Allow user to set number format string for axes.

[aowen87]

cqid: VisIt00008987cqsubmitter: Cyrus Harrisoncqsubmitdate: 10/19/09 Mark Rhodes was plotting some log plot curves and noticed the in some cases the axis labeling would put way to many zeros in some of the labels - something like 0.00000000000. Allowing the user to control the format string used to create axis text would resolve this issue.

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Ticket number: 139
Status: Pending
Project: VisIt
Tracker: Feature
Priority: Normal
Subject: Allow user to set number format string for axes.
Assigned to: -
Category: -
Target version: -
Author: Cyrus Harrison
Start:
Due date:
% Done: 0%
Estimated time:
Created: 06/21/2010 07:17 pm
Updated:
Likelihood:
Severity:
Found in version: 2.12.3
Impact: 2 - Low
Expected Use: 3 - Occasional
OS: All
Support Group: DOE/ASC
Description:
cqid: VisIt00008987cqsubmitter: Cyrus Harrisoncqsubmitdate: 10/19/09 Mark Rhodes was plotting some log plot curves and noticed the in some cases the axis labeling would put way to many zeros in some of the labels - something like 0.00000000000. Allowing the user to control the format string used to create axis text would resolve this issue.

Comments:

[biagas]

Removing from reviewed state for reconsideration and discussion.
Is a standard format string specifier sufficient?
(Time format in Time slider annotation object, Float format in Query window for Query results).
Or do we want just 'number of significant digits' as in In 'display time using' in the File Panel preferences?

[markcmiller86]

Since you mention the number of significant digits (aka significant figures) question here, I will chime in that I am encountering a similar question in our testing logic in this PR w.r.t. to testing numerical values. There, we have the concept of a tolerance (which is currently treated as a relative diff) which in theory can be any number like 0.0315. However, I suspect common values (or maybe the only needed values to test cross-machine runs) are 0.0001 or 0.01 so it is probably most commonly used to specify something like a number of significant digits.

In Silo's history, handling numerical differences there are been based on relative or absolute tolerances (along with some special case logic for certain kinds of data) too.

At some level, a number of significant digits feels less flexible because its basically an integer value instead of any numerical value and it still probably doesn't capture nuances like whether you wanna see 0.0315 vs. 3.15E-03. OTOH, its simpler and easier to understand and furthermore may be the right pitch for our purposes (both in printing values and in flagging diffs in values). That said, there is ambiguity for zeros to left of decimal point as the above ref. explains.

[biagas]

See also SRE 213

[markcmiller86]

Another related thought is that we wind up having a need for format strings in various places (query outputs, legends, axes, annotation objects, etc.). Is the code supporting that same feature (setting in GUI and CLI as well as using the setting when printing values) in all those places refactored to a single support utility? And, is there a single global setting for it everywhere that could serve as the default which can then be overriden in the various specific places? I think that would make for a better user experience.