[BioPython] Generating Figures in Python

[Andy Robinson]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: biopython-admin@biopython.org
> [mailto:biopython-admin@biopython.org]On Behalf Of Brad Chapman
> Sent: 06 April 2001 00:39
> To: biopython@biopython.org
> Subject: [BioPython] Generating Figures in Python
>
>
> Hello all;
> This past week I've been writing code to help me generate
> figures for
> some exploratory research I've been doing. Using the really
> excellent
> reportlab distribution (http://www.reportlab.com), I've already been
> generating some pretty nice pdf output. For instance, here's an
> example of the type of stuff:
>
> http://www.bioinformatics.org/bradstuff/lab/cotton_locations-all.pdf
>

Brad and others, this was forwarded to my by Dinu Gherman.
We're very happy to see ReportLab is of use.

I just wanted to check you are aware of our emerging
"graphics" subpackage, which will let you output vector drawings
to (a) a rectangular region in a multi-page PDF report,
(b) EPS for professional printing, and (c) bitmaps
for the web.  It is different to the canvas interface
in that it uses a 'shapes hierarchy' - a bit slower
but a lot more versatile.  SVG and EMF should be easy
additions.

The core idea is a standard for reusable graphical
widgets.  I imagine that you could define some standard
'biowidgets' as part of your project, and people could
then use them easily to build up more complex drawings.
We have standard chart widgets too, which should be
fairly stable from next week.

If you grab our latest distribution (1.06) you will
find a 'graphguide.pdf' in the docs directory which
explains all about it.

If possible, we'd love to include some of your output
samples on our site and link to it in due course,
and are happy to answer questions on the
reportlab-users list.

Keep up the great work!

Andy Robinson
CEO/Chief Architect, ReportLab Inc.
(not on this list - please reply or cc directly to me)