polargrapher - plot arbitrary polar functions
######USAGE
polargrapher [OPTION]... [FILE]...
######DESCRIPTION Plots arbitrary polar functions from file. Can also write frames to image files.
######OPTIONS
-f fullscreen mode
-s n
window size, where n is the length and width in pixels
default window size is 700
this option is ignored is -f is used
-r n
writes every nth frame to a PNG image
n=1 will record every frame,
n=2 will record every other frame,
n=3 will record every third frame, etc.
using -r without an argument will default to n=1
-d directory
Directory where the images files from -r are to be written to.
This directory must already exist. If this option is not set, then -r defaults to the directory 'frames' which must also already exist.
If -d is used without an argument, recording will be disabled to prevent overwriting anything the 'frames' directory.
Pressing q will exit the program.
The above options can also be defined directly in the input files. They must be defined on their own lines and will override the command line options.
######DEFINING FUNCTIONS
Functions to be plotted are first declared using the function keyword followed by the function itself.
The syntax is the muparser library's syntax, which is intuitive and easy to use. It's just like using Wolfram Alpha.
Following the function declaration are various options that control various things such as how much the value of theta increases per frame, the maximum value of theta, drawing speed, color, and line width.
draw_speed int
This controls the trace speed when drawing the function.
A value of 0 will draw the function instantly.
The default value is 100.
color int int int
This sets the RBG color. Alpha to be added eventually.
theta_max +float
The maximum value of theta that the function will be evaluated to.
Use this to draw only a portion of a function.
50*pi is the default.
theta_increment +float
The amount theta is increased for every frame (iteration).
This can be used to draw a function as dots instead of a solid line.
This also affects the draw speed.
pi/3000 is the default and produces a solid line for most functions.
pi/100 will usually produce dots.
line_width 0,1,2
Trace width.
0 is one pixel wide and is the default.
1 is two pixels wide
2 is four pixels wide
rotation_speed +/-float
The amount the trace rotates each frame. This is just for eyecandy.
0 is the default.
Below is an example function definition block with options.
function 200 * sin(4 * theta / 9)
draw_speed 0
color 255 0 0
theta_max 20*pi
theta_increment pi/3000
line_width 1
rotation_speed pi/10000
end
######BUILDING
Dependencies: libsfml (make sure this is SFML 2 and not SFML 1.6) libmuparser
Once dependencies are installed, simply run make.
This program is intended for Unix-like environments, but this is only due to the pathname syntax in the record() function. Changing this to Windows compatible syntax should be all that needs to be changed, I just haven't gotten around to making an ifdef for it.
######TODO
Allow user to set where output images are written to
Improve documentation
Allow input from standard input / typing equations as arguments