NAME

       Dashline - A set of line-drawing routines that can be used to generate various dashed line
       patterns (including solid), can add labels to the lines, can smooth the lines, and can
       suppress crowding of lines.  There are four different versions of Dashline: "normal",
       "quick", "smooth", and "super".  See the ACCESS Section for details on how to invoke the
       various versions.

SYNOPSIS

       DASHDB -  Defines a dash pattern without labels.

       DASHDC -  Defines a dash pattern with labels.  If DASHDC is called when the "quick"
                 version of Dashline is used, an error exit results.

       FRSTD  -  Defines the first of a sequence of points through which a curve is to be drawn.

       VECTD  -  Defines the second and following of a sequence of points through which a curve
                 is to be drawn.

       LASTD  -  Terminates a sequence of calls to draw a curve (a call to FRSTD followed by one
                 or more calls to VECTD).

       LINED  -  Draws a straight line segment between two points.

       CURVED -  Draws a curve through a sequence of points.

       RESET  -  The "super" version of RESET zeroes the internal integer array used to detect
                 crowded lines; other versions do nothing.

C-BINDING SYNOPSIS

       #include <ncarg/ncargC.h>

       c_dashdb
       c_dashdc
       c_frstd
       c_vectd
       c_lastd
       c_lined
       c_curved
       c_reset

USAGE

       The Dashline utility allows you to draw various kinds of lines.  In all four versions of
       it (quick, normal, smooth and super), you can specify an arbitrary dash pattern for the
       lines (including a solid line).  In all but the quick version, you can also add
       interspersed labels to the lines for purposes such as naming lines in an XY plot or
       assigning contour levels to contour lines.  In the smooth and super versions, the lines
       can also be smoothed using splines under tension.

       Warning:  You must be careful when using the smoothing option.  Allowing a high degree of
                 smoothing may have serious side effects, such as XY curves with multiple valued
                 loops and contours which cross over other contours.

       The super version additionally allows for the culling of crowded lines.  In order for the
       culling process to work properly, the routine RESET must be called at the beginning of
       each picture; when using other versions of Dashline, the calls to RESET may be left in, as
       they then do nothing.

ACCESS

       To use the normal version of the Dashline utility, load the NCAR Graphics libraries ncarg,
       ncarg_gks, and ncarg_c, preferably in that order.  Other optional libraries to create the
       quick, smooth, and super versions of Dashline are automatically linked in by the ncargf77
       command.  If you need to know the names of these libraries for a particular version of
       Dashline, execute an "ncargf77" command with the appropriate option and a dummy input file
       and examine the resulting command line that is echoed and executed.

       To run a code called mycode.f which has one or more calls to Dashline entries, issue one
       of the commands:

       NORMAL    Command:  "ncargf77 mycode.f"

                 The lines will be drawn as unsmoothed dashed or solid lines.  DASHDC may be
                 called to define a dash pattern with labels.

       QUICK     Command:  "ncargf77 -quick mycode.f"

                 The lines will be drawn as unsmoothed dashed or solid lines.  The dash pattern
                 may not include labels.  If DASHDC is called, an error exit will result; DASHDB
                 must be used instead.

       SMOOTH    Command:  "ncargf77 -smooth mycode.f"

                 The lines will be drawn as dashed or solid lines, smoothed using splines under
                 tension.  DASHDC may be called to define a dash pattern with labels.

       SUPER     Command:  "ncargf77 -super mycode.f"

                 The lines will be drawn as dashed or solid lines, smoothed using splines under
                 tension.  DASHDC may be called to define a dash pattern with labels.  Crowded
                 lines will be thinned; in order for this to work properly, you must remember to
                 call RESET at the beginning of each picture.

MESSAGES

       When error conditions are detected, the support routine SETER is called in such a way that
       it writes a message to the standard error file (as defined by I1MACH(4)) and then
       terminates execution. The possible error messages are as follows:

       CFVLD  -- VECTD CALL OCCURS BEFORE A CALL TO FRSTD
              You must call FRSTD before the first call to VECTD.

       DASHDB -- BLOCKDATA DASHBD APPARENTLY NOT LOADED CORRECTLY
              If you have used the ncargf77 command options as discussed in the ACCESS Section,
              see your system administrator.

       DASHDC -- BLOCKDATA DASHBD APPARENTLY NOT LOADED CORRECTLY
              You have called DASHDC when using the "quick" version of Dashline.  This is not
              allowed.

       FDVDLD -- VECTD CALL OCCURS BEFORE A CALL TO FRSTD
              You must call FRSTD before the first call to VECTD.

SEE ALSO

       Online: dashline_params, curved, dashdb, dashdc, frstd, lastd, lined, reset, vectd,
       ncarg_cbind

       Hardcopy: NCAR Graphics Contouring and Mapping Tutorial; NCAR Graphics Fundamentals, UNIX
       Version; User's Guide for NCAR GKS-0A Graphics

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (C) 1987-2009
       University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
       The use of this Software is governed by a License Agreement.