NAME

       ncargintro - NCAR Graphics Overview

SYNOPSIS

       ncargintro

DESCRIPTION

       NCAR  Graphics  is  a  collection of graphics libraries that supports the display of scientific data. The
       low-level utilities (LLUs) are the traditional C and Fortran interfaces for contouring, mapping,  drawing
       field flows, drawing surfaces, drawing histograms, drawing X/Y plots, labeling, and more.

       Output  from  these  interfaces  can  be  directed in a combination of three ways: an NCGM (NCAR Graphics
       Computer Graphics Metafile), an X11 window, or one of many PostScript outputs (regular, Encapsulated,  or
       Interchange  PostScript  format).   Other formats are available through NCGM translators and accompanying
       device drivers.

MATH LIBRARY

       As of March, 1998 the Ngmath library contains a collection of  interpolators  for  one-dimensional,  two-
       dimensional,  and  three-dimensional  data.  The  packages are: dsgrid -- a three-dimensional random data
       interpolator based on a simple inverse distance weighting algorithm.

       csagrid -- an approximation package for one-dimensional, two-dimensional,  and  three-dimensional  random
       data  based  on  David     Fulker's  package  Splpack.  Csagrid  uses  cubic  splines  to  calculate  its
       approximation function.

       cssgrid -- an interpolation package for random data on the  surface  of  a  sphere.  Cssgrid  uses  cubic
       splines to calculate its interpolation function. Cssgrid is based on the work of Robert Renka.

       fitgrid  --  an  interpolation package for one-dimensional and two-dimensional gridded data based on Alan
       Cline's package Fitpack, an early version of which is available from netlib. Fitpack uses  splines  under
       tension to interpolate in one and two dimensions.

       natgrid -- a two-dimensional random data interpolation package based on Dave Watson's package nngridr.

       shgrid -- an interpolation package for random data in 3-space. Shgrid uses a modified Shepard's algorithm
       to calculate its interpolation function. Shgrid is based on the work of Robert Renka.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       Every  user  of  NCAR  Graphics  will  either  need  to  set  the  environment variable NCARG_ROOT or the
       environment variables NCARG_BIN,  NCARG_LIB,  and  NCARG_INCLUDE  depending  on  how  NCAR  Graphics  was
       installed on your system.

       If  the NCAR Graphics binaries, libraries, and include files were installed under one root directory, say
       for example /usr/local/bin, /usr/local/lib, and /usr/local/include respectively, then you'll need  to  do
       the following:

       setenv NCARG_ROOT /usr/local

       If  the  binaries,  libraries,  and  include  files  were NOT installed under one root directory, say for
       example /usr/local/ncarg/bin, /usr/local/ncarg/lib, and /usr/local/include, then you'll need  to  do  the
       following:

       setenv NCARG_BIN /usr/local/ncarg/bin

       setenv NCARG_LIB /usr/local/ncarg/lib

       setenv NCARG_INCLUDE /usr/local/include

       The  environment  variable  NCARG_GKS_OUTPUT  may  be  used  to  direct the metafile output from the NCAR
       Graphics GKS package to a file (use just the file name) or to pipe it to a translator (give the  name  of
       the translator, preceded by a "|").

       The  environment  variable  NCARG_GKS_PSOUTPUT  may be used to direct the PostScript output from the NCAR
       Graphics GKS package to a file (stdout is allowed).

       The environment variable NCARG_GKS_PDFOUTPUT may be used to direct the PDF output from the NCAR  Graphics
       GKS package to a file (stdout is allowed).

       The  environment  variables  GRAPHCAP  and  FONTCAP  may  be  used to tell the NCGM translators "ctrans",
       "ictrans" and "idt" what default "graphcap" and "fontcap" to use.  See the man pages for  ctrans(1NCARG),
       ictrans(1NCARG), and idt(1NCARG) for more information.

       The  environment variable DISPLAY is not actually used by the translators; if you are using X Windows, it
       determines where the translator output is to be displayed.

SEE ALSO

       Online:

       Commands which facilitate compiling and running with NCAR Graphics:

       nhlf77(1NCARG), nhlcc(1NCARG), ncargf77(1NCARG), ncargcc(1NCARG), ncargpath(1NCARG), ncargrun(1NCARG)

       NCAR Command Language:

       ncl

       Fortran utilities in NCAR Graphics:

       areas(3NCARG),  autograph(3NCARG),  bivar(3NCARG),  colconv(3NCARG),  conpack(3NCARG),  dashline(3NCARG),
       dashpack(3NCARG),   ezmap(3NCARG),   gflash(3NCARG),   gks(3NCARG),  gridall(3NCARG),  histogram(3NCARG),
       isosurface(3NCARG),     labelbar(3NCARG),     ngmisc(3NCARG),     plotchar(3NCARG),     softfill(3NCARG),
       surface(3NCARG),    scrolled_title(3NCARG),    streamlines(3NCARG),    tdpack(3NCARG),   vectors(3NCARG),
       wmap(3NCARG)

       NCGM translators:

       ctrans(1NCARG), ictrans(1NCARG), idt(1NCARG), med(1NCARG)

       Raster formats and applications:

       ras_formats(1NCARG),     ras_palette(1NCARG),     rascat(1NCARG),     rasview(1NCARG),     rasls(1NCARG),
       rasgetpal(1NCARG)

       LLU NCAR Graphics C-binding:

       ncarg_cbind(3NCARG) ncarg_gks_cbind(3NCARG)

       Descriptions of environment variables:

       ncarg_env(5NCARG),

       Descriptions of fontcaps and graphcaps:

       fcaps(1NCARG), fontcap(5NCARG), gcaps(1NCARG), graphcap(5NCARG)

       Metafile filters:

       cgm2ncgm(1NCARG) ncgm2cgm(1NCARG), pre2ncgm(1NCARG), psblack(1NCARG), pswhite(1NCARG),

       A command which tells you what version of NCAR Graphics you are using:

       ncargversion(1NCARG)

       Utility for generating NCAR Graphics Fortran and C examples:

       ncargex(1NCARG),

       Utilities for giving you access to special NCAR Graphics files and/or tables.

       ncargfile(1NCARG)

       Programs for generating sample NCGMs: ncargworld,tgks0a

       Online documentation:

       http://ngwww.ucar.edu/ngdoc/ng/

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (C) 1987-2002
       University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
       The use of this Software is governed by a License Agreement.

NCAR                                                July 1998                                 NCARGINTRO(5NCARG)