View source for Kst (software)

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{{Infobox software
| name = Kst
| logo = <!-- Image name is enough. -->
| logo alt = 
| logo caption = 
| screenshot = Kst screenshot.png
| screenshot size =
| screenshot alt = 
| caption = [[Screenshot]] of Kst
| collapsible = <!-- Any text here will collapse the screenshot. -->
| author = [[Barth Netterfield]]<ref name="Chance"/>
| developer = {{ubl|George Staikos<ref name="Chance"/>|Andrew Walker<ref name="Chance"/>}}
| released = <!-- {{Start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|df=yes/no}} -->
| discontinued = <!-- Set to yes if software is discontinued, otherwise omit. -->
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| latest release date = <!-- {{Start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|df=yes/no}} -->
| latest preview version = 
| latest preview date = <!-- {{Start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|df=yes/no}} -->
| repo = {{URL|https://github.com/Kst-plot/kst}}
| programming language = 
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| operating system = {{ubl|Linux|Mac|Windows using [[MinGW]]}}
| platform = 
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| language count = <!-- Number only -->
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| genre = [[Graph plotting]] software
| license = GPL<ref name="Chance"/>
| alexa = 
| website = {{URL|http://kst-plot.kde.org/}}
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}}
'''Kst''' is a plotting and data viewing program.  Kst is a [[KDE]] application and is [[free software|freely]] available for anyone to download and use under the terms of the [[GNU General Public License|GPL]].  It is noted for being able to graph [[real-time computing|real-time]] data aquisition.

==History==
Kst was initially developed by [[Barth Netterfield]], an astrophysicist as a personal project.  By 2004 it had begun to be used in various universities and the [[European Space Agency]] and development was funded by the [[Canadian Space Agency]].<ref name="Chance"/>

==Features==
kst is a fast [[real-time computing|real-time]] large-dataset plotting and viewing tool with basic data analysis functionality.<ref name="LJ-201008"/><ref name="ACTORS"/><ref name="Own-Benchmarks"/> 

===Plot types===
kst is able to plot histograms and 3-D with color and contour mapping for 3-D images.<ref name="Handbook"/>

===Real-time plotting capability===
Kst has been chosen where there is a need to present plots in [[Real-time computing|real-time]].<ref name="PoleSteamTownUni"/>

===Applications===
Real-time applications vary in size from simple graphing of a sensor from a [[microcontroller]] such as [[arduino]] that may be set up by a hobbyist to a simple sensor<ref name="LJ-201008"/> to plotting of real time date from the [[Atacama Cosmology Telescope]].<ref name="Cosmic"/>

===Inputs===
Kst is able to accept a number input formats with ''Dirfiles'' being particularly suitable for streaming applications<ref name="Cosmic"/><ref name="DF"/> and plug-in extension filters enabling other input stream types and file formats to be added.<ref name="Handbook"/>

===Scripting language===
The tool offers a [[scripting language]], termed ''KstScript'' based upon [[Javascript]] syntax which can help automate [[workflow]]s.<ref name="Handbook"/>

==Alternatives==
Some alternatives include [[MATLAB]], Qtiplot, [[SciDAVis]], [[Grace (plotting tool)|Grace]] and [[LabPlot]].<ref name="Own-Benchmarks"/> However, some of these are part of a numerical analysis package.<ref name="Own-Benchmarks"/>

==Spin-off developments==

===Dirfile format{{Anchor|A-Dirfile}}===
In the process of developing the kst application a spin-off was the emergence of the ''Dirfile'' file format standard for time-ordered binary data in an efficient manner.{{efn|The records in files are timestamped and ordered in time of occurence}}  It was developed under the ''Getdata project'' into an independent standard with its own [[Application programming interface|API]].<ref name="DF"/>

==See also==
{{Portal|Free and open-source software}}
* [[List of graphing software]]

==External links==
* [http://kst-plot.kde.org/ kst webpage]

==Notes and references==

===Notes===
{{notelist}}

===References===
{{reflist|30em|refs=

<ref name="LJ-201008">{{cite magazine|title=Linux Journal|date=August 2010|issue=196|pages=62−67|first1=Rob|last1=Reilly|id=Real-Time Plots with kst and a microcontroller|url=https://www.montanalinux.org/files/mags/Linux_Journal/196-Linux-Journal-Aug-2010.pdf|dead-url=no|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428163258/https://www.montanalinux.org/files/mags/Linux_Journal/196-Linux-Journal-Aug-2010.pdf|archive-date=28 April 2019|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

<ref name="Cosmic">{{cite book|title=Systems and control software for the Atacama Cosmology Telescope|url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jeffrey_Klein3/publication/234114252_Systems_and_control_software_for_the_Atacama_Cosmology_Telescope/links/02e7e52b865d3691ee000000.pdf|doi=10.1117/12.790006|journal=Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering|volume=79019|date=1 August 2008}}</ref>

<ref name="PoleSteamTownUni">{{cite book|last1=Nowak|first1=Adam|last2=Walkowiak|first2=Przemysław|last3=Szwabe|first3=Andrzej|last4=Misiorek|first4=Pawel|title=wnPUT Testbed Experimentation Framework|doi=10.1007/978-3-642-25959-3_27|pages=377,379,381|series=Lecture notes in Computer Science|volume=7129}}</ref>

<ref name="ACTORS">{{cite web|url=http://rts.eit.uni-kl.de/fileadmin/publication_files/TR09actors_d1f_schorr.pdf|title=D1f - Interface Specification|pages=41–42|id=Appendix B - The Kst Real-Time Plotting and Data Viewing Interface|date=2011-01-29|first1=Karl-Erik|last1=Årzén|first2=Pascal|last2=Faure|first3=Gerhard|last3=Fohler|first4=Marco|last4=Mattavelli|first5=Alexander|last5=Neundorf|first6=Vanessa|last6=Romero|first7=Stefan|last7=Schorr|dead-url=no|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415223053/http://rts.eit.uni-kl.de/fileadmin/publication_files/TR09actors_d1f_schorr.pdf|archive-date=15 April 2019}}</ref>

<!-- Interview -->

<ref name="Chance">{{cite web|title=Interview with Barth Netterfield about kst|url=http://www.tomchance.org.uk/writing/kstinterview/|website=TomChance.org|dead-url=yes|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040521154712/http://www.tomchance.org.uk/writing/kstinterview/|archive-date=21 May 2004|df=dmy-all|access-date=28 April 2019}}</ref>

<!-- Primary -->
<ref name="Handbook">{{cite web|title=The Kst Handbook|id=What is Kst?|page=1|website=Kst-plot|url=https://kst-plot.kde.org/kst1/KstHandbook.pdf|access-date=8 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190426155116/https://kst-plot.kde.org/kst1/KstHandbook.pdf|archive-date=26 April 2019|dead-url=no|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

<ref name="Own-Benchmarks">{{Cite web |url=http://kst-plot.kde.org/benchmarks/ |title=Kst - Benchmarks |access-date=2 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102193754/http://kst-plot.kde.org/benchmarks/ |archive-date=2 January 2014 |dead-url=no |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

<!-- Supplementary references supporting additional part of articles expanded for clarity or support Dirfile standard -->
<ref name="DF">{{cite web|url=http://getdata.sourceforge.net/dirfile.html|title=The Dirfile Standards|access-date=29 April 2019|website=sourceforge.net|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180529230130/http://getdata.sourceforge.net/dirfile.html|archive-date=29 May 2018|dead-url=no|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

}}

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[[Category:Free plotting software]]
[[Category:KDE Applications]]
[[Category:Plotting software]]


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