MV-6000: Plotting Basics

Learn to import MotionSolve results (plot) files for plotting curves, plot multiple curves in one window, plot multiple curves in different windows on one page, and save your work as a session file.

The Build Plots panel allows you to import plot files that can be plotted in a 2D layout. The panel allows you to control what curves are to be plotted either in single or multiple windows. You can access the panel through MotionView, HyperView, or HyperGraph.

Open a Plot File

Open a plot file.

Copy the Demo.plt file, located in the mbd_modeling\plotting folder, to your <working directory>.
  1. Start a new MotionView session.
  2. In the Select application menu, choose HyperGraph 2D.
  3. Click the (Build Plots) icon.
  4. In the panel, click (Open File).
  5. Select the file <working directory>\Demo.plt.
  6. Click Open.
    This file contains several curves.
  7. Verify that X Type is set to Time.
  8. For Y Type, click on Displacement.
    The Y Request text box displays the data available in the file.
  9. Click the (Expand) button for Y Request to view the Y Request list.
  10. Select REQ/70000006 and REQ/70000007 in one of the following ways:
    • Press Control and click each one.
    • Left-click and drag the mouse over both.
  11. Click OK.
  12. Under Y Component, select X.
  13. Set Layout as one plot per Component.
  14. Click Apply.
    Two curves are plotted in the plot window, each with its own line type and color. The legend identifying the curves is located in the upper right hand corner of the plot.


    Figure 1. Single plot window with multiple curves created using the Build Plots panel

Build Multiple Curves on Multiple Plots

Select multiple curves and plot them in multiple windows.

  1. Remain in the Build Plots panel.
  2. Retain the following settings from the step Open a Plot File:
    • X: Time
    • Y Type: Displacement
    • Y Request: REQ/70000006 and REQ/70000007
  3. Press Control and under Y Component select X, Psi, MAG, and RMAG.
  4. From the Layout pull down menu, select One plot per component.
    This selection creates one plot for every request selected under Y component. There will be four plots created. You could have one page for each plot. However, this tutorial wants all four plots on the same page.
  5. Click the (Page Layout) button located next to the Show Legends check box.
  6. Select the four window layout option .
    The Page Layout dialog automatically closes.
  7. Click Apply.
    A second page is added to the page list with four windows and the plots you requested.


    Figure 2. Multiple plots with multiple curves created using the Build Plots panel
    Note: The procedure to plot and edit curves from other result/request files (for example, .req, .abf, and so on) remains the same as described in this tutorial.

Save Work Session

Save plots as a session file.

You can save your work with multiple curves in multiple windows on multiple pages as a session file. A session allows later retrieval either for display, printing, or to continue adding more information. The session file is a script with the extension .mvw. The contents of an .mvw file are all the information in the program that gets recorded in the script file.
Note: You can save a session as a script file with curve data by doing the following:
  1. From the Annotations toolbar, select the Options panel icon.
  2. In the Session tab, activate the Save All Curve Data to Session File/Report Template check box.


    Figure 3.
  1. From the menu bar, select File > Save As > Session.
  2. Select a directory.
  3. Specify the file name as Demo1.mvw.


    Figure 4. Save Session As dialog
  4. Verify the Save as type is set to Session (*.mvw).
  5. Click Save.
    This saves your current work session as a session script file called Demo1.mvw.
  6. From the menu bar, click File > Exit to exit the program.
    A dialog displays prompting you to save the session.
  7. Click No, since you saved the session in the previous step.
For more advanced plotting options, refer to the HyperGraph Tutorials.