PostScript::Graph Suite
=======================

Modules in this suite adds graphs to a PostScript::File.  There are two user
level modules

    PostScript::Graph::Bar
    PostScript::Graph::XY

and three support modules

    PostScript::Graph::Paper
    PostScript::Graph::Key
    PostScript::Graph::Style

These support modules have had enough use under Finance::Shares::Chart to
merit their promotion to beta status.  Bar and XY remain insufficiently
exercised.  Note that the range of use is small.  Beta status indicates that the
interface has settled; the code is still likely to be buggy.

User Level Modules
==================

The data may be presented as a list of arrays or a CSV file.  The output may
be an EPS file for inclusion in other documents or a PostScript file for
immediate viewing or printing.  Useful defaults are provided throughout, but
each chart may have 100 or more constructor options depending on the level of
control required.

Bar	Vertical bars are plotted on the chart, individually or in groups.
	The bars within each group are colour coded, identified in the Key
	panel.

XY	Line and scatter graphs may be plotted.  Multiple data sets may be
	added and the scales adjusted to fit all the data.  Lines are
	identified in the Key by the shape, colour and size of the lines and
	points.

Support Modules
===============

Although these are components, not called directly by the user, their options
can be given to the XY or Bar objects and so are still worthy of attention.
In particular the Style module provides slightly different colour, dash
pattern etc. for each data set.

Paper	Draw a blank grid.  The graph paper is scaled and labelled.

Key	A side panel showing what the different line, point or bar styles
	refer to.

Style	This holds all the display settings for lines, points and bars.
	Suitable defaults are provided or complete control is available.  The
	defaults are provided by a PostScript::Graph::Sequence object (in the
	same module).  A Sequence controls which style aspect changes as new
	Styles are created.


Installation
============

To install this module type the following:

    perl Makefile.PL
    make
    make test
    make install

In the 't' directory there are various *.pl scripts as well as the *.t tests.
The *.pl scripts are designed to be run from the main direcory, just like the
*.t files . The resulting *.ps files can be inspected with GhostView or any
other postscript viewer.

Dependencies
============

This module requires these other modules and libraries:

    Test::More
    Text::CSV_XS
    PostScript::File


See Also
========

    Finance::Shares::Chart


Copyright and Licence
=====================

Copyright (C) 2002 Christopher P Willmot.  All rights reserved.

This work is published under the same terms as Perl itself, which may be found
at http://www.perl.org.  The existance of this work does not imply that it is
fit for any purpose implied by the code or accompanying documentation.  There is
no warranty whatsoever.  Use at your own risk.