then the

_justify_text function must correctly justify the text.

v_tic is the vertical size of tics along the x axis,

in the same units as ymax.

h_tic is the horizontal size of tics along the y axis,

in the same units as xmax.

v_tic and h_tic should give tics of the same physical size on the

output. The ratio of these two quantities is used by gnuplot to set the

aspect ratio to 1 so that circles appear circular when 'set size square'

is active.

All the above values need not be static - values can be substituted

into the table during terminal initialisation, based on options for

example.

Here's a brief description of what each term.c function does:

_options() Called when terminal type is selected.

This procedure should parse options on the command line. A list of the

currently selected options should be stored in term_options[] in a form

suitable for use with the set term command. term_options[] is used by

the save command. Use options_null() if no options are available.

_init() Called once, when the device is first selected. This procedure

should set up things that only need to be set once, like handshaking and

character sets etc...

There is a global variable 'pointsize' which you might want to use here.

If set pointsize is issued after init has been called, the set_pointsize()

function is called.

_reset() Called when gnuplot is exited, the output device changed or

the terminal type changed. This procedure should reset the device,

possibly flushing a buffer somewhere or generating a form feed.

_scale(xs,ys) Called just before _graphics(). This takes the x and y

scaling factors as information. If the terminal would like to do its

own scaling, it returns TRUE. Otherwise, it can ignore the information

and return FALSE: do_plot will do the scaling for you. null_scale is

provided to do just this, so most drivers can ignore this function

entirely. The Latex driver is currently the only one providing its own

scaling. PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS INTERFACE - IT IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH

MULTIPLOT.

_graphics() Called just before a plot is going to be displayed. This

procedure should set the device into graphics mode. Devices which can't

be used as terminals (like plotters) will probably be in graphics mode

always and therefore won't need this.

_text() Called immediately after a plot is displayed. This procedure

should set the device back into text mode if it is also a terminal, so

that commands can be seen as they're typed. Again, this will probably

do nothing if the device can't be used as a terminal. This call can

be used to trigger conversion and output for bitmap devices.

_move(x,y) Called at the start of a line. The cursor should move to the

(x,y) position without drawing.

_vector(x,y) Called when a line is to be drawn. This should display a line

from the last (x,y) position given by _move() or _vector() to this new (x,y)

position.

_linetype(lt) Called to set the line type before text is displayed or

line(s) plotted. This procedure should select a pen color or line

style if the device has these capabilities.

lt is an integer from -3 to 0 or greater.

An lt of -3 is solid and drawn with xor (for temporary interactive annotations).

An lt of -2 is used for the border of the plot.

An lt of -1 is used for the X and Y axes.

lt 0 and upwards are used for plots 0 and upwards.

If _linetype() is called with lt greater than the available line types,

it should map it to one of the available line types.

Most drivers provide 9 different linetypes (lt is 0 to 8).

_put_text(x,y,str) Called to display text at the (x,y) position,

while in graphics mode. The text should be vertically (with respect

to the text) justified about (x,y). The text is rotated according

to _text_angle and then horizontally (with respect to the text)

justified according to _justify_text.

The following are optional

_text_angle(ang) Called to rotate the text angle when placing the y label.

If ang = 0 then text is horizontal. If ang = 1 then text is vertically

upwards. Returns TRUE if text can be rotated, FALSE otherwise.

[But you must return TRUE if called with ang=0]

_justify_text(mode) Called to justify text left, right or centre.

If mode = LEFT then text placed by _put_text is flushed left against (x,y).

If mode = CENTRE then centre of text is at (x,y).

If mode = RIGHT then text is placed flushed right against (x,y).

Returns TRUE if text can be justified

Returns FALSE otherwise and then _put_text assumes text is flushed left;

justification of text is then performed by calculating the text width

using strlen(text) * h_char.

_point(x,y,point) Called to place a point at position (x,y).

point is -1 or an integer from 0 upwards.

At least 6 point types (numbered 0 to 5) are normally provided.

Point type -1 is a dot.

If point is more than the available point types then it should

be mapped back to one of the available points.

Two _point() functions called do_point() and line_and_point() are

provided in term.c and should be suitable for most drivers.

do_point() draws the points in the current line type.

