3-d surface graphs in Linux LV 8.6

[eearle]

I need to draw a surface graph from data where the z axis can take one of 14 values and the (x,y) coordinates range from 0 to 1, with no fixed intervals.  In essence, I have 14 horizontal slices of a surface, with 50 random surface observations on every slice.  How can I display this as a surface using LV 8.6?

Earl

[OliviaC]

Hi Earl,

Unfortunately, the 3D graph object in LabVIEW uses ActiveX, which I'm sure you know only works with Windows. However, there some work arounds that others have posted in these other threads:

http://forums.ni.com/ni/board/message?board.id=170&requireLogin=False&thread.id=186413

http://forums.ni.com/ni/board/message?board.id=170&message.id=259968&requireLogin=False

http://forums.ni.com/ni/board/message?board.id=170&message.id=84789&requireLogin=False

[eearle]

Doesn't 8.6 have native 3D graphics for Linux?  I just don't know if what I'm finding will do what I need.

http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/7337#toc2

earl

[OliviaC]

Hi earl,

You're right, as of LabVIEW 8.6, 3D graphics are supported on Linux. To do a surface plot you will need to use the Surface Plot VI found on the front panel. You will find the control under Modern » Graph. You will then need to wire in x, y and z values in an array format. The x and y values are both 1-D arrays and the z values are in a 2-D array. 

The order of the elements in the arrays matter. The first element in the x and y arrays and the element at (0,0) of the z array is one point on the surface plot. The first element in the x array, the second element in the y array and the element at (0,1) of the z array is the another point on the surface.

 

[eearle]

I can set my data up that way, but it will be a sparse matrix:  My observations don't fit a grid.  Can the plotting algorithm handle a sparse matrix?

[OliviaC]

In what form are you representing the sparse matrix? You will have to convert it to a 2-D array (which I realize is essentially a matrix but LabVIEW does differentiate between the two) before you wire it to the Surface Plot VI.