Question Contour Plotting in Java

[Arrowstar]

Hi everyone,

I'm currently working on a little Java program in an effort expand my knowledge of the language. While doing so, I decided that I wanted to create contour plots of data. I have been scouring the internet today for a plotting library that can create decent-looking contour plots, but to no avail. There are numerous plotting packages out there, and some even look good, but few seem to allow the creation of contour plots. My only working demo has been with JFreeChart, but honestly, I can't help but find its plots very ugly. (Suggestions on making them look better would be appreciated, if nothing else.)

If anyone has any suggestions on Java libraries/packages I might use to create contour plots, I would be very appreciative. Thanks! :tiphat:

 

[Urwumpe]

Look at this http://www.epic.noaa.gov/java/sgt/

 

[Arrowstar]

Thanks, I'll take a look. It's not particularly pretty, but it does look functional at least.

---------- Post added at 01:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:00 PM ----------

Urwumpe, have you used this software before? As a Java newbie, I'm finding it a bit challenging to understand....

 

[Urwumpe]

Thanks, I'll take a look. It's not particularly pretty, but it does look functional at least.

---------- Post added at 01:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:00 PM ----------

Urwumpe, have you used this software before? As a Java newbie, I'm finding it a bit challenging to understand....

Yes, compared to Apache POI, it is harmless, what is the problem?

 

[Arrowstar]

Mostly on where to start, to be honest. As I alluded to, I'm still learning Java. I have some (x,y,z) data and I'd like to create a contour plot in an existing Swing GUI. Any tips on how to get going?

 

[Urwumpe]

Mostly on where to start, to be honest. As I alluded to, I'm still learning Java. I have some (x,y,z) data and I'd like to create a contour plot in an existing Swing GUI. Any tips on how to get going?

Can it wait for tomorrow? I want to catch some sleep before watching Curiosity land or make a new crater.

I can then get you a step by step tutorial done.

 

[Arrowstar]

Of course, there is no hurry. Thank you!

 

[Arrowstar]

Hi Urwumpe, was wondering if you had had a chance to take a look at this yet?

 

[Urwumpe]

Hi Urwumpe, was wondering if you had had a chance to take a look at this yet?

Not yet, went directly from Zombie mode after the Curiosity landing to getting visited by my girlfriend. I hope I can look tomorrow at it. :lol:

 

[Arrowstar]

Okay, thanks!

 

[Quick_Nick]

Not yet, went directly from Zombie mode after the Curiosity landing to getting visited by my girlfriend. I hope I can look tomorrow at it. :lol:

Women and rovers. That's the life.

 

[Arrowstar]

Haha, Nick, indeed. And if I can this contour plotting stuff figured out, it'll be the trifecta indeed.

 

[Urwumpe]

Haha, Nick, indeed. And if I can this contour plotting stuff figured out, it'll be the trifecta indeed.

What I can tell so far is that the biggest challenge is getting a proper SGTGrid object defined. SimpleGrid doesn't do it, no idea why it causes unlabeled NullPointerException, the jars are without debugging info.

As long as you have your own implementation of SGTGrid, it should work.

The rest is like in the GridDemo, either by using the JPlotLayout class or by manually rendering things to Graphics.

 

[Arrowstar]

Do you know how to construct that SGT grid? I'm really pretty new to all this. Any step-by-step instructions you have would be great.