Growing x11 plot window (was: Flickering movies)

[Ben Abbott]

On Jun 25, 2009, at 8:38 PM, Ben Abbott wrote:

> On Jun 25, 2009, at 4:05 PM, Ben Abbott wrote:
>
>> On Thursday, June 25, 2009, at 10:45AM, "Marco Caliari" <marco.caliari at univr.it 
>> > wrote:
>>> Dear maintainers,
>>>
>>> I'm not sure I will describe a bug or just a different behavior,  
>>> so I'm
>>> writing to the maintainers' list.
>>> The execution of the following code in Octave 3.0.5
>>>
>>> x = linspace(-1,1);
>>> for i = 1:50
>>> plot(x,i*x.^2)
>>> axis([-1,1,0,50])
>>> pause(0.1)
>>> end
>>>
>>> produces a nice and fluent "movie". In particular, the axis box  
>>> seems
>>> fixed (it is fixed to my eyes), and only the curve inside moves.  
>>> With
>>> 3.2.0, I get a very flickering movie, with the axis box clearly  
>>> redrawn
>>> at each step. What is strange, moreover, is that if I change
>>>
>>> pause(0.1)
>>>
>>> with
>>>
>>> pause(0.01)
>>>
>>> the axis box changes its dimensions during the loop and so the  
>>> illusion of
>>> a movie disappears. I'm using gnuplot 4.2.5.
>>
>> Marco, I see the same effect.
>>
>> This "feature" has been present since Gnuplot allowed the x11  
>> window position and size to be set. Gnuplot allows the x11 window  
>> position and size to be set for gnuplot 4.2.5 and later.
>>
>> Unfortunately, I've been unable to demonstrate this behavior using  
>> gnuplot scripts (i.e. no Octave). Thus, I'm inclined to conclude  
>> the problem is with the plot stream octave send's to gnuplot, but  
>> have been unable to debug (isolate) the problem.
>>
>> Ben
>
> Marco / others
>
> I've taken a fresh look at this and have found a simple gnuplot  
> script that demonstrates (for me) the problem of the figure window  
> changing its dimension (nearly always resulting in vertical growth).  
> I've attached a copy of the script.
>
> The script is very simple
>
> set terminal x11
> set multiplot; plot sin(x); unset multiplot;
> set multiplot; plot sin(x); unset multiplot;
> set multiplot; plot sin(x); unset multiplot;
> set multiplot; plot sin(x); unset multiplot;
> set multiplot; plot sin(x); unset multiplot;
> set multiplot; plot sin(x); unset multiplot;
> ...
>
> My experience is that the x11 figure window's growth (or change in  
> dimension) is related to timing. A sufficiently fast computer may  
> not produce the problem.
>
> In any event, if anyone is running gnuplot 4.2.5 or above, I'd  
> appreciate it if they'd run this script and report back what  
> happens. Just type ...
>
> 	gnuplot --persist "debug.gp"
>
> ... or run gnuplot and type
>
> 	load "debug.gp"
>
> Thanks,
> Ben

I've produced a initial changeset that attempt to work around the  
problem.

When there are multiple axes or, at least one image objects, gnuplot's  
multiplot is set (meaning the growth problem remains). For other  
plots, multiplot is unset (meaning the growth problem is absent).

I've tried gnuplot 4.2.3, 4.2.5, and the developers 4.3.0. I see no  
new problems., and only see a growing window for running 4.2.5 for  
4.3.0, and when multiplot is set.

The figure window growth problem remains obvious for me when running  
the colorbar demos.

Ben

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