Off topic: ganttProject->xfig converter

[A S Hodel]

I sent this to the ganttProject mailing list, but I think it's 
appropriate here too.  Some of you may find this useful if you would 
like to have project planning software.

Begin forwarded message:

From: A S Hodel <address@hidden>
Date: Fri May 7, 2004  11:53:58 AM US/Central
To: address@hidden
Subject: ganttProject->xfig converter

I am new to ganttProject, but have found the program very useful.  One 
issue that caused me problems is that the graphical output of 
ganttProjectis not scalable - it's converted directly to .png files and 
does not copy well.

In an attempt to start to fix this problem, I've written an octave 
m-file script, myfig.m (should probably call it
"gan2fig" instead), that reads ganttProject xml .gan files and 
translates the Gantt chart to xfig format.

xfig is a drawing tool that is used under Linux, Mac OS X, and allows 
its output to be translated to
        - LaTeX  (scalable)
        - postscript (scalable)
        - .eps  (scalable)
        - .pdf (scalable)
        - many other things.

The m-file and an example of its use are at
        http://www.eng.auburn.edu/users/hodelas/LaTeX/LaTeX_tf.html
under the link "On using Gantt charts in LaTeX."  There are also links 
to xfig, etc., which I installed under Mac OS X using fink (I've also 
used it under Linux, but I'm now using only Mac OS X.)

I'd like to see these functions incorporated into GanttProject itself, 
but there are two problems:
(1) I don't know JAVA, and
(2) Alexandre Thomas doesn't know octave/MATLAB.

So, we would like to ask this mailing list if anyone can take my few 
days worth of work and help to incorporate
the features into ganttProject.  I'd prefer to see the functions 
directly incorporated into ganttProject in order to maintain maximum 
portability.

Below is an english translation of my (badly written) french 
description of mychart.m to Mr. Thomas:

On Friday, May 7, 2004, at 02:12 AM, Alexandre THOMAS wrote:
> Ok
> I've never heard about the octave language.
> Perhaps you can pass a mail to the mailing list of the developers
> (address@hidden)
> and can explain what you've done..Perhaps someone know java/octave 
> both...

That's a good idea.

> I'll try to look at your programm and try to convert it into Java..
> By the way, could you explain the goal of the program.
>
> If I understand, it convert the xml project file directly into a eps 
> of fig
> file?? isn't it

You are correct.

The subroutines  "getProject", "getProjectTextWidth," 
"concatenateTasks", and "fixTaskDates"
make a data structure that contains all tasks.  Your Java program has 
no need of these subroutines since it begins with such a data structure.

The subroutine "xfigheader" begins to write an xfig file with color 
definitions, etc.

The subroutine "set ProjectPlotTimes" converts the start dates and 
durations into data structures of boxes and lines  for xfig by calling 
the subroutine "task2box."  Notice that the word "box" is incorrect;  
in xfig anything that is made with lines is a "polyline" object, type 
2, and so perhaps I should write "task2polyline."  setProjectPlotTimes 
also calls "task2text," which makes a text data structure object for 
xfig.

Finally, the subroutine "drawtask" writes the parameters in the xfig 
file that come from the data structures that were made in 
setProjectPlotTimes.  This is done by calling subroutines "drawtask" 
and "drawtext."  Following this, drawtask writes the lines and arrows 
for the dependencies.

All of these subroutines use a data structure notation that is very 
similar to C++ et C, except that there is no need to write the class 
definitions.

One important difference is cell arrays, which are written with braces 
{} instead of parenthesis ().  A cell is an object that can be anything 
- it's perhaps similar to a "union" in C/C++.  Thus, if I write
        task = tasklist{ii};
that means to "put a copy of object ii in task list into variable task."

> I've another idea...Why not create another external tool (external from
> ganttproject) that can take the xml file and convert it into a pdf 
> document..
> Can be another solution....

Oui!  Je peut le faire après je suis satisfié avec myfig (je dois 
changer le nom à "gan2fig").

> in fact I like your work
merci! - ce n'est pas très élégant, mais il marche assez bien pour 
maintenant.

> kind regards
> alexandre
>
> Selon A S Hodel <address@hidden>:
>
> > Je ne connais pas le JAVA, alors j'ai écrit les fonctionnes en Octave 
> > -
> > c'est un peu semblable à MATLAB/C++.
> > Pour maintenant, peut-être c'est assez de mettre un "link" a mon
> > web-page de LaTeX à
> >         http://www.eng.auburn.edu/users/hodelas/LaTeX
> > J'ai mit un exemple là aujourd'hui.  Puis, s'il y aurais quelqu'un qui
> > connais tous les deux d' Octave et Java,
> > il/elle peut ajouter les fonctionnes directment dans ganttProject.
> >
> > La source pour mychart.m est attaché au desous.
> >
> > Ça va avec vous?
> >
> > merci beaucoup pour ganttProject - c'est très utile!
> >
> > Scotte

A. S. Hodel Dept. ECE, 200 Broun Hall, Auburn University AL 36849-5201
(334) 844-1854/fax(334) 844-1809, 
http://www.eng.auburn.edu/users/hodelas , address@hidden



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