Problem with Symantec Endpoint Protection Solved

If you use this product and DPlot will start for you, this blog entry is not for you. But if, like many, you use Symantec Endpoint Protection and DPlot will not start, read on. Thanks to persistent user and UF prof Ted Krauthammer, we have this from Symantec Technical Support:

According to the troubleshooting steps we followed for the previous case, Application and Device control feature is the one which blocks the user from accessing the DPot application. Also for a unmannaged client disabling ADC feature wont have that much impact on the client. For an unmanaged client we dont have the privilege to block/allow an application or device unless it is managed by a Manager.

Creating a exception for blocking or allowing a device/application can be done through Symantec endpoint protection Manager. In our case since it is a unmanaged client we can disable the ADC feature.

If you are unable to run the DPlot application please follow the below steps.

Step 1: Navigate to control panel.
Step 2: Select symantec endpoint protection.
Step 3: Click change and Modify.
Step 4: Under proactive threat protection, disable Application and device control.
Step 5: Complete the wizard and reboot the machine.

This will allow you to disable the Application and device control feature.

Note: The above steps are applicable for unmanaged client.

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So there you have it. I'm hopeful that a future release of Symantec's product will fix this problem and you will not have to disable anything to run DPlot. I'll post another entry if/when that happens.

Excel 2013 problem solved

Along with the previous blog entry on Trusted Publisher settings, there is a change in Excel 2013 related to the ribbon which might prevent the DPlot Add-in from showing correctly. Fortunately there is an easy fix..

If you are running Excel 2013 and the DPlot Add-in does not show up and you have any other add-ins loaded (in particular either of the Analysis ToolPak add-ins):

  1. Select File>Options>Add-ins.
  2. Ensure that the "Manage" selection is "Excel Add-Ins" then click "Go"
  3. Uncheck the boxes next to any add-in other than "DPlot interface". (In my experience the Analysis ToolPak add-ins are the culprits, but there may be others and in any case you're going to reload everything to finish this up, so there is no harm in unloading add-ins.)
  4. Click OK, exit and restart Excel.
  5. Most likely the DPlot Add-in will now show up on the ribbon. In any case, reload the add-ins you were previously using, if desired:
  6. Select File>Options>Add-ins. Again click the Go button. Check the boxes for the add-ins you want to load.
I'm not entirely certain why this works, but it has something to do with a change in behavior of the ribbon in Excel 2013: each open document gets its own unique ribbon. (In 2007 and 2010 versions there was only one ribbon.) Apparently (?) the Analysis ToolPak does something to the default ribbon to prevent additions. Loading the DPlot Add-in first gets around this behavior. Hopefully a future version of the Add-in will add code so that this hoop-jumping is no longer necessary.

Excel Add-in fix for Trusted Publisher setting

I've had several e-mails about the Add-In not appearing in Excel 2013 lately. Curiously not so much for Excel 2010, for which this should also be a problem with similar "Trust Center" settings. In any case, the problem was due to using a personal code-signing certificate for the Add-In rather than one of the... holding my tongue... somewhat more expensive code-signing certificates from MS-approved certificate authorities. Unfortunately getting the problem fixed will require some hoop-jumping on your part if you're having this problem.

  1. Start Excel. Go to File>Options>Add-ins, click Go next to "Manage Add-ins", uncheck "DPlot interface", click OK.
  2. Go to File>Options>Trust Center, click the "Trust Center Settings" button. In the left pane select "Message Bar". Ensure that "Show the Message Bar in all applications when active content, such as ActiveX controls and macros, has been blocked" is selected. Click OK twice and exit Excel.
  3. Download and save the updated Add-In to %appdata%\Microsoft\Addins, overwriting the existing version.
  4. Start Excel. You'll almost certainly see a security warning. If so, click on "Some active content has been disabled. Click for more details."
  5. Click "Enable Content", then "Advanced Options".
  6. You may see more than one "untrusted" offender. Look for "Signed by: HydeSoft Computing LLC". This may not be the first entry and you'll need to scroll through the list. Select "Trust all documents from this publisher" then click OK.
  7. Exit and restart Excel. 
You should now see an Add-ins tab and when clicked see the DPlot Add-in just below the File tab. If not please let me know at support@dplot.com.

Macro examples for simple tasks

From e-mail support requests:

I'm in need of a macro command that will delete the very first point of a plot.  I've got a situation where I have to use the "operate on Y" as this Y=Y/X but my first point in X is zero...thus I end up with a divide by zero error.  Is there a way to delete this first point in the data (i.e. the X=0 point) so that I can go ahead and use the Y=Y/X command?

EditTruncate(some very small positive value,some very large positive value)

This:

EditTruncate(1.E-100,1.E+100)

should work unless you're dealing with very large or very small numbers.

