# ACE/gr FAQ

## Contents

0. | General information
--- | ---
0.0 | Where can I get the most recent version of xmgr?
0.1 | How do I subscribe to/unsibscribe from the xmgr mailing list?
0.2 | I've found a bug in xmgr, how do I report it?
1. | Compilation problems
1.0 | When I try to compile xmgr I get message like: Makefile: Must be a separator on line 55
1.1 | While compiling xmgr I get error messages about missing include files.
2. | Usage troubles & tricks
2.0 | I run xmgr and get the following error messages: Warning: translation table syntax error: Unknown keysym name: osfPageLeft Warning: ... found while parsing '<Key>osfPageLeft:SWLeftPage()' [...]
2.1 | How do I set the background color of a plot, outside of the graph frame?
2.2 | I'd like plot data against an axis on the right (top) and another data set in a different scale against an axis on the left (bottom)?
2.3 | Can I use different fonts, symbols, font size, or sub/superscripts in Xmgr?
2.4 | How can I input yy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss data?
2.5 | Where is grbatch? How does batch printing work?
2.6 | I can't anymore print to a PostScript printer. Prior to xmgr-4, this worked fine.
2.7 | I get all kinds of weirdness with xmgr-4 on Linux. I'm using a precompiled binary.
2.8 | When I load to the xmgr-4 a project saved with an earlier version of xmgr, symbols of all (some) sets are drawn in the black color.
2.9 | How do I do polar plots with XMGR?
2.10 | When I use exponential (or any other non-linear) regression, the resulting parameters are wrong, though the fitting curve itself is OK.
2.11 | With xmgr-4.1.0, I can't open anymore project files saved with a prior version of the program
2.12 | Xmgr can not find help files
2.13 | I run xmgr on a Solaris 2.5.1 box, and when I try to open a file, I can't read the names of the files (files section of the dialog) because xmgr writes ALL the path of each file in the list and there is not horizontal scroll. Can you help me?

## Answers

0. General information
0.0 | Q: | Where can I get the most recent version of xmgr?
A: | The sources of the most recent version of xmgr are located at the URL: ftp://plasma-gate.weizmann.ac.il/pub/xmgr4/src/xmgr-latest.tar.gz You can fetch it from a mirror site as well. The list of mirror sites can be found at ftp://plasma-gate.weizmann.ac.il/pub/xmgr4/MIRRORS
0.1 | Q: | How do I subscribe to/unsibscribe from the xmgr mailing list?
A: | Xmgr has three mailing lists: acegr, acegr-announce and acegr-dev. The first one, unmoderated, serves for general discussions of xmgr. You can subscribe to it by sending an email to acegr-request@plasma-gate.weizmann.ac.il with no subject line and the only word 'Subscribe' (without quotes, of course) in the body of the message. You may instead wish to subscribe to the digest of the list by sending same email to acegr-digest-request@plasma-gate.weizmann.ac.il. The digest is sent once in a three days or when its size exceeds 32K. The moderated acegr-announce list is for new version or serious bug fix announcements only (which are automatically relayed to the first mailing list, too). The address to send subscription requests is acegr-announce-request@plasma-gate.weizmann.ac.il. The acegr-dev mailing list is for developers. The -request address is acegr-dev-request@plasma-gate.weizmann.ac.il. To unsubscribe from a list, same instructions apply, with "Subscribe" being replaced by "Unsubscribe".
0.2 | Q: | I've found a bug in xmgr, how do I report it?
A: | Please use the on-line report facility found under "Help/Comments" menu.
1. Compilation problems
1.0 | Q: | When I try to compile xmgr I get message like: Makefile: Must be a separator on line 55
A: | This message means you have to use a more descent `make' utility, like the GNU make, available on many systems as `gmake'. Starting with version 4.1.1, xmgr should compile with any vendor-supplied 'make' utility.
1.1 | Q: | While compiling xmgr I get error messages about missing include files.
A: | The answer to this question varies: a. The include files are there but in a non-standard place. Check with your local sys admin. b. If the missing files are like Xm/*.h, this means you don't have Motif development kit installed (or again, you have to tell explicitly to compiler where to look for the header files). This mostly concerns Linux. c. If compiler complains about missing Xbae/Matrix.h, you need either to install the Xbae widget library version 4.5 (available from ftp://ftp.x.org/contrib/widgets/motif/) or disable the use of the widget in Make.conf file. In the later case, however, you won't get the semi-spreadsheet set editor.
2. Usage troubles & tricks
2.0 | Q: | I run xmgr and get the following error messages: Warning: translation table syntax error: Unknown keysym name: osfPageLeft Warning: ... found while parsing '<Key>osfPageLeft:SWLeftPage()' [...]
A: | Get the XKeySymDB file from the X11R6 distribution. Put it somewhere where you can get at it and setenv XKEYSYMDB /place/where/you/put/XKeysymDB This will satisfy xmgr.
2.1 | Q: | How do I set the background color of a plot, outside of the graph frame?
A: | Use graph 0 as the background: 1. set the viewport for graph 0 such that 0 < x < 1 and 0 < y < 1 2. fill the frame of graph 0 with whatever color you want 3. graphs 1 and up will plot in front of graph 0, so the desired effect is achieved. You can also add `background color NUMBER` to your ~/.xmgrrc, or use `xmgr -pexec "background color NUMBER"` This changes the background of the entire canvas, not only the background of graphs. From version 4.1.0 and up, this can be done using the "Options/Page" popup as well.
2.2 | Q: | I'd like plot data against an axis on the right (top) and another data set in a different scale against an axis on the left (bottom)?
A: | Use overlaying graphs. With this you can achieve the desired effect, but you'll need to pay close attention to which graph is the 'current' graph. This is also how to plot data sets in different scales against an axis on the right an an axis on the left.
2.3 | Q: | Can I use different fonts, symbols, font size, or sub/superscripts in Xmgr?
A: | Yes, Xmgr has all these features. Wherever you can type a text in xmgr, e.g. Axis labels, graph title, text from Strings&Things, etc., you can use all those features within the same text. Please refer to the "Help/User Guide", section "Fonts, subscripts, superscripts". There are some limitations, though, which are also discussed there.
2.4 | Q: | How can I input yy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss data?
A: | Before reading the file, toss in a: @format YYMMDD # then YY-MM-DD y @format YYMMDDHMS # then YY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS.S y @format MMDDYY # then MM-DD-YY y @format MMDDYYHMS # then MM-DD-YY HH:MM:SS.S y
2.5 | Q: | Where is grbatch? How does batch printing work?
A: | Grbatch is simply a copy of xmgr named grbatch or a symbolic link from xmgr to grbatch. In the case of the symbolic link: ln -s xmgr grbatch done wherever the xmgr binary is located will do the trick (rehash or logout and login to make sure that grbatch shows up in your path). Executing grbatch with no command line parameters or data files will produce a hardcopy on the default printer.
2.6 | Q: | I can't anymore print to a PostScript printer. Prior to xmgr-4, this worked fine.
A: | The changes in the PostScript driver for fills using patterns, introduced in 4.00, require use of a Level 2 compliant PostScript printer. You can disable the PS Level 2 features in the printer setup as well as with the command-line switch `-nops2'.
2.7 | Q: | I get all kinds of weirdness with xmgr-4 on Linux. I'm using a precompiled binary.
A: | The problem is in the libc incompatibility. The README.Linux file, found in the same directory you downloaded the binary from, lists the proper library version. You'll have to upgrade your system. Starting with version 4.1.1, the static binary is not provided anymore, since it is impossible to include support for dynamic modules in a static executable.
2.8 | Q: | When I load to the xmgr-4 a project saved with an earlier version of xmgr, symbols of all (some) sets are drawn in the black color.
A: | The xmgr-4 fixed the relict symbol-color bug. Previously (since xmgr-3) all symbols by default were asigned the black color, but drawn using the line color. The fix thus would break any project saved with a post-2 version of xmgr, unless symbol colors were explicitly defined. To overcome this, the new `-symcolorbug' flag should be used to load such a project. Once saved, it can be open in a usual way. Projects saved with a 2.* version of x[m,v]gr (which didn't have the option to change the symbol color independently) will be converted automatically.
2.9 | Q: | How do I do polar plots with XMGR?
A: | The support for polar plots is very limited as of now (4.1.0), though the situation may change soon. The polar coordinates can be selected from the "Data/Graph ops/Type".
2.10 | Q: | When I use exponential (or any other non-linear) regression, the resulting parameters are wrong, though the fitting curve itself is OK.
A: | For linear fits (y=ax+b) a straightforward least squares procedure is used. For exponential and power fits, the function to fit is linearized, it is important to note that the statistics generated refer to the parameters of the linearized function and not the original one.
2.11 | Q: | With xmgr-4.1.0, I can't open anymore project files saved with a prior version of the program
A: | In xmgr-4.1.0, support for the binary file format (the former default one) was dropped. You must use the `grconvert' utility supplied with the xmgr distribution in order to convert the files.
2.12 | Q: | Xmgr can not find help files
A: | Set the GR_HOME environment variable to your xmgr directory, i.e. if your documentation is in /user/murryn/xmgr/doc, do: `export GR_HOME="/user/murryn/xmgr"` in bash or `setenv GR_HOME "/user/murryn/xmgr"` in csh.
2.13 | Q: | I run xmgr on a Solaris 2.5.1 box, and when I try to open a file, I can't read the names of the files (files section of the dialog) because xmgr writes ALL the path of each file in the list and there is not horizontal scroll. Can you help me?
A: | This is a known bug of Motif implementation on Solaris 2.5.1. Ask your vendor for patch.