Graphical Programming Language

"Martin Blume" <mblume@socha.net> schrieb
> Hi,
> is there some block-based graphical programming language?
> ...
> I want to use it as a simple tool to try out signal
> processing algorithms.
>

Thanks to all who took the time to answer. I knew about some
of the packages already, but wasn't aware of their ability
to be programmed graphically.
I'll have to check them again, this time more thoroughly.

Martin

Martin Blume wrote:

> "Jeff Schwab" <jeffplus@comcast.net> schrieb
>> Martin Blume wrote:
>> > Hi,
>> > is there some block-based graphical programming language
>> > like e.g. DASYLab or LabVIEW? I'd like to have one that:
>> > - is free, if possible, ow low-cost
>> > - runs under Linux
>> > - is extensible by user-written blocks
>> > I want to use it as a simple tool to try out signal
>> > processing algorithms.
>>
>> Try Simulink from the Mathworks (home of Matlab).
>> It's not free, but it meets your other requirements.
> 
> Thanks for the answer. It is not free, it is far from free!
> There exists a student version, but this applies only to
> "active" (*) students, not professionals who want to enlarge
> or deepen their knowledge in their free time, something
> like a "personal" license.
> 
> Thank you
> Martin
> 
> (*) for want of a better word: those guys that are incribed
> at an university in view of getting a degree at some time in
> the future. If I think back of my student's days, "active" is
> perhaps the wrong word ...

Check out scilab - www.scilab.org, which is free and includes scicos, a
simulink-like (or so I understand; I've not used matlab or simulink)
package.

Bob Cain <arcane@arcanemethods.com> wrote:
> Martin Blume wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>> is there some block-based graphical programming language
>> like e.g. DASYLab or LabVIEW? I'd like to have one that:
>> - is free, if possible, ow low-cost
>> - runs under Linux
>> - is extensible by user-written blocks
>> I want to use it as a simple tool to try out signal processing
>> algorithms.
>> Regards
>> Martin
>
> Check out R at:
>
>    http://www.r-project.org/
>
> They say it's for statistical programming but that only applies to
> the mass of library packages included with it. The language itself
> has no bias and is an extremely well thought out system.
>
> Much thought was also put into presentation support, i.e. graphics.

R is no more a "graphical programming language" than Matlab or APL or
S are.

You _don't_ construct R programs graphically.

There hasn't been terribly much development of "graphical languages"
on Linux, not that there has been spectacularly much development of
such on _any_ platform...
-- 
"cbbrowne","@","cbbrowne.com"
http://www.ntlug.org/~cbbrowne/linux.html
"Lumping configuration data,  security data, kernel tuning parameters,
etc. into one monstrous fragile binary data structure is really dumb."
- David F. Skoll

Hi Martin,

you might also try pure data.

http://www-crca.ucsd.edu/~msp/software.html


Martin

On 12 Apr 2004 20:52:36 GMT, Christopher Browne <cbbrowne@acm.org> wrote:
> Bob Cain <arcane@arcanemethods.com> wrote:
>> Martin Blume wrote:
>>
>>> Hi,
>>> is there some block-based graphical programming language
>>> like e.g. DASYLab or LabVIEW? I'd like to have one that:
>>> - is free, if possible, ow low-cost
>>> - runs under Linux
>>> - is extensible by user-written blocks
>>> I want to use it as a simple tool to try out signal processing
>>> algorithms.
>>> Regards
>>> Martin
>>

LabView is available for Linux.  If you're a student, you can get an
academic version for around $100, last time I checked.  Also, most
LabView books have a slightly crippled version.  This isn't necessarily
a bad thing.  It's worth your while to wire up your FIR filters and
Hanning windows by hand, and not rely on the Signal Processing Toolset.

If you're doing instrumentation, process control, and data
visualization, it's generally Good Enough, though you WILL eventually
want something like SciLab or Mathematica eventually.


