The set of MathGL features is rather rich – just the number of basic graphics types
is larger than 50. Also there are functions for data handling, plot setup and so on. In spite of it I tried to keep a similar style in function names and in the order of arguments. Mostly it is
used for different drawing functions.
There are six most general (base) concepts:
Any picture is created in memory first. The internal (memory) representation can be different: bitmap picture (for SetQuality(MGL_DRAW_LMEM) or quality 6) or the list of vector primitives (default). After that the user may decide what he/she want: save to file, display on the screen, run animation, do additional editing and so on. This approach assures a high portability of the program – the source code will produce exactly the same picture in any OS. Another big positive consequence is the ability to create the picture in the console program (using command line, without creating a window)!
Every plot settings (style of lines, font, color scheme) are specified by a string. It provides convenience for user/programmer – short string with parameters is more comprehensible than a large set of parameters. Also it provides portability – the strings are the same in any OS so that it is not necessary to think about argument types.
All functions have “simplified” and “advanced” forms. It is done for user’s convenience. One needs to specify only one data array in the “simplified” form in order to see the result. But one may set parametric dependence of coordinates and produce rather complex curves and surfaces in the “advanced” form. In both cases the order of function arguments is the same: first data arrays, second the string with style, and later string with options for additional plot tuning.
All data arrays for plotting are encapsulated in mglData(A) class. This reduces the number of errors while working with memory and provides a uniform interface for data of different types (mreal, double and so on) or for formula plotting.
All plots are vector plots. The MathGL library is intended for handling scientific data which have vector nature (lines, faces, matrices and so on). As a result, vector representation is used in all cases! In addition, the vector representation allows one to scale the plot easily – change the canvas size by a factor of 2, and the picture will be proportionally scaled.
New drawing never clears things drawn already. This, in some sense, unexpected, idea allows one to create a lot of “combined” graphics. For example, to make a surface with contour lines one needs to call the function for surface plotting and the function for contour lines plotting (in any order). Thus the special functions for making this “combined” plots (as it is done in Matlab and some other plotting systems) are superfluous.
In addition to the general concepts I want to comment on some non-trivial or less commonly used general ideas – plot positioning, axis specification and curvilinear coordinates, styles for lines, text and color scheme.