Скачать или смотреть How to Plot Data Using ASCII Symbols in C Language

Discover a simple method to plot sensor data using ASCII symbols in your C language programs. Learn how to create engaging visualizations with minimal resources.
---
This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/78063402/ asked by the user 'Pedro_Uno' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/1046691/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/78063428/ provided by the user 'ikegami' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/589924/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

Visit these links for original content and any more details, such as alternate solutions, latest updates/developments on topic, comments, revision history etc. For example, the original title of the Question was: Is there a recommended way to plot data using ascii symbols?

Also, Content (except music) licensed under CC BY-SA https://meta.stackexchange.com/help/l...
The original Question post is licensed under the 'CC BY-SA 4.0' ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... ) license, and the original Answer post is licensed under the 'CC BY-SA 4.0' ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... ) license.

If anything seems off to you, please feel free to write me at vlogize [AT] gmail [DOT] com.
---
How to Plot Data Using ASCII Symbols in C Language

In the world of programming and data analysis, visualizing data can significantly enhance the understanding of trends and patterns. However, in certain situations, you might find yourself limited to only a serial console interface. Perhaps you're writing a bare-metal C language program for a project that collects sensor data—how do you effectively plot that data using ASCII symbols?

This guide will walk you through a simple yet effective method to plot data using a mono-spaced ASCII representation right within the confines of your serial console. Let's explore this approach step-by-step!

Understanding the Need for ASCII Plotting

When working in environments where graphical display options are unavailable, you can leverage ASCII characters to create visual representations of data. This technique is particularly useful for debugging sensor data in embedded systems or bare-metal applications.

Example of ASCII Plotting

Consider the following ASCII representation of data points. Each asterisk (*) symbolizes a data point along a vertical scale:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Here, vertical coordinates represent the values from your sensor readings, while horizontal coordinates represent time or sample number.

Implementing ASCII Plotting in C

To create your ASCII plots, you'll utilize nested loops. Let’s break down the process and provide you with a straightforward C code example.

Step-by-Step Breakdown

Determine your vertical and horizontal plotting ranges: Decide how many "y" levels you want to use (in our case, 8) and how many data points (in our example, n is set to 26).

Create a nested loop:

The outer loop (for (size_t y = 8; y--; )) controls the Y-axis levels.

The inner loop (for (size_t x = 0; x < n; + + x)) processes each data sample.

Conditional Printing: During each iteration, check if the sample value fits within the calculated Y range. If it does, print *; otherwise, print a space.

Example Code

Here is a basic example that you can incorporate into your project:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Explanation of the Code

samples[]: This array contains the sensor values that you want to plot above.

putchar: This function is responsible for printing either an asterisk or a space, based on the condition specified in the loop.

With these few lines of code, you can successfully plot your sensor readings using ASCII symbols in your C language application.

Conclusion

Visualizing sensor data using ASCII symbols is not only a clever solution when graphical interfaces aren't available, but it also allows for quick and efficient debugging right from your console. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can easily implement ASCII plotting in your bare-metal C programs.

Happy coding, and enjoy bringing your data to life with ASCII art!