WEB

WEB

Support Command

Initiate a browser to access web pages from within Dataplot.

The WEB comamnd is used to access a web page from within Dataplot.

This command is host dependent (it utilizes a "system" call to initiate the browser). It is currently supported for Linux/Unix, Mac OS X, and Windows platforms. See the Note section below for SET commands that allow you to specify which browser to use.

There are three special forms of the command.

1. The WEB HELP command is used to access the Dataplot Reference Manual (and other Dataplot documentation) on the web. This is an alternative to the Dataplot HELP command which accesses ASCII text files.

   The Dataplot web site is at the following URL:

   http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/softwaredataplot/

   The Dataplot Reference Manual is available at the following URL:

   http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/software/dataplot/document.htm

2. The WEB HANDBOOK command is used to access the NIST/SEMATECH Engineering Statistics Handbook.

   The NIST/SEMATECH Engineering Statistics Handbook (we will refer to this as the e-Handbook) can be found at the following URL:

   http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook/

   The e-Handbook is a web based guide to the use of statistics in engineering applications. The WEB HANDBOOK command provides a useful complement to the Dataplot HELP and WEB HELP commands. That is, the HELP and WEB HELP commands are primarily concerned with dicussing how statistical techniques are implemented within Dataplot whereas the e-Handbook provides a more tutorial discussion of these techniques. In addition, it provides an overview of many common application areas commonly used in engineering and scientific applications.

3. The WEB SEARCH command is used to perform a web search.

WEB <url address>
where <url address> is the URL of the web page you would like to view.

If the <url address> is omitted, then the NIST homepage is acessed. In addition, a few specific keywords are supported:

NIST	-	accesses the NIST web page.
SED	-	accesses the NIST Statistical Engineering Division web page.
ITL	-	accesses the NIST Information Technology Laboratory web page.
SEMATECH	-	accesses the SEMATECH web page.
JJF	-	accesses Jim Filliben's home page (accessible only from within NIST).
FILLIBEN	-	accesses Jim Filliben's home page (accessible only from within NIST).
HECKERT	-	accesses Alan Heckert's home page (accessible only from within NIST)

The WEB command with no arguments takes you to the NIST web site.

WEB HELP <key1> ... <keyn>
where <key1> ... <keyn> is a list of keywords that specify a command or a topic for which help is needed.

The WEB HELP command with no arguments takes you to the introductory page for the Dataplot Reference Manual.

The <key1> ... <keyn> is matched against a file (refman.tex in the Dataplot help directory) of keywords that specifies the appropriate Dataplot URL. Although this command is used by the Dataplot GUI, it can also be entered by the end-user. To see a list of supported keywords, enter

LIST REFMAN.TEX

The online Reference Manual is a combination of HTML and PDF files. To view the PDF files, you need a plug-in for your browser that can read PDF files.

WEB HANDBOOK <key1> ... <keyn>
where <key1> ... <keyn> is a list of keywords that specify the name of the topic for which you would like to access an appropriate page of the e-Handbook.

The <key1> ... <keyn> is matched against a file (handbk.tex in the Dataplot help directory) of keywords that specifies the appropriate e-Handbook URL. Although this command is used by the Dataplot GUI, it can also be entered by the end-user. To see a list of supported keywords, enter

LIST HANDBK.TEX

WEB SEARCH <key1> ... <keyn>
where <key1> ... <keyn> is a list of keywords for the search.

Each keyword can have up to 8 characters and keywords are separated either by spaces or hyphens. If no keywords are given, you will be taken to the search engine home page.

The following command can be used to specify the desired search engine

SET SEARCH ENGINE <GOOGLE/BING/YAHOO/WOW/DUCK>

where

GOOGLE	=>	the Google search engine
BING	=>	the Bing (Microsoft) search engine
YAHOO	=>	the Yahoo search engine
WOW	=>	the WOW (AOL) search engine
DUCK	=>	the duckduckgo search engine

This can be used for any generic search. Specifically, it can be used as an alternative to the WEB HELP command. The WEB HELP command requires a specific match of keywords. So if you are unsure of the specific command name, you can perform a more generic search by using WEB SEARCH DATAPLOT .

WEB SED
WEB http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/software/dataplot/
WEB http://www.itl.nist.gov/


WEB HELP
WEB HELP PLOT
WEB HELP FIT
WEB HELP LET
WEB HELP 3D-PLOT
WEB HELP READ
WEB HELP GRAPHICS
WEB HELP ANALYSIS


WEB HANDBOOK
WEB HANDBOOK RELIABILITY
WEB HANDBOOK EDA
WEB HANDBOOK REGRESSION
WEB HANDBOOK BLOCK PLOT


WEB SEARCH DATAPLOT PPCC PLOT
WEB SEARCH QUANTILE QUANTILE PLOTS

If you wish to specify which browser to use, you can enter the following command:
SET BROWSER <name>>

where <name> is the string that activates your preferred browser. It is recommended that you enclose <name> in double quotes.

For Linux/Unix and Mac OS X platforms, Dataplot will by default use

firefox

NOTE: The 2019/03 version of Dataplot modified this to use "xdg-open" as the default Linux browser. The "xdg-open" will use the system default browser.

If you have a different preference for the default, you can add an appropriate SET BROWSER command to your dplogf.tex file.

