Autoplot Application (20140114a)

Random RBSP data.

Autoplot attempts to allow plotting of data from many data sources, including local files and OpenDAP servers. Datasets are identified with URIs, and by the URI's extension a module is used to load the data into the internal data model. Data is then displayed by guessing the rendering method and axis ranges to provide a reasonable, useful view of the data.

This is the Autoplot2013b branch. This is an update to the production version containing bugfixes and minor new features. Java 6 is now required.

Single-jar version, autoplot.jar, can be run without network access and from the command line. Note CDFs are only supported via the Java-based reader and Autoplot will attempt to use it when the C-based version is not available.

Bugfixes:

• 1148: start to introduce methods for making mutable objects immutable, after seeing problems with reference cache
• 1144:"CDF URI needs an argument" still lingers (in webstart single-instance hander)
• bounds of axis annotation labels corrected, before there was a 50px kludge which would leave unnecessary whitespace to the left of labels
• code that flattens waveforms for SeriesRenderer picks a unit that improves precision
• calculate CADENCE in Reduction.reducexWaveform to correct lines connecting waveform bursts
• RPW Group's data looked bad with LANL NN rebinning because cadence detection failed. Pull out code that infers bins from ytags.
• catch more RTEs in Jython Script panel when using completions.
• 1142: remove old code that would reset the timerange when switching das2servers. This could break bindings.

Older Bugfixes:

• clean up of export to rich ascii
• hide confusing plot buttons on add bookmark popup
• log level are not set initially. This was unnecessary and prevented use of logging.properties file
• rte 1199617891: Java CDF would produce RTE when parameter is null.
• rte 1171026816: George's RTE about RBSP-ECT file
• 1140: bugfix in TSB where events where thrown out when application was locked, so data wouldn't load
• rte 1466756642: new code broke "View in Autoplot" button. Thanks ksigsbee, balazs, dgcrawfo, and icohen
• 1138: don't mistake "/c" for protocol in "/c:/"
• isConstant uses equivalent function now, instead of .equals.
• A CDF variable's DELTA_PLUS_VAR could point to itself, cause infinite recursion and crashing Java
• improve support for rank 2 energies, supporting ds[:,0:2,:] so DEPEND_2 is preserved.
• the delegate editor with aggregation could not remove parameters.
• DataSourceEditor browseSourceType handles plugins like script:... properly, avoiding runtime error.

Features:

• All CDF Global metadata now appears under "GlobalAttributes" node in metadata tab.
• Improvements to the thin client
• Bookmarks logic allows users to review bookmarks before using them.
• Inline data source now has editor panel, with discovery.
• Example thin client code allows arbitrary .vap to be used

Less recent features:

• check for NetCDF/HDF magic number in CDF GUI
• Improve logging with new "gui" logger that will improve feedback for debugging
• length render shows equation of the line
• "Plot Below" button on horizontal slicer copies the data onto the canvas.
• CDF data source allows &where=mode.eq(1)
• slice1 allows slicing at a datum like "1000 eV"
• history dialog has .vap button for convenience and example filter.

Known issues:

• see Source Forge

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.