IDL and 2-D Plotting

Getting Started with IDL: 2-D Plots

IDL and 2-D Plotting

IDL makes plotting data easy. X versus Y plots can be displayed with a single command, and multiple plots can be viewed at the same time. You can also use the new IDL iPlot tool to visualize and manipulate your plot data. This chapter demonstrates some of IDL's plotting capabilities. We will also examine how you enter statements at the IDL Command Line and how to use the iPlot tool. This demonstrates IDL's interactive capability, and shows how easy it is to manipulate your data.

Note
To simplify obtaining useful results from the command line examples in this manual, create a bitmap buffer for your graphic windows and to use a maximum of 256 colors by entering the following command at the IDL command prompt:

DEVICE, RETAIN=2, DECOMPOSED=0

IDL Online Help (March 06, 2007)