Downloading DATAPLOT for Mac OS X

Alan Heckert Statistical Engineering Division Room 331, Building 820 National Institute Of Standards and Technology Gaithersburg, Md. 20899-8980 (301) 975-2899 or FTS 879-2899 alan.heckert@nist.gov

Jim Filliben Statistical Engineering Division Room 353, Building 820 National Institute Of Standards and Technology Gaithersburg, Md. 20899-8980 (301) 975-2855 or FTS 879-2855 james.filliben@nist.gov

My Mac OS X platform is a Power Mac (i.e., non-Intel) running Mac OS X 10.4 (tiger). If you have a compatible system, you can install a pre-built Dataplot executable (i.e., a binary install). If not, you need to download the source (i.e., a source install).

Be aware that this is a "Unix/X11" port as oppossed to a "native" Mac OS X application. There are currently two ways you can run Dataplot under Mac OS X.

1. You can run Dataplot in a traditional command line mode (this will be referred to as the command line version).

   Note that the command line version can be run from either a standard Mac OS X terminal window or an X11 terminal window.

2. Alternatively, you can run a Graphical User Interface (GUI). The GUI for Dataplot is written using the Tcl/Tk scripting language (we will say more about this below).

1. g77 - even if you install the pre-built Dataplot executable, you need the run time libraries for the g77 compiler.

   If you do not already have g77 installed, you can download the g77 installation file. The install script described below will perform the installation.

2. X11 - Dataplot requires that X11 be installed on your Mac OS X system.

   The Apple web site provides further information for installing and running X11 under Mac OS X. This page also contains a good introduction to using X11 on Mac OS X.

3. Aquaterm - The February 2008 version of Dataplot added an Aqua driver for screen graphics. This means you can now run the command line version of Dataplot in a standard terminal window (previously you had to run in an X11 window if you wanted screen graphics).

   Dataplot implements the Aqua driver using the Aquaterm library. You can download Aquaterm from the Aquaterm web site. For convenience, you can also download it directly from this page.

4. Tcl/Tk - As mentioned above, the Dataplot GUI is implemented using the Tcl/Tk scripting language. As there are other applications that use Tcl/Tk, you may want to check if to see if it is already installed. Look for either "/usr/local/bin/wish" or "/usr/bin/wish". If one of these exists, then Tcl/Tk should already be installed.

   Tcl/Tk is an open source scripting language that is supported on multiple platforms. In particular, there are two primary sources for downloading and installing Tcl/Tk for Mac OS X:

   • Tcl/Tk Aqua Batteries-Included can be downloaded from the SourceForge web site.

     For convenience, you can also download it directly from this page.

     Note that this is the version I am currently running on my own Mac. The Source Forge web site contains several versions of the download. The Dataplot Tcl/Tk scripts currently only use the core Tcl/Tk (i.e., no packages).

   • The ActiveState web site also has a version of Tcl/Tk that has been optimized for the Mac OS X platform.

     Note that although this implementation is freely downloadable, you have to download it directly from the Active States web site.

   You should be able to run Dataplot with either of these implementations. However, be aware that they install Tcl/Tk in a different directory.

Assuming that the prerequisite software has been installed, you can proceed with the downloading and installation of the Dataplot files.

I have modified the installation a bit starting with the February 2008 version of Dataplot. The older installations will still be available for the near future.

I develop for the Mac OS X using a Power Mac running tiger (10.4). So if you have an Intel-based Mac or you are running 10.2 or earlier, you will probably need to do a source installation. Otherwise, you should be able to use the binary installation.

Note: If there are any users who have an Intel-based Mac and would like to contribute the binaries, please contact alan.heckert@nist.gov.

1. The file dpbin.tar.gz contains:
   • The Dataplot executable for the Power Mac (installed in /usr/local/bin).

   • A script to run the Dataplot GUI (installed in /usr/local/bin).

   • Dataplot uses the GD library to generate JPEG, PNG, and GIF format files. The GD library in turn uses the PNG library, the ZLIB compression library, the JPEG library, and the Freetype library. Dataplot will install the versions of the libraries used by Datplot in the "/usr/local/lib" directory.

     The current version of the Mac OS X Dataplot executable uses version 2.0.33 of GD, version 1.2.8 of PNG, version 1.2.3 of ZLIB, and version 2.10 of Freetype.

   If you are going to perform a source build, then you do not need to download this file.

2. The file dplib.tar.gz contains the Dataplot auxillary files. This includes the online help files, sample data files, the script and menu files for the GUIs, and other files used by Dataplot. These files are all installed in the "/usr/local/lib/dataplot" directory.

   Note that this file should be downloaded whether you performing the binary install or the source install.

3. The file dpsrc.tar.gz contains the Dataplot source code files. This includes Fortran source files, C source files, include files, and a script file to build Dataplot for Mac OS X. These files are all installed in the "/usr/local/src/dataplot" directory.

