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<title>ploticus: correspondence, troubleshooting, and bug reports</title>
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  <table cellpadding=2 width=550><tr>
  <td><br><h2>Correspondence, troubleshooting, and bug reports</h2></td>
  <td align=right>
  <small>
  <a href="../doc/Welcome.html"><img src="../doc/ploticus.gif" border=0></a><br>
  <a href="../doc/Welcome.html">Welcome</a> &nbsp; &nbsp;
  <a href="../gallery/index.html">Gallery</a> &nbsp; &nbsp;
  <a href="../doc/Contents.html">Handbook</a> 
  <td></tr></table>
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<br>
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.>>

.TH Correspondence,_troubleshooting,_and_bug_reports PL "15-APR-2002   PL ploticus.sourceforge.net"
 

.SH CORRESPONDENCE
.ig >>
<a href="http://ploticus.sourceforge.net/sgpr.html">Steve Grubb</a> is the author of ploticus.
.>>
.LP
You can reach me by email at
\fC 
.ig >>
 <a href="mailto:scg@jax.org">scg@jax.org</a> 
.>>
\fR, or by posting to the
.ig >>
<a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ploticus">ploticus news group</a>
.>>
(you don't have to join the newsgroup to post or browse).
I reserve the right to use your message in the 
.ig >>
<a href="Feedback.html">
.>>
user feedback page
.ig >>
</a>
.>>
or
.ig >>
<a href="Faq.html">
.>>
FAQ
.ig >>
</a>
.>>
\0.
If you have interesting examples or web sites that use ploticus, please send the
URLs or script files.


.ig >>
<br><br><br>
.>>

.SH TROUBLESHOOTING
Here are some troubleshooting tips and common snafus:
.ig >>
<br><br><br>
.>>
.LP
\fBDownloading\fR
.IP \(bu
Unix users should download gzip tar files.
Zip files are intended only for PC environments (text files have CR/LF line terminators).
.br
.br
.LP
\fBCompiling from source code\fR
.IP \(bu
Before compiling, review the \fBMakefile\fR and follow the simple 3-step 
installation guide.
.br
.br
.IP \(bu
An ANSI-compliant C compiler such as \fBgcc\fR is required to compile the source code.
.br
.br
.IP \(bu
After building, do a quick test.  From within the \fCsrc\fR directory type: \fCpl stock.htm\fR
.br
Or, this: \fCpl -gif stock.htm\fR 
.br
For further testing see \fC pltestsuite \fR, or run some gallery examples.
.br
.br
.LP
\fBUsing ploticus\fR
.IP \(bu
This error: \fCpl error 4899: No PLOTICUS_PREFABS env var (or hardcoded Makefile 
PREFABS_DIR) found\fR, indicates that the user does not have the
\fBPLOTICUS_PREFABS\fR environment variable set and exported
(it must contain the full pathname of the directory where
ploticus prefabs reside, as included in the download).  
.br
.br
.IP \(bu
Use the \fB-debug\fR command line option.
The resulting diagnostic output has been improved recently, and
there is now better debugging support for
.ig >>
<a href="cgi.html">
.>>
\0CGI mode.
.ig >>
</a>
.>>
.br
.br
.IP \(bu
Be sure you know which version you are executing
(you might have earlier ploticus versions on your system and not realize it).
Use \fCpl -version\fR to print the ploticus
version; use the unix command \fCwhich pl\fR to print the file that you
are actually executing when you type \fCpl\fR.
.br
.br
.IP \(bu
Unix builds do not read native PC text files.  This problem occurs
if pl is compiled on a unix machine and you feed it native PC text files, 
either as scripts or data files.  
Symptoms may include truncated multi-line text
items, or garbage characters appearing at the end of text items.  
.br
.br
.IP \(bu
If an image result contains blank areas at the top or side, it is probably because
the image is larger than 8" x 8" in one or both dimensions.  To generate images larger than 
8" x 8" a sufficient \fBpagesize\fR must be specified, either on the command line or via 
proc page.  
.br
.br
.IP \(bu
If viewing result images in a browser, remember that image caching is usually
being done, and that you might not be seeing the most recently generated image,
even when you Reload or Refresh.
.br
.br
.IP \(bu
If you're debugging a script,
use the proc getdata \fCshowresults\fR attribute if there is any doubt about the
incoming data or how it is being processed or filtered.  Ditto for proc processdata.
Use proc print or #write to print out variable contents.
Use #exit to stop script execution prematurely.
.br
.br
.IP \(bu
Check to be sure you aren't exceeding one of the
.ig >>
<a href="limits.html">
.>>
\0program limitations
.ig >>
</a>
.>>


.ig >>
<br><br><br>
.>>


.SH BUG REPORTS
Much of the incremental improvement in this package has been due to
the careful bug reports that have been sent in by attentive users.  Thanks!
Bug reports should be sent to \fC
.ig >>
<a href="mailto:scg@jax.org">
.>>
\0scg@jax.org
.ig >>
</a>
.>>
\fR or may be posted to the
.ig >>
<a href="http://yahoogroups.com/group/ploticus">
.>>
\0ploticus news group.
.ig >>
</a>
.>>
.LP
When reporting a problem, please do the following:
.IP 
\fB1.\fR Use the \fB-debug\fR command line option and send the resulting diagnostic output.
.IP
\fB2.\fR Include a self-contained example that demonstrates the problem.  Usually the first thing
I do is attempt to reproduce the problem here.
.IP
\fB3.\fR Indicate your OS ( linux, solaris, windows/NT, etc.)
.IP
\fB4.\fR Indicate your pl version if it's not shown in the above diagnostic output
(type \fC pl -version \fR to find out)
.IP
\fB5.\fR Describe exactly how you invoked pl.  Using a prefab?  CGI mode?  
By typing in a pl command?  Via perl or PHP?  Provide the exact pl command 
used (or the URL if using CGI mode).  If you used a config file please 
attach it.

.ig >>
<br>
<br>
</td></tr>
<td align=right>
<a href="../doc/Welcome.html">
<img src="../doc/ploticus.gif" border=0></a><br><small>data display engine &nbsp; <br>
<a href="../doc/Copyright.html">Copyright Steve Grubb</a>
<br>
<br>
<center>
<img src="../gallery/all.gif">
</center>
</td></tr>
</table>
.>>
