Graphs

[AlanStevens]

One of the major drawbacks of Mathcad, compared with, say, Matlab, or even Excel ( much though I hate to say it!), is its very limited graphing capability. Currently, of course, Prime is even worse than M15 in this respect. Prime 3 needs to address this (among many other things) if it is to become a serious contender in the world of engineering (it might not be such a problem for academia). Here is my initial list of things that need to be made available just for 2D graphs:

Gridlines

Title

Axis labels (and orientation of words)

Control of tick spacing and labelling

Legends (that can be dragged anywhere).

Boxed.

Copy and paste to other, non-Mathcad documents (e.g. Microsoft Word).

Two y-axes.

Plotting multiple lines from a single variable rather than having to separate out its components and list them explicitly.

Inserting text, arrows, numbers etc. (as an intrinsic part of the figure) - with user choice of fonts.

Alan

[RichardJ]

I have been whining and complaining vociferously about the inadequacy of Mathcad graphing for about a decade. Going from MC11 to MC14 (more than 5 years) it improved slightly. Going from 15 to Prime it fell off a cliff. I prefer not to think about how long it might take to get back to the inadequate graphing capabilities of MC15.

[ValeryOchkov]

Richard Jackson wrote:

I have been whining and complaining vociferously about the inadequacy of Mathcad graphing for about a decade. Going from MC11 to MC14 (more than 5 years) it improved slightly. Going from 15 to Prime it fell off a cliff. I prefer not to think about how long it might take to get back to the inadequate graphing capabilities of MC15.

Sorry, it is an old story - http://communities.ptc.com/thread/33599

[AlanStevens]

But since this group is about suggesting items to be considered for inclusion in Prime 3.0 (unless it's just a way for us to think we're having a say!) a positive list of what we would like to be included might be worthwhile.

Alan

[RichardJ]

a positive list of what we would like to be included might be worthwhile.

True.

Add these:

1) Label points programmatically using another vector of strings

2) Set the point color and marker type programmatically using another vector

3) Make the x-axis reversible

4) zoom

5) trace

[MikeArmstrong]

1 step forward .... Steps backward.

Mike

[Joeboy]

add these : probability scale, log probability scale, subscripts and superscripts in plot title, ability to put comments into plots (drag and drop), I thought zoom and trace were already available, did they disappear in "2" ? If so put'em back.

[AlanStevens]

Dixie Griffin wrote:

... ability to put comments into plots (drag and drop), ...

You can sort of do this already, as long as you are willing to have a transparent plot background - see attached. It's unsatisfactory though, as the comment label isn't an integral part of the figure.

Alan

[Joeboy]

Yes, but I don't like the fact that the comment is not "tacked down" on the plot, too easy for it to get moved

[AlanStevens]

Dixie Griffin wrote:

Yes, but I don't like the fact that the comment is not "tacked down" on the plot, too easy for it to get moved

I agree.

Alan

[ValeryOchkov]

AlanStevens wrote:

Plotting multiple lines from a single variable rather than having to separate out its components and list them explicitly.
Alan

See please http://twtmas.mpei.ac.ru/mas/Worksheets/2D_Plot_y_x_a.mcd

[VladimirN]

AlanStevens wrote:

...

Two y-axes

...

At least three "Y-axes".

[AlanStevens]

VladimirN. wrote:

At least three "Y-axes".

Hmmm, a Y-axis fetish. I hope it's treatable!

Alan

[mzeftel]

We are improving plots as a major feature for Mathcad Prime 3.0. Some of the features we are planning include:

Title

Axis labels (and orientation of words)

Legends (that can be dragged anywhere).

Boxed (not positive)

Copy and paste to other, non-Mathcad documents (e.g. Microsoft Word).

Two y-axes (sorry, not 3)

And improving the look and layout on the page. I plan to do some remote testing as soon as there's something to share (towards May).

Mona

[AlanStevens]

Mona Zeftel wrote:

We are improving plots as a major feature for Mathcad Prime 3.0. Some of the features we are planning include:

Title

Axis labels (and orientation of words)

Legends (that can be dragged anywhere).

Boxed (not positive)

Copy and paste to other, non-Mathcad documents (e.g. Microsoft Word).

