Re: Is it possible to plot a point a time on the same graph in Mathematica?
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg25871] Re: Is it possible to plot a point a time on the same graph in Mathematica?
- From: "W. H. Harker" <wharke at sprynet.com>
- Date: Sat, 4 Nov 2000 02:04:16 -0500 (EST)
- References: <ctQI5.767$qE1.38868@ralph.vnet.net> <8t65c7$eif@smc.vnet.net> <8tofbp$j2b@smc.vnet.net>
- Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com
In article <8tofbp$j2b at smc.vnet.net>, siegman at stanford.edu says... > In article <8t65c7$eif at smc.vnet.net>, H Shou <H.Shou at cs.cf.ac.uk> > wrote: > > > Dear Sir: > > > > ......... > > Is it possible to plot a point a time on the same graph in > > Mathematica so that I can watch the progress instead of > > keeping on waiting. > > > > Henry Shaw > > I will be *very* interested to see what answers you get on this, because > I think the answer is essentially NO -- and this is perhaps *THE* single > most serious weakness of Mathematica as a teaching and display tool. > > That is, you can't "write to the screen" to put a new plot into an > existing on-screen plot in Mathematica because Mathematica graphics are > fundamentally built around PostScript, and PostScript involves fully > creating a plot, and only then displaying it. > > ................ > The ability to plot 'on the fly' is probably the greatest gap in Mathematica's general effectiveness. In my case, understanding space curves which cycle back and forth throughout a region. When these are plotted point by point what is happening is often clear. When presented as a finished plot it's just a ball of yarn.