About the DATAPLOT Graphical Language
In order to obtain graphical output of any numerical data and informative strings, a graphical language called DATAPLOT was developed in connection with the graphical software DIGLIB. Using this graphical language, you can store information in a normal text file (*.EXP), which can be plotted as graphical symbols, lines, texts or Greek letters on any plot device support by DIGLIB.
You can generate and plot DATAPLOT (*.EXP) files together with various calculation and/or experimental results from, for example, phase and property diagrams calculated with the Thermo‑Calc software composition profiles or other diagrams simulated by the Diffusion Module (DICTRA).
An EXP file automatically generated by the POST-processor (using the MAKE_EXPERIMENTAL_DATAFILE command) in the Thermo‑Calc software is a DATAPLOT (*.EXP) file and may contain all types of legal DATAPLOT commands and parameters. With a text editor, you can modify or add some DATAPLOT commands and related parameters in an existing EXP file. This is useful when appending experimental information to calculated/simulated plots, and when specifying user-defined texts, symbols, colors, fonts, filled patterns, diagram types, diagram sizes, symbol/character sizes, titles, special characters, etc.
There is another type of experimental data file that is generated in Thermo‑Calc when working with the PARROT module. For more information seeExperimental Data Files (*.POP, *.DOP).
See the Tips and Tricks: How to Plot Experimental Data blog post on our website for useful guidance about this topic.
DATAPLOT Examples
To help you prepare your EXP (experimental) files to use for your plotted diagrams generated by Thermo‑Calc simulations, there are examples of EXP files using the DATAPLOT graphical language standard, which are normally independent of software versions.