If your driver uses dotted line types (generally because it is

monochrome), you should use line_and_point() which changes to

line type 0 before drawing the point. line type 0 should be solid.

There is a global variable 'pointsize' which is controlled by the

set pointsize command. If possible, use that. pointsize should be

examined at terminal init. If it is subsequently changed, the

set_pointsize() fn will be called.

_arrow(sx,sy,ex,ey,head) Called to draw an arrrow from (sx,sy) to (ex,ey).

A head is drawn on the arrow if head = TRUE.

An _arrow() function called do_arrow() is provided in term.c which will

draw arrows using the _move() and _vector() functions.

Drivers should use do_arrow unless it causes problems.

_set_font() is called to set the font of labels, etc [new 3.7 feature]

fonts are selected as strings "name,size"

_pointsize() is used to set the pointsize for subsequent points

_flags stores various flags describing driver capabilities. Currently

three bits are allocated

- TERM_CAN_MULTIPLOT - driver can do multiplot

fully-interactively when output is not redirected. ie text and graphics

go to different places, or driver can flip using suspend.

- TERM_CANT_MULTIPLOT - driver cannot multiplot, even if output

is redirected.

- TERM_BINARY - output file must be opened in binary mode

Another bit is earmarked for VMS_PASTHRU, but not yet implemented.

_suspend() - called before gnuplot issues a prompt in multiplot mode

linux vga driver uses this entry point to flip from graphics to

text mode. X11 driver will take this opportunity to paint the window

on the display.

_resume() - called after suspend(), before subsequent plots of a multiplot.

_boxfill() - fills a box in given style (currently unimplemented - always

background colour at present). used by 'clear' in multiplot for

support of inset graphs

_linewidth() - sets the linewidth

The following should illustrate the order in which calls to these

routines are made:

_options()

_init()

_scale(xs,ys)

_graphics()

_linewidth(lw)

_linetype(lt)

_move(x,y)

_vector(x,y)

_pointsize(size)

_point(x,y,point)

_text_angle(angle)

_justify(mode)

_set_font(font)

_put_text(x,y,text)

_arrow(sx,sy,ex,ey)

_text()

_graphics()

.

_suspend()

_set_pointsize()

_resume()

.

_text()

_reset()

------------------------------------

BITMAP DEVICES

A file bitmap.c is provided, implementing a generic set of bitmap

routines. It provides all the routines required to generate a

bitmap in memory, drawing lines and writing text. A simple driver

need provide only a text() entry point, which converts and outputs

the stored bitmap in the format required by the device.

Internally, the bitmap is built of one or more planes of 1

bit per pixel. In fact, I think the library would be easier to

use if it offered one or more planes of pixels with 1,2,4 or 8

bits per pixel, since not all bitmap devices are based on planes,

and the planes have to be recombined at the end at present.

In general, a device would use either planes or bits-per-pixel,

though I guess a 24-bit bitmap could use 3 planes of 8 bits

per pixel..?

The pixels are currently organised horizontally packed into bytes.

ie

********%%%%%%%%$$$$$$$$!!!!!!!! etc

^^^^^^^^@@@@@@@@########++++++++ etc

where like symbols are stored in one byte. Vertical packing can be

arranged by reversing x and y dimensions and setting the global

b_rastermode to TRUE. (eg epson 8-pin dot-matrix printer)

Functions provided are

(internal fns ? - should probably be static, not external ?)

b_setpixel(x,y,value)

b_setmaskpixel(x,y,value)

b_putc(x,y,char,angle)

b_setvalue(size)

setting up stuff

b_makebitmap(x,y,planes) - make a bitmap of size x * y

b_freebitmap() - free bitmap

b_charsize(size)

gnuplot driver interface functions (can go straight into gnuplot structure)

b_setlinetype(linetype)

b_move(x,y)

b_vector(x,y)

b_put_text(x,y,*str)

b_text_angle(ang)

I think that the library could be made easier to use if we defined

a structure which described the bitmap (raster mode, planes, bits-per-pixel,

colours, etc) and then added to the gnuplot term struct a pointer to

this structure. Then we could have b_graphics() routine which did all

the initialisation that presently has to be done by the driver graphics()

entry point. Also, one day I would like to have parsing, including

terminal driver options, table-driven, but I'm getting ahead of myself

here.

