DATAPLOT—an interactive high-level language for graphics, non-linear fitting, data analysis, and mathematics

• Authors: James J. Filliben
• Venue: SIGGRAPH '81 Proceedings of the 8th annual conference on Computer graphics and interactive techniques
• Year: 1981

This paper describes the design philosphy and features of DATAPLOT—a high-level (free-format English-like syntax) language for: 1) graphics (continuous or discrete); 2) fitting (linear or non-linear); 3) general data analysis; 4) mathematics. DATAPLOT was developed originally in 1977 in response to data analysis problems encountered at the National Bureau of Standards. It has subsequently been the most heavily-used interactive graphics and non-linear fitting language at NBS. It is a valuable tool not only for “raw” graphics, but also for manuscript preparation, modeling, data analysis, data summarization, and mathematical analysis. DATAPLOT may be run either in batch mode or interactively, although it was primarily designed for (and is most effectively used in) an interactive environmnet. DATAPLOT graphics may appear on many different types of output devices. Due to its modular design and underlying ANSI FORTRAN (PFORT) code, DATAPLOT is portable to a wide variety of computers. The paper is divided into three general parts: part 1 deals with background motivation and design philosophy; part 2 deals with capability and implementation features; part 3 deals with a comparison of DATAPLOT to other systems/languages.