Log Driven Graph

A Log Driven Graph is a Table View which graphically displays data provided by a table using a format that allows a large number of simultaneous overlays without requring a column for each. It is very amenable to displaying data logged during a model run.

The view requires that the table have one or more columns with specific column names, as specified below. The order of the columns does not matter and other columns can be included and will be ignored by the view.

The data table can include columns which dynamically reformat the overlays. If the formatting is fixed for each overlay, then specifying a separate formatting table is also supported. This is much more efficient as the format parameters need only be specified once.

Data Columns

Log driven graphs can optionally have the following columns. If a property is common to all data in a given overlay, it is much more efficient to use the Overlay Configuration Table described below to specify the property.

_x

This provides the x-value (horizontal position) for the data. The format of this column is used to format the graph's x scale. If this column is not present, the row number from the data table is used instead.

_y

This provides the y-value (vertical position) for the data. The format of this column is used to format the graph's y scale. If this column is not present, the value 0 is used.

_z

This is reserved for 3D support

_overlay

This sets the overlay number that the data in each row is associated with. The Log Driven Graph tracks the plot mode, colour, width, line style and last position of each overlay separately. This means that one data table can contain data for many different views of a system. Its possible to enable/disable individual overlays using the Overlay Configuration Table described below. If this column is not present, the default of one is used. If the value is less than one or greater than the maximum overlay limit parameter for the view, then the data row is ignored.

_color

If this column is present, this value will set the colour of the next section of a line or block, or of the current point or text label in those modes.

_width

If this column is present, this value will set the width of the next line, gantt bar or block, or the diameter of the current point. If this value is zero, it "closes" any previous line or bar. The line/bar will resume starting at the next row with a non zero width. If this column is not present, the default width of one is used but this can be overridden using the Overlay Configuration Table.

_style

If this column is present it will alter the line style for the associated overlay. Some plot modes are not affected by this property. The _line styles label list enumerates the available styles. If this column is not present, solid lines are used but this can be overridden using the Overlay Configuration Table.

_label

If this column is present, it provides text for plot modes which display a text label. The text is the formatted contents of the cell in this column.

_yoffset

If this column is present, it will offset the y value by the value in this cell. This is useful when data has a different scale.

_mode

If this column is present, it enables the plotting mode to be changed on-the-fly for this overlay. Subsequent lines/blocks will be drawn using the new plot mode. A value of 0 leaves the current plotting mode. If not otherwise specified, this defaults to the plot mode specified in the edit menu. This column should only be used if you need to dynamically change the plotting mode for a given overlay. You can use the Overlay Configuration Table to set the plot modes for each overlay.

_borderstyle

If this column is present, it sets the style of border used in subsequent gantt blocks. By default no border is used.

_bordercolor

If this column is present, it sets the color of the border used in subsequent gantt blocks. By default, the transparent (none) colour is used.

Overlay Configuration Table

The defaults for each overlay can be specified using a configuration table. This table is associated with a table view using a reference. It is separate to the data table.
Changes to this table are not tracked in real time by the view. They will be applied the next time the view is redrawn, for example with a force repaint.
The following columns are recognised:

_overlay

This column must be present. The value sets the overlay number that the data in the row is for. Overlay numbers start from 1. Do not intentionally use high values as overlay slots are allocated for all intervening overlay values.

_enable

This enables the overlay to be shown or hidden from the graph. This is very useful as the underlying data does not need to be modified to remove/add certain overlays.

0 = disable
1 = enable.

If this column is not present, all overlays are enabled.

_mode

This column enables each overlay to have its own default plot mode.
If this column is not present, all overlays use the plot mode set in the context menu for the view.

_color

This column sets the default colour for each overlay.
If this column is not present, the text colour for the view is used.

_width

This column sets the line width for each overlay.
If this column is not present, the default of 1 is used.

_style

This column sets the line style for lines in the overlays. the _line_styles label list is useful for this.
If this column is not present, the default is a solid line.

_xscale

This column enables a scale factor to be applied to all data in a given overlay before it is plotted. This is useful when data with different ranges is being combined in a graph. Note that this scale is not applied when auto-calculating the y scale.

Plot Modes

The _mode values are mapped as follows:

0: no change
1: no plot
2: smooth
3: stepped
4: horizontal bar
5: histogram
6: area
7: gantt style