Charles

Martin Blume wrote:

> "Carlos Moreno" schrieb
>> Martin Blume wrote:
>>
>> >>Try Simulink from the Mathworks (home of Matlab).
>> >>It's not free, but it meets your other requirements.
>> >
>> > It is not free, it is far from free!
>> > There exists a student version, but this applies only to
>> > "active" (*) students
>>
>> Not only that -- IIRC, even the student version was
>> brutally expensive;  [...] was already
>> more than 700 US$ -- yes, *student* price!!
>>
> Yep, that's way too expensive for a student. A personal
> edition for a professional, maybe, although also here,
> $700 is steep.
> 
>>
>> It really beats me how those thieves have succeeded in
>> making that product *the* standard for DSP and many other
>> scientific/engineering areas.  Oh well, such is the world
>> where we live  :-)
>>
> I wouldn't call them "thieves". For the price, you get a
> darned good product with good support. That's possibly why
> it has become the standard.
> 
> Regards
> Martin
According to the pricelist at www.mathworks.com, the student version,
including simulink and symbolic math toolbox, is US $99.00; the
signal-processing toolbox is an additional $29.00.

Christopher Browne wrote:

> Bob Cain <arcane@arcanemethods.com> wrote:
> 
>>Martin Blume wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Hi,
>>>is there some block-based graphical programming language
>>>like e.g. DASYLab or LabVIEW? I'd like to have one that:
>>>- is free, if possible, ow low-cost
>>>- runs under Linux
>>>- is extensible by user-written blocks
>>>I want to use it as a simple tool to try out signal processing
>>>algorithms.
>>>Regards
>>>Martin
>>
>>Check out R at:
>>
>>   http://www.r-project.org/
>>
>>They say it's for statistical programming but that only applies to
>>the mass of library packages included with it. The language itself
>>has no bias and is an extremely well thought out system.
>>
>>Much thought was also put into presentation support, i.e. graphics.
> 
> 
> R is no more a "graphical programming language" than Matlab or APL or
> S are.
> 
> You _don't_ construct R programs graphically.

Guess I misunderstood.  I thought he wanted graphics for 
presentation, not program construction.


Bob
-- 

"Things should be described as simply as possible, but no 
simpler."

                                              A. Einstein

"Bob Cain" schrieb
> >>Check out R at:
> >>
> >>   http://www.r-project.org/
> >>
>
> Guess I misunderstood.  I thought he wanted graphics for
> presentation, not program construction.
>
Yes, but there seem to be graphical add-ons for program
construction under development (?), so I will have another
look at it.

Martin.

"Martin Blume" <mblume@socha.net> wrote in message
news:407a8d3c$0$706$5402220f@news.sunrise.ch...
> Hi,
> is there some block-based graphical programming language
> like e.g. DASYLab or LabVIEW? I'd like to have one that:
> - is free, if possible, ow low-cost
> - runs under Linux
> - is extensible by user-written blocks
> I want to use it as a simple tool to try out signal processing
> algorithms.

This http://www.sundance.com/edge/files/productpage.asp?STRFilter=PEG-BASE
probably fits your requirements except for one little thing.

In article <7Dxec.53397$2G5.806614@wagner.videotron.net>,
Carlos Moreno  <moreno_at_mochima_dot_com@xx.xxx> wrote:
>making that product *the* standard for DSP and many other
>scientific/engineering areas.  Oh well, such is the world
>where we live  :-)

I knew somebody who used to work there....

They did it through *very* aggressive marketing and deep discounts for
universities and professors at the beginning, and a *constant* push for
it.  I don't think they actually bribed anyone, but they got as close as
they could while staying legal.  The owners of the Mathworks had wet
dreams at night about becoming *the* standard and did everything they
could to make it happen, at the expense of short-term profit, because
they knew it would pay off eventually (and they were clearly right).

Good or bad, they got it because they *wanted* it so badly and were
willing to go out and make it happen. <shrug>