Two y-axes (sorry, not 3)

And improving the look and layout on the page. I plan to do some remote testing as soon as there's something to share (towards May).

Mona

Good news. Could we please also remove the daft placing of the y-axis variable name in a place-holder set on the x-axis, and the x-axis variable name in a place-holder on the y-axis?

Alan

[SteenGroðe]

Insufficient... sadly. You'll have to rethink the graphs completely.

The graphs need to be interactive, parametric and relational, with the option of making symbolic "calculations" and making statistical models from the graphical interface.

Software to have in my is Smartsketch (the relations), SolidEdge (the 3D and the relations - same kernel as Smartsketch), GeometryExpression (the connection between symbolics and graphing and Cindarella. You'll have to pick the best from those four and make it into one, then add something from the old Mathcad and a little with implicit expressions (I can find applications to be inspired from), then you have a graphing that will be a hit. Maybe add a little from Geogebra but let's talk about this when the rest are in place.

Oh and then graph theory... knots... and all the statistical things...

[VladimirN]

Mona Zeftel wrote:

...Some of the features we are planning include...

Thanks, Mona.

[ptc-4043001]

Mona Zeftel wrote:

...
Legends (that can be dragged anywhere).

It would be great to also have a means for numerical input of position for objects that can be freely positioned (especially if the granularity of movement is not fine enough).

Use Case: I want to create 3 graphs with identical axes for inclusion into a word document (since I have no 3 y-axes ) where they are arranged in a row. The legends (and everything else) should all line up perfectly, this cannot be achieved without specifying the position numerically...

[JohnArcher]

Mona, a most irritating thing is the failure of the mouse wheel to "let go" of a 3d plot. This has been a fault since v13. Using a Microsoft Wireless Mouse I have to click outside of the plot and hit CTRL+ESC to get control of the page.

Vector plots and the Repaginate feature should not be lost.

[mzeftel]

John,

I'm not totally clear on what you are saying.

Do you have this issue both in earlier versions of Mathcad and Mathcad Prime 2.0? I don't have a wireless mouse, so I haven't seen nor I have I heard of this issue. The 3D plots are totally new in Mathcad Prime 2.0, so I'm surprised that the same issue exists in both versions.

Thanks

Mona

[VladimirN]

Alan,

Sometimes need to work with a large number of Y-axes.

[AlanStevens]

VladimirN. wrote:

Alan,

Sometimes need to work with a large number of Y-axes.

Doesn't the resulting graph get very confusing and difficult to interpret? Wouldn't a better approach be to use a series of subplots (as can be used in Matlab, for example - another suggestion for Prime), with the several plots either side by side or one above the other?

Alan

[ValeryOchkov]

I need in Mathcad a pie-diagram - see http://twt.mpei.ac.ru/mas/worksheets/Basa_Water.mcd

and a triangle diagram - see http://twt.mpei.ac.ru/MCS/Worksheets/3-st-isp.xmcd

And I do not need a surface plot!

[JohnArcher]

HI, Mona. This has been a problem for me before PTC and we have talked about it before. Desktop or laptop. WinXP Pro 32bit, Win7 Pro 32/64 bit. Open 15M010, Tutorial, 3d graphs. Click on the first plot and use the mouse wheel to change the plot size. Click outside of the plot and rotate the wireless mouse wheel; the plot size changes and page up/down control is lost. Hit CTRL+ESC to regain control.

Surely I am not the only user experiencing this?

[VladimirN]

I have the same issue in Mathcad 15 M010.

[RichardJ]

Surely I am not the only user experiencing this?

No, I see it too.

[mzeftel]

Hi John and all,

I see the same issue as well. I'll check if it's been logged.

The good news is that the mouse wheel works correctly in 3D plots in Mathcad Prime 2.0.

Mona

[JohnArcher]

Hi, Mona. Thankfully this is not a problem with Prime 2.0.

Prime 3.0 should enable two y-axes and vector plots.

Vector plots are great tools for explaining what is happening, especially as chaos is approached.

[GeoffreyStone]

I would like to see dynamic graphing so a function can march in time.

[BertBeirinckx]

Sounds like an animation to me. I second this. Animations are one of those basic features which Prime lacks.

The same goes for webcontrols.