I also need to be able to delete all points with negative y values using a macro...is this possible?  I've been doing it manually with "delete points in a box" but I'm wondering if there is a better way via macro.

ClipY(0,1.E+100)

If you don't want the clipped parts connected, use

YCutoff(1,0,1.E+100)

This will preserve those points with negative Y values but not draw line segments to/from them.

New support for GPX heartrate

In previous versions the Garmin GPX file import plugin included support for reading heartrate information, but only from Garmin Training Center TCX files. The Garmin plugin will now read heartrate from Nike device files exported as GPX files. There is to-date unfortunately no standard for presenting this information; this release of the plugin looks for <gpxtpx:hr> tags in the GPX file. This change may support additional device exports. Unfortunately the lack of standardization makes it impossible to say.

The updated plugin is not currently included with any release (it will be with the next update) but is available as a separate download. If you're interested, download www.dplot.com/plugins/fileimport/garmin.dll. Save this file to the \plugins\fileimport folder below the folder where dplot.exe is installed. (The default location is c:\Program Files\DPlot or c:\Program Files (x86)\DPlot on 64-bit systems.)

Of course if you have a GPX file containing heartrate information that is not supported by DPlot, please let us know.

As an aside this came to me from an old (emphasis on old) friend whose file showed a maximum heartrate of 208! I threatened to rat him out to his wife, before he informed me that it was recorded by his 13-yr old daughter. Well, OK then.

64-bit Interface Library

For software developers:

We now have a 64-bit version of DPLOTLIB.DLL available. This means you'll now be able to call DPLOTLIB functions from your 64-bit application. Example source code in C, C#, and VB.NET are included (all built with Visual Studio 2010).

The DLL and examples are included with the latest (23 Sep 2012) DPlot Jr and are optional components with the installation of both the trial and full-licensed versions of DPlot.

If you are not aware of this capability and might have an interest, take a look at the Software Developers page.

Your comments and suggestions are of course welcome at support@dplot.com.

DPlot animations on YouTube

GeoLurking has posted several nifty animations of 4D scatter plots created by DPlot on YouTube which you can view here: http://www.youtube.com/user/GeoLurking. These might give you a few ideas for your own projects.

DPlot does not and most likely never will save AVI or other video formats, but there are several low cost screen-capture-to-video utilities out there that you might find useful. Camtasia has worked well for me. GeoLurking used AVS Video Tools.

Average Curve module

Starting with version 2.3.0.8, DPlot is distributed with an "Average Curve with Error Bars" modulethat produces a new document with amplitudes equal to the mean of all Y values within a user-specified interval in X, and error bars with extents equal to either:

  • the mean minus the extreme values,
  • the standard error for the points within the given interval, or
  • the standard deviation for the points within the given interval.
Here is an example from Dr. Aditya Savara:

When carbon monoxide encounters hydrogen covered palladium surfaces, the carbon monoxide can adsorb on the palladium surface and displace the hydrogen.  This process leads to the deactivation of hydrogen membranes, and also may be important in the production of pharmaceutical drugs by palladium catalysis.  In these experiments, carbon monoxide is introduced to a palladium crystal surface which has been precovered with hydrogen, H/Pd(111).  The infrared absorbance due to carbon monoxide is plotted as a function of time, and shows the buildup of carbon monoxide on the surface.  The discontinuity near 60 seconds is real, and is due to a change in the peak shape of the carbon monoxide infrared absorbance.  This data was measured in ultrahigh vacuum conditions at the Fritz-Haber-Institut in Berlin, using an effusive molecular beam for the carbon monoxide exposure, and infrared reflectance-absorbance spectroscopy.

The "Average Curve with Error Bars" command results in:

Maps and Background Images

From the start of the addition of background images to DPlot graphs, maps have been in mind. See here, for example.

This blog post isn't so much about announcing a new DPlot feature as it is about pointing out a public domain resource that you may not be aware of. NASA has produced a whole-earth image using Mercator projection that is just about perfect for DPlot. That image is available here. Example usage is shown at the bottom of the Geographic Maps page and repeated here:

A larger version of this image is shown here (~3.4Mb).

For this particular image, use Options>Extents/Intervals/Size and set the X/Y extents to +180 and +80, respectively. And of course you'll want to use Mercator Projection for your plot's scale. For a subset of this particular image you'll need to either specify the top/left coordinates within DPlot (easy for X, not so easy for Y) or crop the image within your favorite image editor.

DPlot at Watts Up With That?

I'm of course always happy to see DPlot mentioned on the web, but particularly when it is at a site as popular as Anthony Watts' Watts Up With That?

And no, this isn't an especially useful blog post and yes, I'm showing off. Sorry. Sort of :-)

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