   Note that this file does not need to be downloaded if you are performing the binary install.

4. The file install_dataplot_files contains a script for unpacking the files.

You should edit the file using any ASCII text editor and make the following changes (if needed):

• If you need to install the g77 compiler, look for the lines

  # gunzip g77.tar.gz
  # tar -P -xvf g77.tar
  

  and delete the leading "#" to uncomment these lines.

• If you are performing a source install, look for the lines

  gunzip dpbin.tar.gz
  tar -P -xvf dpbin.tar
  

  and add a "#" at the beginning of the line to make these lines comment statements.

• If you are performing a source install, look for the lines

  # gunzip dpsrc.tar.gz
  # tar -P -xvf dpsrc.tar
  

  and delete the leading "#" to uncomment these lines.

sudo ./install_dataplot_files

dataplot

If you use the c-shell or the t-shell, then you need to add a line like the following to your .cshrc file:

set path=(/usr/local/bin $path)

If you use the Bourne or Korn shell, then you need to add the lines like the following to your .bash_profile file:

PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/bin export path

To activate this path, close your current terminal window and then re-open it. Now when you enter

dataplot

To test the command line version in a standard Aqua terminal window, enter the following commands

dataplot
device 1 aqua
call minitest.dp
quit

dataplot
device 1 x11
call minitest.dp
quit

• If the Tcl/Tk program "wish" is not installed in "/usr/local/bin", you need to modify the file "lib/dataplot/frscript/xdp". Specifically, the first line of this file needs to point to the correct location for the "wish" program on your platform.

  In most cases, the "wish" program should be installed in either "/usr/local/bin" or "/usr/bin". However, you should verify the exact location on your system.

• Likewise, check the file "/usr/local/bin/xdataplot". A number of environment variables are set in this file. Verify that these paths are appropriate for your local platform.

sudo vi /usr/local/bin/xdataplot

To test the Dataplot GUI version, open an appropriate terminal window and enter the command

xdataplot

1. A top level window containing the menus (e.g., Files/Data, Plot).
2. The upper left window is where Dataplot alphanumeric output is generated.
3. The upper right window ("Graph") is where Dataplot graphs are generated.
4. The lower left window stores the Dataplot commands that have been issued.
5. The lower right window is a data spreadsheet.
6. The window labeled "Command Line" allows you to enter Dataplot commands directly.

If the Dataplot GUI does not come up correctly, the problem is usually that the paths to the Tcl/Tk software are not set correctly.

The installation script above should have installed the g77 compiler (the gcc compiler should already be installed).

Although I haven't yet automated this to the degree that I ultimately hope to, it should be a relatively straightforward source build if you skip the GD library.

There is no particular restriction or structure required for the source directory.

If you are uncomfortable in building software from source, then I recommend building Dataplot without the GD library. Even if you are more experienced with this, I recommend first building Dataplot without the GD libraries. Once the basic Dataplot is working, you can go back and try to build it with the GD library enabled.

In any event, when you want to enable the GD library, you will need to install the following libraries:

• GD
• Freetype
• JPEG
• PNG
• ZLIB

For convenience, I have provided links to these libraries

• GD library
• Freetype library
• PNG library
• JPEG library
• PNG library

Each of these comes with its own installation instructions.

build_g77

• Near the beginning of the file should be the line that starts with "cd ". Edit this line to move to the directory where you have the source files.

• Look for the line "set GD_FLAG = on". To disable the GD library, change the "on" to "off". If you have successfully installed the GD library, you can leave this as "on".

• Look for the line (at the end of the file) that starts with "$FCOMP -dynamic -o dataplot_macosx main.f". The file after the "-o" specifies the name for the Dataplot executable. You can change this to whatever you like.

./build_g77

I simply do not have the time or expertise to diagnose these types of problems. I can check to see if our ftp server is up, but not much beyond that.

If you are unable to download via the web, you can do the following:

1. You can try using anonymous ftp directly.

   ftp  ftp.nist.gov
   user name> anonymous
   password>  your e-mail address
   >cd /pub/dataplot/mac
   >dir
                

   At this point, the dir command will list the files needed for the Mac OS X installation. Be sure to enter a "binary" command before downloading any "exe", "tar.gz" or "tar.Z" files.

   I only recommend this if you already reasonably familiar with using anonymous ftp.

2. Alternatively, I can send the Dataplot installation on a CD-R. This is easier for me than trying to diagnose ftp/browser/firewall problems. There is no charge, just send a request to Alan Heckert. Be sure to include your mail address (not e-mail) and the desired platform.

Date created: 6/5/2001
Last updated: 2/6/2008
Please email comments on this WWW page to sedwww@cam.nist.gov.