Autoplot Application (#{tag})

Word for the day: Idempotence.

Autoplot attempts to allow plotting of data from many data sources, including remote CDF files and OpenDAP servers. Datasets are identified with URIs, and by the URI's extension, data are loaded into the internal data model. Data are then displayed by guessing the rendering method and axis ranges to provide a reasonable, useful view of the data. Data can then be additionally processed with other operations like smooth and FFT, and Jython scripting provides a capable programming environment.

This is the Autoplot2018a branch. This is an update to the production version containing bugfixes and minor new features. Java 7 is now required. Java 8 will be required sometime soon.

Run with 4GB of memory (64-bit Java only): autoplot_4GB.jnlp

Single-jar version, autoplot.jar, can be run without network access and from the command line.

Mac DMG Release is available.

Bugfixes (2018-12-15 r23106):

• Corrections to HAPI export.
• doUnitsCheck needs to support rank 2 y-tags in a bundle.
• new code to add components to the front page could hang app because of event thread mishandling.
• rte_1025124270: JythonDataSource would attempt to attach a label to an immutable dataset, causing RTE.
• 2067: a multi-line colorbar label was not center-justified. Thanks, Ivar!
• rte_1659505011: improve feedback in the Bookmarks GUI, for example where you can "plot" a bookmarks folder.
• rte_0577071170: improve feedback with Jython Data Source when a non-plottable variable unintentionally selected. Thanks Kris!
• 2054: object leaks which occur as the GUI follows focus are corrected.
• 2066: check for negative font metrics getDescent, which would cause the axis ticks to clip.
• inspect button to look for .vap files works again.
• "run batch" cancel button cancels the sub-task.
• "Add additional ticks from" GUI now opens the editor with just "ok" button, not the "plot" button. Thanks, Bob!
• 2064: MMS mms1_edi_vdrift_gse_srvy_l2[:,1]&x=mms1_edi_t_delta_plus_srvy_l2&y=mms1_edi_e_dsl_srvy_l2[:,1] works properly now, where reform flag was incorrectly set. Thanks, sritam!
• "Open Local File" would only show files when "show all" was selected. Thanks, Bob!
• 2063: "convertUnitsTo" didn't properly reset the DOM range, when it reset the implementing DasAxis range. Thanks, Masafumi!
• LICENSE.txt should be LGPL, not GPL.
• scripting reset method didn't reset undo/redo operations, potentially causing object leaks.
• 2062: Run batch facility didn't properly set PWD, causing runtime exception.
• 2054: any NullPointerException when a leftover thread assumed the controller reference was still valid.
• 2058: reset needs to reset id number sequencing.
• don't allow URI parameters to be preceded or followed by spaces, improving support for cut-n-paste from emails.
• 2025: corrections to initialization of HAPI dialog.
• 2059: check for inconsistency when BINS_1 is used along with BUNDLE_1 imply differing units.
• timeranges like 'lastday+P1D/P1D' now work, to represent "tomorrow". Before only "lastday-" was handled.
• 2058: devel release showed bug where not resetting IDs would cause failure in "clone to new application" and pngwalk generation. Thanks Ivar and Masafumi!
• next and previous scan button updating was calling the 2-D bounds code when it only needed a bounds on X, causing performance issues. Thanks Masafumi!
• add recCount and recStart controls to CSV reader, so that create png events lists can be subsetted. Thanks Masafumi!
• 2056: tickleTimer would restart timer while its event was running, which for slow events can cause threads to build up, slowing or crashing machine. Thanks, Masafumi!
• filenames with colons (data_2019-01-01T00:00.dat) would not allow relative reference launch. Now colons past the eighth position are ignored. Thanks, Chris!
• 2053: timerange macro doesn't update as timerange changes.
• "delete plot" didn't check to see if there were columns which could be deleted.
• in DataPointRecorder's reset units, handle when nominal units are used in the table. Thanks, Bill!
• 2051: rank 2 ytags was slow, when looking at a tiny slice in x. Thanks, Masafumi!
• 2052: improve support for datumRange, URI, and URL parameters in Jython scripts, when creating GUIs.

