Programmer's Reference > Sending data to DPlot from another application

Macro commands may be used either in macros or by sending the commands to DPlot via dynamic data exchange (DDE). Some commands are valid only in macros (noted by Macros Only). Commands sent to DPlot via DDE must be enclosed by square brackets [ ]. Macro commands should not include the brackets.

Command parameters shown in the descriptions below are placeholders for the actual values. Command parameters are either numeric values, equations that evaluate to numbers, or character strings. Character string parameters are always bound by double quotation marks. Equations must be preceded by an equals sign (=).

The pipe symbol (|) in the command syntax indicates that a parameter is optional, and should not be included in your macro unless otherwise noted.

All indices into arrays are 1-based, e.g. Curve1=1 refers to the first curve in a plot.

A 0x prefix for numbers in the descriptions below indicates hexadecimal notation; e.g. 0x0010 = 16.

JR/Viewer indicates that the command is supported by DPlot Jr or DPlot Viewer.
JR/Viewer indicates that the command is NOT supported by DPlot Jr or DPlot Viewer.

[TextPointLabel(Where,X,Y,Frame,Opaque,|Options,bkColor,|"Label")]

JR Viewer

Attaches a label to a specific data point in the curve or data group most recently selected with the SelectCurve command. All parameters must be separated by commas.

Options =

Please note: The pipe symbols ( || ) surrounding Options in the above description indicate that this parameter is optional. Do not include these symbols with this parameter. Options is a combination of the following values. Note that bits 1,2, and 4 are mutually exclusive, as are 8 and 32.

1	Where specifies the X coordinate of the point you want to label. The data point with X value closest to Where will be labeled. (This option is not valid for 1D plots.)

2	Label the point with the maximum Y value. Where is ignored.

4	Label the point with the minimum Y value. Again, Where is ignored.

8	X and Y specify relative offsets from the labeled data point in plot coordinate space, rather than an absolute location. (This option is not valid for 1D plots.)

16	Rotate label 90 degrees counterclockwise.

32	X and Y specify relative offsets from the labeled data point in inches. Note that if you subsequently use the mouse to move the label that this option is automatically turned off.

64	The label is mouse-activated. It will only be drawn when the user moves the mouse cursor over the point referenced by the label.

128	Label is center-justified horizontally. Default is left-justified.

256	Label is right-justified.

512	Label is top-justified vertically. Default is vertically centered.

1024	Label is bottom-justified.

If Options is omitted or does not have any of the 1, 2, or 4 bits set, then Where specifies the data point to label (1 through number of points in the curve or group).

If Where=-1 (and, again, none of Options bits 1,2, or 4 are set), then all points in the currently selected curve (all curves for SelectCurve(-1)) will be labeled.

X,Y =

Label coordinates in plot space if neither the 8 or 32 bits of Options is set.
Offset from labeled point in plot space if the 8 bit of Options is set.
Offset from labeled point in inches if the 32 bit of Options is set.

Frame =

If = 1, a rectangle will be drawn around the label.

Opaque =

If = 1, the label will hide any objects that intersect the label. If = 0, objects underneath the label will be visible.

bkColor

is the background color of the label. If omitted or if Opaque is 0, the background will be the same color as the plot background (set with BkColor).

"Label"

Text to use for the label. See the Help topic on the the Label Points command for more information. If "Label" has 0 length (...,Opaque,|Options,|"")]), then the amplitude (Y value) of the point will be used as the label. This is equivalent to checking "Use amplitude only" on the Point Labels dialog.

Please note:

Character string arguments require a bit of care, depending on your development environment. Character string arguments in all DPlot commands are always enclosed by double quotation marks. In some environments (Visual Basic and all flavors of C, for example), double quotation marks are also used to delineate all character strings (including the command itself). The following example will always cause a syntax error in Visual Basic:

ret = DPlot_Command(docnum,"[FileOpen("myfile.grf")]")

Instead, use:

ret = DPlot_Command(docnum,"[FileOpen(""myfile.grf"")]")

in C, C++, C# you'd accomplish the same thing with:

ret = DPlot_Command(docnum,"[FileOpen(\"myfile.grf\")]");

If a character string argument is a variable, as in (VB):

Dim arg as string
arg = "myfile.grf"

... then you can build the command in VB as:

ret = DPlot_Command(docnum,"[FileOpen(" & chr$(34) & arg & chr$(34) & ")]")

In all flavors of C, the same can be accomplished with

char arg[256];
char cmd[512];
strcpy(arg,"myfile.grf");
sprintf(cmd,"[FileOpen(\"%s\")]",arg);
ret = DPlot_Command(docnum,cmd);

This does not apply to the DPlot macro editor, in which each line is by definition a character string and does not require delineators, nor to FORTRAN and possibly other languages, in which the delineator for character strings is a single quote, e.g. '[FileOpen("...")]'

To embed a double quotation mark within a character string which is itself delineated by double quotation marks, use the Symbol font equivalent instead. For example, "Radius=6{\s²}" inches will be processed as

Radius=6"

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