SciDAVis

SciDAVis

Screenshot of SciDAVis 0.1.0 on GNU/Linux
Stable release	0.2.4 / 12 March 2010
Written in	C++, Python
Operating system	Cross-platform
Type	Plotting
License	GNU General Public License
Website	http://scidavis.sourceforge.net/

SciDAVis (Scientific Data Analysis and Visualization) is an open-source cross-platform computer program for interactive scientific graphing and data analysis. Development started in 2007 as fork of QtiPlot, which in turn is a clone of the proprietary program Origin.

Mission statement

SciDAVis is a free interactive application aimed at data analysis and publication-quality plotting. It combines a shallow learning curve and an intuitive, easy-to-use graphical user interface with powerful features such as scriptability and extensibility. SciDAVis runs on GNU/Linux, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X; possibly also on other platforms like some BSD variants, although this is untested.

SciDAVis is similar in its field of application to proprietary Windows applications like Origin and SigmaPlot as well as free applications like QtiPlot, LabPlot and Gnuplot.

What sets SciDAVis apart from the above is its emphasis on providing a friendly and open environment (in the software as well as the project) for new and experienced users alike. Particularly, this means that we will try to provide good documentation on all levels, ranging from user's manual over tutorials down to and including documentation of the internal APIs. We encourage users to share their experiences on our forums and on our mailing lists.

—SciDAVis about page

Features

SciDAVis can generate different types of 2D and 3D plots (such as line, scatter, bar, pie, and surface plots) from data that is either imported from ASCII files, entered by hand, or calculated using formulas.^[1] The data is held in spreadsheets which are referred to as tables with column-based data (typically X and Y values for 2D plots) or matrices (for 3D plots). The spreadsheets as well as graphs and note windows are gathered in a project and can be organized using folders. The built-in analysis operations include column/row statistics, (de)convolution, FFT and FFT-based filters. Curve fitting can be performed with user-defined or built-in linear and nonlinear functions, including multi-peak fitting, based on the GNU Scientific Library. The plots can be exported to several bitmap formats, PDF, EPS or SVG. Note windows support in-place evaluation of mathematical expressions or an optional scripting interface to Python. The GUI of the application uses the Qt toolkit.

History

SciDAVis was founded by Tilman Benkert and Knut Franke in 2007 as a fork of QtiPlot, after disagreements arose with Ion Vasilief, the founder and main developer of the project.^[2] Franke has stated that the topics of disagreement included "design goals, management of community resources and the right way to make money from a free software project".^[2]

In 2008, developers of SciDAVis and LabPlot "found their project goals to be very similar" and "decided to start a close cooperation" with the aim of merging their code into a common backend, while maintaining "two frontends, one with full KDE4 integration (called LabPlot 2.x) and one with no KDE dependencies (pure Qt so to say) for easier cross-platform use (called SciDAVis)".^[3] Since then, both SciDavis and LabPlot development has stalled.

Release history

• 2007-08-05: Release 0.1.0
• 2007-12-21: Release 0.1.1
• 2008-02-03: Release 0.1.2
• 2008-04-19: Release 0.1.3
• 2009-02-10: Release 0.1.4
• 2009-02-14: Release 0.2.0
• 2009-03-09: Release 0.2.1
• 2009-04-20: Release 0.2.2
• 2009-07-12: Release 0.2.3
• 2010-03-12: Release 0.2.4

See also

• List of graphing software

References

External links

• SciDAVis web site
• SciDAVis project page at Sourceforge
• LabPlot and SciDAVis Collaborate on the Future of Free Scientific Plotting - KDE News
• openSUSE packages
• Debian etch packages