DRAWNORTH

Draws arrows parallel to the axes

Description:

This application draws a pair of arrows on top of a previously displayed DATA picture  which indicate the directions of the labelled axes in the underlying picture, at the position specified by Parameter ORIGIN. For instance, if the underlying picture has axes labelled with celestial co-ordinates, then the arrows will by default indicate the directions of north and east. The appearance of the arrows, including the labels attached to each arrow, may be controlled using the STYLE parameter. The picture area behind the arrows may optionally be cleared before drawing the arrows (see Parameter BLANK).

Usage:

drawnorth [device] [length] [origin]

Parameters:

ARROW = _REAL (Read)
The size of the arrow heads are specified by this parameter. Simple lines can be drawn by setting the arrow head size to zero. The value should be expressed as a fraction of the largest dimension of the underlying DATA picture. [current value]
BLANK = _LOGICAL (Read)
If TRUE, then the area behind the arrows is blanked before the arrows are drawn. This is done by drawing a rectangle filled with the current background colour of the selected graphics device. The size of the blanked area can be controlled using Parameter BLANKSIZE. [FALSE]
BLANKSIZE = _REAL (Read)
Specifies the size of the blanked area (see Parameter BLANK). A value of 1.0 results in the blanked area being just large enough to contain the drawn arrows and labels. Values larger than 1.0 introduce a blank margin around the drawn arrows and labels. This parameter also specifies the size of the picture stored in the graphics database. [1.05]
DEVICE = DEVICE (Read)
The plotting device. [Current graphics device]
EPOCH = _DOUBLE (Read)
If a ‘Sky Co-ordinate System’ specification is supplied (using Parameter FRAME) for a celestial co-ordinate system, then an epoch value is needed to qualify it. This is the epoch at which the supplied sky positions were determined. It should be given as a decimal years value, with or without decimal places ("1996.8" for example). Such values are interpreted as a Besselian epoch if less than 1984.0 and as a Julian epoch otherwise.
FRAME = LITERAL (Read)
Specifies the co-ordinate Frame  to which the drawn arrows refer. If a null (!) value is supplied, the arrows are drawn parallel to the two axes which were used to annotate the previously displayed picture. If the arrows are required to be parallel to the axes of some other Frame, the required Frame should be specified using this parameter. The string supplied for FRAME can be one of the following options.

  • A domain name  such as SKY, AXIS, PIXEL.

  • An integer value giving the index of the required Frame.

  • An IRAS90 Sky Co-ordinate System (SCS) values such as "EQUAT(J2000)" (see SUN/163).

An error will be reported if a co-ordinate Frame is requested which is not available in the previously displayed picture. If the selected Frame has more than two axes, the Parameter USEAXIS will determine the two axes which are to be used. [!]

LENGTH( 2 ) = _REAL (Read)
The lengths of the arrows, expressed as fractions of the largest dimension of the underlying DATA picture. If only one value is supplied, both arrows will be drawn with the given length. One of the supplied values can be set to zero if only a single arrow is required. [current value]
OFRAME = LITERAL (Read)
Specifies the co-ordinate Frame  in which the position of the arrows will be supplied (see Parameter ORIGIN). The following Frames will always be available.

  • "GRAPHICS" –- gives positions in millimetres from the bottom-left corner of the plotting surface.

  • "BASEPIC" –- gives positions in a normalised system in which the bottom-left corner of the plotting surface is (0, 0) and the shortest dimension of the plotting surface has length 1.0. The scales on the two axes are equal.

  • "CURPIC" –- gives positions in a normalised system in which the bottom-left corner of the underlying DATA picture is (0, 0) and the shortest dimension of the picture has length 1.0. The scales on the two axes are equal.

  • "NDC" –- gives positions in a normalised system in which the bottom-left corner of the plotting surface is (0, 0) and the top-right corner is (1, 1).

  • "CURNDC" –- gives positions in a normalised system in which the bottom-left corner of the underlying DATA picture is (0, 0) and the top-right corner is (1, 1).

