DPlot

I've just begun evaluating DPlot and am impressed at the capabilities so far. Before I get too carried away with all the features, can I get some recommendations for approaching this workflow:

I have new data every day that I'd like to analyse and plot using a layout I create and update occasionally. The data is always in the same format, but the details of the plots to show may evolve. I'd like to be able to select a day's data, run an action, and have the data parsed and plotted automatically according to my design.

I'm no stranger to programming and am happy to approach it that way, but the easier the solution is to maintain the better.

In the first instance the result I have in mind is a couple of X-Y plots, both with multiple Y axes, and time of day for the x-axis. Ultimately I'd like to be able to synchronise panning and zooming between the plots, and select areas of the plot for analysis in an additional plot.

I suspect this is quickly sounding like I should be using the DLL interface and writing a standalone app, but I'm yet to explore the DPlot "macro" features. Is this a viable route?

There are several ways you can go about this:

• If your data will always have the same filename, first select Options>General and check "Automatically read preference file based on filename". Get your graph looking like you want, then use File>Save Preferences and save the file with the same name as your input and an extension of ".set".
• If the above doesn't apply but you'll want to use the same settings all the time, save the preferences file as default.set in the default folder for preferences: %APPDATA%\DPlot\Preferences.
• If you don't want to apply those preferences ALL the time, save your preferences to a different name and use File>GetPreferences to read the file. To omit a few keystrokes you can write a macro to read the file with a GetPreferences("filename") command and assign a key combination to run that macro.

I almost clarified this point, but neglected to in the end:

Get/Save Preferences is not quite sufficient. It is missing is the "Operate on Y" and "Generate Y=f(X, Y..)" commands at least. I need to automate things like clipping one of the traces (if I do this with Edit->Clip, instead of Operate On Y, Y=MAX(Y, -10) will that get saved?), producing a curve that is equal to one curve minus another at every point, and multiplying one of the traces by 10.

But perhaps your last option is the basis for an excellent solution. Can I simply write the macro you suggest, and add my extra "Operate on Y" and Generate" commands?

Thanks for your response. The more I learn about DPlot, the more I start to think it's going to be the versatile tool of choice at our workplace!

Can I simply write the macro you suggest, and add my extra "Operate on Y" and Generate" commands?

Yes. The macro commands corresponding to the menu commands you're interested in are linked from the Help for the respective menu command. For example the Help for the Edit>Operate on Y menu command includes a link to the macro command EditOperateY.