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Advanced Operations
Regardless of whether you read a plain-text data file or manually entered your data points, you can modify them using the "Edit Data Set..." menu choice found on the Edit menu. This menu choice brings up the Edit Line dialog shown below:
This is how the dialog looks for an explicit x data set. For an implicit x data set only a single column of numbers is shown. Via this same dialog you can edit any of the data sets in your cGraph window by entering the desired data line number in the control seen at the very top of the Edit Line dialog. You are free to modify x or y axis values or to delete or add data points. The only thing you can't do is to change an implicit x data set into an explicit x data set, or vice versa.
You can ask the cGraph window to display the exact x and y values for any point on any of the data sets. You do this by positioning the mouse cursor near the intended data line and then depressing and holding the left mouse button. While the left mouse button is kept depressed the title area of the window is replaced by a text message that displays the exact (x,y) coordinates for the data point currently being digitized. You can move the mouse while holding the left button depressed and thereby digitize the entire curve. A screen capture of the cGraph window during this digitization procedure is shown below. While digitizing the curve the mouse cursor changes from the usual arrow to a crosshair. Although this crosshair looks fine in this picture, when digitizing a perfectly horizontal or vertical section of a data curve the crosshair will take on strange colors but this is normal.
The legend portion of the cGraph window has a hidden feature. As you keep adding data curves to a plot the portion of the window used for the legend will initially grow but then eventually will reach a maximum allowed size. Whenever the maximum allowed size is insufficient to display all the legend entries, a scroll bar will appear on the legend thus allowing you to scroll to the invisible legend entries. The hidden feature is that you can (within limits) control this maximum legend size by dragging the top edge of the legend. The following screen capture shows how the mouse cursor changes when you have it positioned at the spot where -- if you depress and drag the mouse -- you will be able to increase or decrease the amount of screen real estate dedicated to the legend.
The most common reason that you would want to drag the legend is to eliminate the scroll bars before you create a .BMP or .GIF file of the current contents of the cGraph window. You want to fully expand the legend because the .BMP or .GIF file will show exactly what is visible in the window and hence will not include any invisible legend entries. The menu entries that create a .BMP or .GIF file are found on both the File menu on the main menu bar and on the right-click context menu. Via the ensuing Create .BMP File or Create .GIF File dialogs, you can specify the exact pixel dimensions that you wish. This is a very handy feature for creating images that you can then import into word processor documents.
You are not required to have a title or a horizontal axis label. If you don't request these items then no screen real estate will be reserved for them.
Finally, the cGraph window will print itself to a printer. Any hard copy always shows the entire legend. The default margins are 1" on all four sides. If you want to specify different margins then employ the File/Print Setup menu selection prior to requesting the print.
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