Additional Frames will be available, describing the co-ordinates systems known to the data displayed within the underlying picture. These could include PIXEL, AXIS, SKY, for instance, but the exact list will depend on the displayed data. If a null value is supplied, the ORIGIN position should be supplied in the Frame used to annotate the underlying picture (supplying a colon ":" will display details of this co-ordinate Frame). ["CURNDC"]

ORIGIN = LITERAL (Read)
The co-ordinates at which to place the origin of the arrows, in the Frame specified by Parameter OFRAME. If a null (!) value is supplied, OFRAME is ignored and the arrows are situated at a default position near one of the corners, or at the centre. The supplied position can be anywhere within the current picture. An error is reported if the arrows and labels cannot be drawn at any of these positions. [!]
STYLE = GROUP (Read)
A group of attribute settings describing the plotting style to use for the vectors and annotated axes.

A comma-separated list of strings should be given in which each string is either an attribute setting, or the name of a text file preceded by an up-arrow character "^". Such text files should contain further comma-separated lists which will be read and interpreted in the same manner. Attribute settings are applied in the order in which they occur within the list, with later settings overriding any earlier settings given for the same attribute.

Each individual attribute setting should be of the form:

<name >= <value >

where <name > is the name of a plotting attribute, and <value > is the value to assign to the attribute. Default values will be used for any unspecified attributes. All attributes will be defaulted if a null value (!)–-the initial default–-is supplied. To apply changes of style to only the current invocation, begin these attributes with a plus sign. A mixture of persistent and temporary style changes is achieved by listing all the persistent attributes followed by a plus sign then the list of temporary attributes.

See Section E for a description of the available attributes. Any unrecognised attributes are ignored (no error is reported).

The appearance of the arrows is controlled by the attributes Colour(Axes), Width(Axes), etc. (the synonym Arrows may be used in place of Axes).

The text of the label to draw against each arrow is specified by the Symbol(1) and Symbol(2) attributes. These default to the corresponding attributes of the underlying picture. The appearance of these labels can be controlled using the attributes Font(TextLab), Size(TextLab), etc. The gap between the end of the arrow and the corresponding label can be controlled using attribute TextLabGap. The drawing of labels can be suppressed using attribute TextLab. [current value]

USEAXIS = GROUP (Read)
USEAXIS is only accessed if the co-ordinate Frame selected using Parameter FRAME has more than two axes. A group of two strings should be supplied specifying the two axes to which the two drawn arrows should refer. Each axis can be specified using one of the following options.

  • An integer index of an axis within the current Frame of the input NDF (in the range 1 to the number of axes in the current Frame).

  • An axis Symbol  string such as "RA" or "VRAD".

  • A generic option where "SPEC" requests the spectral axis, "TIME" selects the time axis, "SKYLON" and "SKYLAT" picks the sky longitude and latitude axes respectively. Only those axis domains present are available as options.

A list of acceptable values is displayed if an illegal value is supplied. If a null (!) value is supplied, the first two axes of the Frame are used. [!]

Examples:

drawnorth
Draws a pair of arrows indicating the directions of the axes of the previously displayed image, contour map, etc. The arrows are drawn at the top left of the picture. The current values for all other parameters are used.
drawnorth blank origin="0.5,0.5" style=’TextBackColour=clear’
As above, but blanks out the picture area behind the arrows, and positions them in the middle of the underlying DATA picture. In addition, the text labels are drawn with a clear background so that the underlying image can seen around the text.
drawnorth blank blanksize=1.2 oframe=pixel origin="150,250"
As above, but positions the arrows at pixel co-ordinates (150,250), and blanks out a larger area around the arrows.
drawnorth blank oframe=! origin="10:12:34,-12:23:37"
As above, but positions the arrows at RA=10:12:34 and DEC=-12:23:37 (this assumes the underlying picture was annotated with RA and DEC axes).
drawnorth length=[0.1,0] style=’colour(arrows)=red’
Draws the axis-1 arrow with length equal to 0.1 of the longest dimension of the underlying picture, but does not draw the axis-2 arrow. Both arrows are drawn red.
drawnorth style=’textlab=0’
Draws both arrows but does not draw any text labels.
drawnorth style="’Size(TextLab1)=2,Symbol(1)=A,Symbol(2)=B’"
Draws arrows with labels "A" and "B", using characters of twice the default size for the label for the first axis.

Notes: