Tables or Blocks

In many cases, you have (calculated or experimental) data in the form of tables, and want to plot one or several columns as X-axis and one or more columns as Y-axis. A single table can contain many sets of data records of the same kind of information for a specific data BLOCK. There can be many data BLOCKS in a DATASET.

By enclosing these tables in a data BLOCK, you can select which column(s) is the X-axis and which is the Y-axis. For example,

BLOCK X=C1; Y1=C3; Y2=C2; GOC=C4,DAW

Where the X-axis values are in column 1, the Y-axis values are in columns 2 and 3, and any GOC codes are in column 4. The default GOC for this BLOCK is Draw Absolute Word. The GOC code inside the table is only necessary if the default GOC is not applicable.

A more elaborate use of the table is shown in this example:

BLOCK X=C3; Y=1E3/(C3+273); GOC=C8,MAWS1

Where the X-axis values are in column 3, the Y-axis values are in column 1 with some additional calculations applied. Any GOC is in column 8, and the default GOC is Move Absolute Word and plot the symbol no. 1.

Columns in a table must be separated by one or more space characters and do not have to be justified.

It is possible to have tables with mixed text and numbers, but each word followed by a space is counted as one column. The columns used for plotting also must be numerical. An example of a legal line in a table is

298.15 This_is_the_second_column 11.5 This_is_the_fourth_column

A line in the table must not exceed 80 characters. A BLOCK must be terminated by a line with the BLOCKEND command.

See the Tips and Tricks: How to Plot Experimental Data blog post on our website for useful guidance about this topic.