Older Bugfixes:

• update to new certificate signatures for 2018-2019. Thanks, Larry!
• NullPointerException when params was escaped.
• 2049: setLayout(3,3) gets IDs backwards. Revert this change which breaks many old scripts.
• Orbits' definition files can be read via an HTTP redirect now. Thanks, Larry!
• NullPointerException would occur when type "Datum" was encountered, in a qstream Autoplot produced.
• rfe609: handle case where 1-point dataset would mess up the autoranging. Thanks, Masafumi!
• invokeScriptSoon on the event thread, causing warning message and potentially hanging GUI during file download.
• rte_2055330411: "|reducex('1day')" would not parse properly.
• File->Reset resets to the data set selector.
• DataSources with parents (vap+internal:data_8,data_9,data_10) would get a progress bar not connected to any plot, which would grab the mouse focus during batch processing.
• trim of rank 3 join would add empty tables for each table. Instead this should only join the non-empty ones. Thanks, Masafumi!
• embed data in .vap option didn't check for ephemeris and events lists.
• HAPI properly handles when time is not in the list of parameters. Thanks, Bob!
• SeriesRenderer properly looks at cadenceCheck again. Thanks, Ivar!
• 2043: use HAPI_DATA environment variable to set the location of the cache. Don't request data outside of the startDate, stopDate range. Thanks, Bob!
• allow dataPointRecorder's select method to be called on or off the event thread.
• 2042: correction to the ticks code which would detect when new ticks were needed during pngwalk generation, sometimes failing.
• 2042: correct code which would resize the canvas in scripts running in headful mode, which would occasionally fail.
• 2042: remove old listeners which were preventing DasRows and DasColumns from garbage collection.
• tweaks to pdb (Python debugger) support, trying to improve its utility.
• some annotation position icons were missing.
• StackedHistogram (peaks-and-averages) renderer max values could go past the min of the next channel, creating ambiguity.
• rfe 643: check for dark background color in Jython editor for warnings, program counter, and usages.
• findbugs NP_NULL_ON_SOME_PATH_FROM_RETURN_VALUE.
• When saving logger properties, logger inheritance was not considered, making an overly-explicit configuration.
• Jython dataset(o) now allows o to be a tuple, and background=None uses a transparent background, other minor changes to annotation command.
• when a stack trace is processed in Jython, to jump to the error, allow the stack trace to be deeper, to support Geopack file.

Features:

• new lockDomainDivider axis property avoids jumping when the tick spacing is known to be correct.
• plot element style properties dialog now has cancel which will revert to original settings.

Less recent features:

• add method for replacing the navigation panel in PNGWalk. Thanks, Ivar!
• Update to new CDF reader, where the source is available.
• HAPI data is displayed with the units in the label.
• 658: add method for adding right and left panels to the GUI, to develop custom applications. Thanks, Jon V!
• "add right-axis plot" which adds a plot at the same position but with a right-axis which is independent. Thanks, Ivar!
• 657: --noAskParams will prevent the script parameters / security verification from showing. Thanks, Bob!
• write-pngwalk-from-events lists supports zero-width events, when using settings like "0%-1hr,100%+1hr"
• export to very old vap formats, like 2013, removed because they are clutter.
• support link(r2x,r2y,r2z) by flattening the three tables.
• catch http://.../hapi/data and make into HAPI URI. Thanks, Bob!
• support for renderType="spectrogram>rebin=triScat"
• LoggerManager.readConfiguration can read any file now, not just that named by -Djava.util.logging.config.file=...

Known issues:

• see Source Forge
• Bugs often have a four-digit ID and can be reviewed with https://sourceforge.net/p/autoplot/bugs/<ID>/.
• Features typically have a three-digit ID and can be reviewed with https://sourceforge.net/p/autoplot/feature-requests/<ID>/.

This completes the feature set for the new production branch. No major features will be added before branching this version. A production branch will be started in a couple of weeks, and the "Start Autoplot" link at the top of autoplot.org will run this version. Feedback on the function and quality of this release is greatly appreciated!

Data is input from:

• ASCII files (.dat,.txt)
• CSV files (.csv)
• Binary files (.bin)
• CDF files(.cdf)
• Excel spread sheets (.xls)
• das2Streams (.d2s or .das2Stream)
• ViRBO's TSDS server
• CDAWeb data server (vap+cdaweb:)
• das2servers (vap+das2server:)
• QStreams (.qds), QDataSet on a das2Stream
• Plasma Wave Group das2 Server
• NetCDF files (.nc,.ncml)
• HDF5 files (.h5,.hdf5)
• DODs servers (.dds)
• Cluster Exchange Format files (.cef)
• Fits Format Files
• Images (.jpg, .png, .gif)
• Wav audio files (.wav)

This is not complete, and limitations include:

• Quantities of rank 3 dimensionality (e.g. flux(Time,Energy,pitch) are plotted by slicing.
• Quantities of rank 4 dimensionality (e.g. flux(Time,Energy,azimuth,sector) are plotted by slicing twice.

autoplot.org is the wiki website, and contains more information than this launch page.