HMath-2030: Working with HyperMath

In this tutorial, vectors and matrices will be created and then plotted. A few of the available commands to edit the plot will be used.

Step 1: Launch HyperMath.

1.	From the Start menu, select All Programs > Altair HyperWorks > HyperMath.

This launches HyperMath in the HyperMath GUI. Notice that by default, a file named Untitled1.hml exists in the Editor window. By default, the Authoring Mode is displayed as well.

2.	Close the Library Manager and the File Browser. This allows for more room to review the plots as they are created.

Step 2: Using the Editor Window, define a x vector and a y vector and create a line plot.

1.	In the Editor window, under the Untitled1.hml tab, enter the following line:

x=[10,20,30]

This defines the vector x as a base variable.

2.	Under the definition of x, add the following line:

y=[20,10,15]

This defines the vector y as a base variable as well. Using the x and y vectors defined, a line plot will be created.

3.	For line 3, add the following command, which creates a line plot using the x and y vectors.

PlotLine(x,y)

4.	Let’s execute these three commands to see the plot that is created. Click on the i icon, , in the toolbar.

The code up to this point and the resulting plot should look like the following:

tut2.4_fig1

5.	Save the file by going to File > Save As. Browse to the Desktop and save the file as Tutorial_2030.hml.

The tab in the Editor window now says Tutorial_2030.hml.

6.	Look in the Project Browser. In addition to Tutorial_2030.hml, there is also Plot 1 under the Plots folder. As we create more plots, additional plots will appear under the Plots folder.

tut2.4_fig2

Step 3: Use additional commands with line plot to change the line style and x axis range.

1.	There are additional commands which can be used to change the defaults set in the plotting window. Add the following command to change the line style from a solid line (1) to either no line (0) or a dashed line (2).

SetLineStyle(2)

2.	Next, the following command sets the range of the X axis to start at 10 and end at 30:

SetXRange([10,30])

Notice how the values 10 and 30 are within square brackets. This is because the command SetXRange needs to have a two-element vector supplied, which tells it where the range should start and where it should end.

3.	Right-click on Plots in the Project Browser and select Delete All. This removes the plot which was previously created.

4.	Click on the Run File icon, , from the toolbar.

tut2.4_fig3

The line is now a dashed line and the x axis starts at 10 and ends at 30.

Step 4: Define two matrices to be used as x and y in the PlotLine command.

1.	To define a matrix, remember that the columns are separated by commas and that the rows are separated by semicolons. Below, the matrix z is defined. This matrix will be used as the x matrix later in the PlotLine command.

z=[10,10;20,20;30,30]

2.	Next, use the print() command to print the value of the global variable z:

print(z)

3.	Next, matrix a is created for the y entry in the PlotLine command is created.

a=[2,4;6,8;1,3]

4.	Next, use the print() command to print the value of the global variable a:

print(a)

5.	Right-click on Plots in the Project Browser and select Delete All. This removes the plot which was previously created.

6.	Finally, evaluate the file by clicking on the Run File icon, , from the toolbar. The output from the script in the HMath window shows the matrix values:

tut2.4_fig4
Remember, each column in the matrix corresponds to a line in the plot. Since there are two columns in both matrices, there will be two lines in the plot.

Step 5: Create a second plot using another PlotLine command.

1.	To create a line plot using matrices, the same PlotLine command is used as was used with vectors. In this example, the optional parameter "new" is used to indicate that a new plot should be created.

PlotLine(z,a,"new")

2.	Click Run File, . This creates a second line plot on the current plot which is Plot 3. A new plot gets created, Plot 4, which contains the line plot for the matrices.

3.	Under Plots in the Editor window, click the All Plots tab. This allows you to see both plots at one time.

tut2.4_fig5

Notice how Plot 3 has two curves which are identical. This is because Curve 1 was previously created in Step 4. Then, because the optional parameter "new" wasn’t used in the PlotLine command, the current plot window was used to create Curve 2. Plot 4 was created because the parameter "new" was used in the PlotLine command.

Step 6: Use additional commands with line plots to change the line style and y axis range.

1.	The SetLineStyle command is used to change the line style of the line which was last created. In this example, curve 2 for the matrix line plot will be a dashed line:

SetLineStyle(2)

2.	Next, the following command sets the range of the y axis to start at 1 and end at 9:

SetYRange([1,9])

3.	Click Run File. This creates a third line plot on the current plot which is Plot 4. A new plot gets created, Plot 5, which contains the line plot for the matrices.

4.	Under Plots in the Editor window, click the Plot 5 tab. In the upper right hand corner, click the Layout button, . Select the following three window layout, .

tut2.4_fig6a

Notice how Plot 3 is unchanged, but Plot 4 now has curve 3. This is because Plot 4 was the active plot. Plot 5 was created because the "new" parameter was used. Notice how Curve 2 has a dashed line and the Y axis has a range of 1 to 9.

Step 7: Create a Bar Chart and add a plot title, x axis label, and y axis label.

1.	Right-click on Plots in the Project Browser and select Delete All. This removes the plots which were previously created.

2.	A bar chart is created by using the PlotBar command. Add the following line to the script to create a new plot which is a bar chart.

PlotBar(z,a,"new")

3.	A title can be added to the plot by using the command SetTitle. Below is the next line which should be added to the script. This line creates a title for the last plot.

SetTitle("This is the title")

4.	The SetXLabel command accepts a string which is used as the label for the X Axis. Please add the following commands:

SetXLabel("time")

5.	The SetYLabel command is just like the SetXLabel command, except it is used to create a label for the Y Axis. Please add the following command to your script.

SetYLabel("value")

The final script will look like the following:

tut2.4_fig7

6.	Click Run File, . This creates a Plot 6, Plot 7, and Plot 8. Plot 8 is a bar chart. The plot has a title as well as a label for the x and y axis.

tut2.4_fig8

HMath-2030: Working with HyperMath – Plot Commands

HMath-2030: Working with HyperMath – Plot Commands

HMath-2030: Working with HyperMath – Plot Commands

See Also: