# Announcement of PLplot-5.3.1

## Release Notes

This release comes five months after the previous one with relatively few user-visible changes. However, a big amount work was done to improve the internals of the distribution, in particular as regards the Autotools (Autoconf, Automake, Libtool) support. The Java, C++, and Octave bindings and examples have been improved, and new vector plotting functions added to the API. For the detailed list of changes, see the ChangeLog of CVS activity.

## Changes

### API

- New `plvect` function to plot arrows using the function evaluator approach and new `plsvect` function to set the style of the arrow used by plarrows. Examples `x22*` illustrate the use of these new functions.

- Add non-rectangular x-y limits to plsurf (plsurf3dl) and plot3d (plot3dcl).

### Language Bindings

- The library libplplotf77 is split, such that there is a pure fortran source library (still called libplplotf77) which wraps a pure C source library (libplplotf77c) which in turn wraps libplplot. This change means an end to worrying about using FLIBS to specify how to link a library with combined fortran and C source code, improving the portability.

- The Java and Python bindings have now a common Swig interface definition.

- Dropped the requirement for Matwrap for building the Octave bindings from the distribution tarball. The Octave binding requires Octave version 2.1.57 or later to work

- There are now two different Perl bindings for PLplot: `Graphics::PLplot` and `PDL::Graphics::PLplot`. All the example files have been ported to the later module (files `examples/perl/x*.pl`).

### Drivers

- Added FreeType support to the wingcc driver.

### Config/Build/Install

- The configuration system has undergone a total overhaul. The configure.ac script, together with sysloc.in, have been broken into logical pieces and put under the `cf/` directory. The Autoconf code has been modernized and its maintainability improved.

- Building from CVS sources requires Automake version 1.8.2 or later.

- The reconfig script does not exist anymore, because the command `./config.status --recheck` provides the same functionality.

- Building the DocBook documentation (info and man page forms) requires the docbook2x version 0.8.2 or later.

### Library core

- Several memory leak problems are fixed both in the core and in the examples. We are heading towards a valgrind-clean code base for PLplot.

### Documentation

- New chapter Deploying programs that use PLplot, containing information on the issue of delivering programs that use PLplot.

- New chapter API compatibility definition, which presents the formal definition of what is considered to be in the PLplot library API.

### Examples and Tests

- Example x14 works identically in C, C++, Python, Java and Tcl bindings.

- The tests can be exercised with the `make check` command.

##

Rafael Laboissiere, 2004-06-25

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