Pierre wrote:

So, here's my same old question rephrased for the context of this thread...

Which programming environments would you (the list) recommend for these
criteria:
1) ease of programming (I'm already in over my head with FB5)
2) read a text spreadsheet
3) plot (graph) the data
4) transform the data
5) save the new data as text spreadsheet
6) save the graphs as editable vector graphics

I would expect 2, 3, 4 & 5 to be easily achieved. It's #1 and #6 that
concern me.

Are there examples out there? What allowed me to accomplish as much as I
have in FB2 & FB4 was the wealth of good examples, from application shells
to small demo apps that I could easily follow and adapt to suit my needs.

I like the cross platform idea of Java, but like RealBasic, will the
graphics code need to be written independently for Mac and Windows?

Thanks.
-------------------------------

An idea that comes to my mind is using already available applications 
that are perhaps linked by scripts.

A)
There are several apps for #2 and #3.

B)
Some of the apps that are suited for #2 and #3 also provide 
data-processing facilities for #4 as well.

C)
Apps for #2 and #3 should also perform #5 and #6.


Of course I don't know about your special formats and requirements 
and it may turn out that my suggestion is far from realistic.

Have a look at Kaleidagraph. There is a free trial version and it 
comes with a nice scripting language for data processing. The 
graphical output/display is not bad but for better graphing I 
recommend the free software "Plot".

If your task should require several applications, then you might 
couple them and perhaps do some additional computations by using 
AppleScript which is quite fast these days!

Just an idea
-- 

                   Herbie

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          <http://www.gluender.de>