At present, bitmap.c is linked into gnuplot unconditionally. Perhaps

it should be put into a library, so that it is linked in only if

any of the user-selected drivers require bitmap support.

There may be scope to do similar things with some of the other

stuff that is shared by several drivers. Rather than requiring,

for example, that LATEX driver is required if EMTEX is to be used,

the shared routines could be extracted to a library and linked

if any of the drivers which use them are used. Just a thought...

------------------------------------

FILE LAYOUT

-----------

I think a file layout like the following will leave most flexibility

to the gnuplot maintainers. I use REGIS for example.

#include "driver.h"

#ifdef TERM_REGISTER

register_term(regis) /* no ; */

#endif

#ifdef TERM_PROTO

TERM_PUBLIC void REGISinit __PROTO((void));

TERM_PUBLIC void REGISgraphics __PROTO((void));

/* etc */

#define GOT_REGIS_PROTO

#endif

#ifndef TERM_PROTO_ONLY

#ifdef TERM_BODY

TERM_PUBLIC void REGISinit()

{

/* etc */

}

/* etc */

#endif

#ifdef TERM_TABLE

TERM_TABLE_START(regis_driver)

/* no { */

"regis", "REGIS graphics language",

REGISXMAX, /* etc */

/* no } */

TERM_TABLE_END(regis_driver)

#undef LAST_TERM

#define LAST_TERM regis_driver

#endif /* TERM_TABLE */

#endif /* TERM_PROTO_ONLY */

#ifdef TERM_HELP

START_HELP(regis)

"1 regis",

"?set terminal regis",

"?regis",

" The `regis` terminal device generates output in the REGIS graphics language.",

" It has the option of using 4 (the default) or 16 colors.",

"",

" Syntax:",

" set term regis {4 | 16}"

END_HELP(regis)

#endif

--------------

The first three lines in the TERM_HELP section must contain the same

name as that specified by register_term, since this is the name that

will be entered into the list of available terminals. If more than

one name is registered, the additional names should have their own

two "?" lines, but not the "1" line.

Each record is enclosed in double-quotes and (except for the last

record) followed by a comma. The text is copied as a single string

into gnuplot.doc, so the syntax must obey the rules of that entity.

If the text includes double-quotes or backslashes, these must be

escaped by preceding each occurence with a backslash.

--------------

Rationale:

We may want to compile all drivers into term.c or one driver at a time

this layout should support both

TERM_PUBLIC will be static if all modules are in term.c, or blank

otherwise.

Please make private support functions static if possible.

We may include term.h, and therefore all these files, one or more times.

If just once (all modules compiled into term.c) putting the four

parts in this order should make it work.

we may compile the table entries into either an array or a linked list

This organisation should support both

For separate compilation, we may write a program which

defines TERM_REGISTER and #include term.h to find out which drivers are

selected in term.h and thereby generate a makefile.

For a driver which depends on another (eg enhpost and pslatex on post)

the driver can do something like

#ifndef GOT_POST_PROTO

#define TERM_PROTO_ONLY

#include "post.trm"

#undef TERM_PROTO_ONLY

#endif

this is probably needed only in the TERM_TABLE section only, but may

also be used in the body. The TERM_PROTO_ONLY means that we pick up

only the protos from post.trm, even if current driver is being compiled

with TERM_BODY or TERM_TABLE

If we do it the linked-list way, the arg to TERM_TABLE_START will be

the name of the variable, so any valid, unique name is fine.

The TERM_TABLE_START macro will do all the work of linking the entries

together, probably using LAST_TERM

The inclusion of the TERM_HELP section (and removal of terminal documentation

from the master gnuplot.doc file) means that the online help will include

discussions of only those terminals available to the user. For generation

of the printed manual, all can be included.

Please make as many things as possible static, but do still try to use unique

names since all drivers may all be compiled into term.o

The bit in the PROTO section is basically what you would put into a .h

file if we had them - everything that is needed by the TABLE_ENTRY

should be defined in this part. In particular, dont forget all the maxes

and character sizes and things for the table entry.

Dont forget to put TERM_PUBLIC in the defns of the fns as well as the

prototypes. It will probably always expand to 'static' except for pcs.