[OmniX]

I need to make a bunch of histograms of scientific data, and would like to play around with various options in a dynamic way, such as varying bin size. Is there any app out there that might be able to do this? In Excel I have to make a new histogram (on a new worksheet) every time I want to vary the bin size, and it's a pain in the butt...

thanks for any suggestions,
ox

[skipjack]

Last time I made a histogram, I used "Chartsmith". Can't say I was completely satisfied, but it was easier than Excel.

[voodoo]

You can use R.

A bit difficult to begin with but when you get the hang of it it is the most versatile stats/graphing app out there.

[pimephalis]

Originally posted by voodoo:
You can use R.

A bit difficult to begin with but when you get the hang of it it is the most versatile stats/graphing app out there.

Absolutely, this would be my recommendation as well. After installing, you simply need to save your data into a text file (use tab delimiters), and then import the data into R:

mydata<-read.table("testfile.txt")

Then, you simply need to execute the hist() command with the appropriate options and it will generate the graphs for you. You can save them as postscript or pdf files.

The syntax is a little cryptic, and there is not point-and-click. If you decide to go this route, I'd be happy to help talk you through it.

[dbergstrom]

R is probably the most versatile and powerful tool to use. However, you may want to use the "scan" command to read in your data, especially if you have a large data set:

> mydata <- scan("Filename.txt")

An alternative is StatView 5.0. This is a very old GUI stats program that will prduce decent histograms. Major advantage is that it is nealry as versatile as R, with a GUI. Major disadvantages are that it is expensive and it needs to run in Classic, with all of the problems that entails.

Good luck.

[OmniX]

thank you for all the suggestions. I think R sounds like the most attractive/feasible/powerful option. However, I also have access to a copy of S+ on a Windows box; I am not terribly familiar with either package--do you think it would best to try that route? I'm just thinking that a GUI will make my learning curve shorter and my life easier; sucks that it's Windows only but I just need something that will work...

[Gary Finley]

You might want to have a look at Chartsmith. www.blacksmith.com. I just installed it a couple of days ago, and it looks pretty good. Nothing too fancy, but it's a proper OS X GUI application, and has many of the standard chart types.