For Windows platforms, the default DPLOGF.TEX file contains a section that allows you to set the default browser. This file is typically in one of the following directories (the drive may be different if you selected a non-default location and "Program Files" may have a different spelling on non-English machines):

c:\Program Files\NIST\DATAPLOT	-	32-bit machines
c:\Program Files (x86)\NIST\DATAPLOT	-	64-bit machines

In this file, look for the lines

LET IOPS = ...
LET IBROWSE = ...


The IOPS parameter specifies whether you have a 32-bit machine or a 64-bit machine. The IBROWSE can be set to 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 for Internet Explorer, Firefox, Seamonkey, Chrome, or Opera, respectively. Based on the settings for these two switches, the DPLOGF.TEX will issue the appropriate SET BROWSER command. You can of course modify this section to use any browser of your choosing.

Alternatively, you can enter the following operating system command under Unix (for the c-shell):

setenv BROWSER <name>

On Windows platforms, you can enter the following operating system command (add this to a batch file that initiates Dataplot):

SET BROWSER=<name>

The default URL for the WEB command is the NIST home page on the public NIST web server (http://www.nist.gov/). You can change this default by entering the following Dataplot command:
SET URL <location of desired web page>

For example, you may want to change the default to local site's main web page.

If you need to enter this command, you should consider putting it in you DPLOGF.TEX startup file to make it the default for your system.

Alternatively, you can enter the following operating system command under Linux/Unix (this is for the c-shell):

setenv URL <location of Dataplot web pages>

On Windows platforms, you can enter the following operating system command:

SET URL=<location of Dataplot web pages>

The default URL for the WEB HELP command is the Dataplot home page on the public NIST web server. If you have installed the Dataplot web pages on a local system (it is available upon request) for faster performance, you should enter the following Dataplot command:
SET DATAPLOT URL <location of Dataplot web pages>

If you need to enter this command, you should consider putting it in your DPLOGF.TEX startup file to make it the default for your system.

Alternatively, you can enter the following operating system command under Linux/Unix (this is for the c-shell):

setenv DPURL <location of Dataplot web pages>

On Windows platforms, you can enter the following operating system command (typically you would put this in a batch file that initiates Dataplot:

SET DPURL=<location of Dataplot web pages>

The default URL for the WEB HANDBOOK command is the Handbook home page on the public NIST web server. If you have installed the Handbook web pages on a local system for faster performance, you should enter the following Dataplot command:
SET HANDBOOK URL <location of Handbook web pages>

For example, you would enter something like

SET HANDOOK URL http://ketone.cam.nist.gov/cf/handbook/

If you need to enter this command, you should consider putting it in you DPLOGF.TEX startup file to make it the default for your system.

The documentation for the WEB HELP facility can lag behind the inclusion of new capabilities. The NEWS command documents new capabilities in DATAPLOT. If you do not find the topic under WEB HELP, be sure to check the NEWS file.

In general, the on-line Reference Manual is intended to provide detailed information for a specific command. It is not intended as a tutorial for learning how to use Dataplot.

On Unix platforms using the Netscape browser, you can send the WEB request to a currently open browser. This can significantly improve performance.

To use a currently open Netscape browser, enter the command

SET NETSCAPE OLD

To open a new browser, even if a browser is currently open, enter the command

SET NETSCAPE NEW

The default is NEW. This option is ignored for non-Netscape browsers and on the Windows platforms.

Since the Netscape browser is an obsolete browser, the above section is no longer relevant. It is browser and platform dependent whether a WEB command will display results in a currently open browser or open up a new browser. Modern browsers almost all support "tabbing", so for many, if not most, modern browsers the WEB command results will display in a new tab if a browser is currently running. However, Dataplot does not issue any commands to force this.

For the WEB SEARCH command, the following command can be used
SET WEB SEARCH DATAPLOT <ON/OFF>

If ON, then the WEB SEARCH command will automatically include DATAPLOT as a keyword in the search. If OFF, DATAPLOT will not automatically include DATAPLOT as a keyword.

This command is useful if you are primarily using the WEB SEARCH command to locate relevant Dataplot documentation.

The default is OFF.

None

?? is a synonym for WEB HELP


???? is a synonym for WEB HANDBOOK
HANDBOOK is a synonym for WEB HANDBOOK
HB is a synonym for WEB HANDBOOK
WHB is a synonym for WEB HANDBOOK


W is a synonym for WEB


????? is a synonym for WEB SEARCH
WS is a synonym for WEB SEARCH

SEARCH	=	Search a file for a string.
HELP	=	Access the Dataplot help files.
NEWS	=	Access the Dataplot news file.
PROBE	=	Displays the value of an internal variable.
SET	=	Sets the value of an internal variable.

On-Line Help

1997/07: Original implementation of the WEB and WEB HELP commands
2000/01: Implementation of the WEB HANDBOOK command
2015/11: Implementation of the WEB SEARCH command
2018/04: Added various synonyms
2019/03: Use xdg-open as the default browser for Linux/Unix

 
WEB
WEB http://www.itl.nist.gov/software/dataplot/
WEB SEARCH PPCC PLOT
    

 
 WEB HANDBOOK
 WEB HANDBOOK RELIABILITY
 WEB HANDBOOK DUANE PLOT
 DUANE PLOT Y
    

 
WEB HELP
WEB HELP GRAPHICS
WEB HELP PLOT
PLOT X**2 FOR X = 1 1 9