For many projects, the same graph specifications are used repeatedly; rather then having the user change the program parameters each time the program is run, a preference file can be generated to set default values for most user specified variables. This file can be created by selecting the File:Save Preferences menu option (recommended method), or using a template such as the file shown below.

Note that the default preference file name is "plotgraph.prf." When plotgraph is executed it will search the current directory for this file; if it exists, these specified defaults will be used, unless they are superseded by a command-line argument. If "plotgraph.prf" is not present the plotgraph's internal defaults will be used.

The preference file is an ASCII file and is user editable. There are several rules to these files:

• A line starting with a "!" in column one is a comment line.
• Anything on a line after a ";" is a comment
• The order of variables cannot be changed, nor can any variable be deleted.
• No blank lines are allowed within the file.
• There can be no spaces between the "=" and the variable value.
• If no pre-specified value is desired for a variable, leave the line after the "=" and before the ";" blank.
• All information on a entry must be on that single line.

Example plotgraph.prf File:

!--------------------------------------------------------------------------
! plotgraph project file.
!
! Values may be changed after the '=' sign, but the order of the variables
! must not be altered.  If the order is altered, result are unpredictable!
!
!--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Input File      ="clark.dat"
X Column        =1
Y Column        =2
Font #0            ="Helvetica-Bold"
Font Size #0       =24
Font #1            ="Helvetica-Bold"
Font Size #1       =15
Font #2            ="Helvetica-Bold"
Font Size #2       =15
Font #3            ="Helvetica"
Font Size #3       =15
Font #4            ="Helvetica"
Font Size #4       =10
Font #5            ="Helvetica"
Font Size #5       =12
Axes Type              =0        ; 0 = Normal,    1 = Log X,      
					     2 = Log Y,     3 = Log-Log,  
					     4 = Probability
Scale Priority         =0        ; 0 = X/Y SCALE  1 = Y EXAGERATION
X/Y Ratio              =1.500000
Y Exag Scale           =19.373931
X Main Tic Freq        =10.000000
Y Main Tic Freq        =0.250000
X Minor Tic Freq       =5
Y Minor Tic Freq       =5
X Tic Origin           =0.000000
Y Tic Origin           =0.000000
X Minimum              =0.000000
X Maximum              =80.000000
Y Minimum              =0.000000
Y Maximum              =3.250000
Use Mesh               =0        ; 0 = FALSE,     1 = TRUE
Dash Mesh              =0        ; 0 = FALSE,     1 = TRUE
X Mesh Freq            =8.000000
Y Mesh Freq            =0.275284
X Mesh Origin          =0.000000
Y Mesh Origin          =0.000000
X-Axis Format          =".0f"
Y-Axis Format          =".2f"
Main Title             ="Semivariogram of Hypothetical Data Set"
Secondary Title        ="Example:  UNCERT plotgraph module"
X Label                ="distance"
Y Label                ="gamma (h)"
Refresh                =0        ; 0 = EXPOSURE   1 = UPDATE
Error-Bar Color        =7        ; 0 = Black,  1 = White,  2 = Blue,  
					     3 = Magenta,  4 = Green,  5 = Yellow,  
					     6 = Cyan,  7 = Red
    Mean Symbol        =1        ; -1 No Symbol,    0 = Circle,    
					      1 = Cross,      2 = Diamond,   
						3 = Square,   4 = X
    Symbol Color       =7        ; 0 = Black,  1 = White,  2 = Blue,  
					     3 = Magenta,  4 = Green,  5 = Yellow,  
					     6 = Cyan,  7 = Red
    Thickness          =1.000000
    Mean Symbol Width  =15.000000
    Extent Cross Width =10.000000
Line Color             =5 2 4         ; 0 = Black,  1 = White,  
						    2 = Blue,  3 = Magenta,  
						    4 = Green,  5 = Yellow,  
						    6 = Cyan,  7 = Red
Line Type              =1 -1 0         ; -1 = No Line,    0 = Solid Line,    1 = 
Dashed,    2 = Double Dashed
Line Thickness         =1 1 3 
Symbol Type            =-1 0 -1         ; -1 No Symbol,    0 = Circle,    
							 1 = Cross,      2 = Diamond,   
							 3 = Square,   4 = X
Symbol Size            =10 8 10 
Symbol Filled          =1 1 1         ; 0 = FALSE,     1 = TRUE
!
! Print Parameters
!
Print File       ="junk.ps"
PS Extension     ="*.ps"
Print Queue      ="ps"
Print Header     =0        ; 0 = FALSE,         1 = TRUE
Print Destination=0        ; 0 = PRINTER        1 = FILE
Print Orientation=0        ; 0 = PORTRAIT       1 = LANDSCAPE
PS Output        =0        ; 0 = BLACK & WHITE  1 = COLOR
Print Copies     =1
Top Margin       =1.500000        ; in inches
Bottom Margin    =1.500000        ; in inches
Left Margin      =1.500000        ; in inches
Right Margin     =1.000000        ; in inches
Regression Order         =5
Regression Line          =0
Regression Type          =1

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