3D function

The dialog 3D function is used to perform the settings for the three-dimensional representation of a function y(x,z) of two independent variables. The dialog is divided into three pages.

Function

On the page Function in the group y(x,z) the path of the shared library containing the function to be chosen may be entered in the field Library. The button right to the entry field opens a file selection dialog for this purpose.

The name of the Function is entered in another field. The function may be chosen from a list in the dialog Functions, opened with the button right to the entry field.

With the button Edit a dialog Parameter may be opened, which allows to enter the values of up to 20 parameters of the function. When the option Show Function Source is activated in the Settings menu and a C or C++ language source file with the same name as the shared library with the extension .c or .cpp, respectively, is present in the same directory, its contents is displayed right to the parameter fields, too. The button  Load opens a file selection dialog for loading the parameters from an text file (one parameter each line). The button  Save opens a file selection dialog for saving the parameters in an text file.

In the group y(x,z) the limits for the function's arguments and the x and z axes are entered using the fields xmin, xmax, zmin, and zmax. With Δx and Δz the step sizes for the arguments are set. A value of 0 results in automatically dividing the respective range into 40 intervals. With ymin and ymax the limits of the y axis are set. The scaling can be set to logarithmic individually for the axes by checking log.

Scaling

On the page Scaling in the group Window the rectangular range where the three-dimensional plot is shown can be set in cm. A frame around this rectangle is drawn optionally.

In the group Reference Point the distances from the center of the plane spread by the x and z axes at ymin to the left and bottom sides of the window may be set in cm.

In the group 3D box the lengths of the x, y, and z axis of the three-dimensional plot can be set in cm.

The Rotation of the coordinate frame can be set by the angles phi and theta. The value of phi determines the rotation around the y axis, the value of theta determines the tilt of the y axis.

The group Axes allows to specify the distances xtic, ytic, and ztic of major (labeled) tick marks. The number of intervals dividing the distance between the major ticks can be specified by  mticx, mticy, and mticz. For axes with numeric labels the number of digits behind the decimal point may be selected by  ndigx and ndigy. Here values of -1 are used to suppress the output of the decimal point.

Factors for Normalization of the x, y, and z axis may be entered manually. These factors also may be determined automatically using Autoscale with checked Normalization. Autoscaling also sets the limits of the axes, the distances between major tick marks, the number of intervals between major tick marks, the number of digits for numeric labels, the Reference Point, and the lengths of the axes.

Representation

On the page Representation in the group Axis mode it can be selected to plot tick marks with and without numeric labels.

In the group 3D mode it can be selected if the surface y(x,z) should be represented by lines in x or z direction or by a grid of lines in x and z direction.

In the group Colors the colors for frame, tick marks, and the surface representing the data may be chosen using the dialog Select Color, opened with the colored buttons.

By Show frame the display of a frame around the rectangular window of the plot can be selected. The relative Line width of the surface grid (proportional to the width of the data window) may be specified. A setting of 100 % corresponds to the default.

A table with values of the plotted surfaces can be exported as a data file using the button  Export. A file selection dialog will be opened for this purpose.

The dialog may be canceled without saving by use of the button Cancel. By using Apply changes are saved without closing the dialog. With OK changes are saved and the dialog is closed.