ScottPlot.NET
ScottPlot Data Format - ScottPlot FAQ
Why does ScottPlot prefer double[]? Can other data types be used?

ScottPlot is opinionated, and prefers data to be in double[] format. We often receive suggestions and questions related to plotting data originating in other formats. This topic frequently surfaces in GitHub issues, discussions, and even pull requests (see links at the bottom of this page).

This page summarizes the formats ScottPlot supports, justifies why these formats were chosen, and provides suggestions for users who want to plot data originating from other formats.

Why ScottPlot Prefers double[]

ScottPlot’s primary goals are simplicity, performance, and maintainability, and we find that requiring the user to provide data as double[] achieves the best balance between these priorities for most users.

Plotting often involves search algorithms to convert data coordinates to pixel locations. These algorithms are implemented using double for comparisons, and supporting more types would require duplicating these algorithms to support double[], float[], long[], int[], and byte[], as well as duplicate plot types and Plot method overloads for every type.

Generics could be used and search algorithms could compare T, but generics don’t support operations (+, -, < etc.) so comparisons require T.ConvertTo(double) which greatly impairs performance of these critical search methods.

How to Plot Other Data Types

You can quickly convert your iteratable data type to a double array using LINQ:

int[] originalData = { 5, 2, 7, 4, 9, 5 };
double[] myData = originalData.Select(x=>(double)x).ToArray();

How to Plot List and List<T> Types

You can use LINQ to convert any numerical list type to a double array:

List<int> originalData = new List<int>() {5, 2, 7, 4, 9, 5};
double[] myData = originalData.Select(x=>(double)x).ToArray();

If your List is a List<double> you can do this even simpler:

List<double> originalData = new List<double>() {5, 2, 7, 4, 9, 5};
double[] myData = originalData.ToArray();

SignalConst<T>

The SignalConst plot type pre-processes data so rendering performance is not negatively impacted by comparison of generic types. AddSignalConst() accepts any array type, so as long as its elements can be cast to double you can use this plot type to display data from types other than double[].

int[] data = { 2, 6, 3, 8, 5, 6, 1, 9, 7 };
plt.AddSignalConst(data);

ScatterPlotList

There are experimental plot types such as ScatterPlotList which use List<T> instead of double[] under the hood. These plot types have Add(), RemoveAt(), and Clear() methods, making them suitable for applications where the data type is not double and/or the number of data points is expected to change.

List-based plot types are experimental and are intentionally not documented in the cookbook at time. They can be found in the ScottPlot.Plottable namespace. To use them you can instantiate them with new, add them to the plot with plt.Add(), then interact with their methods to add and manipulate data.

// instantiate an experimental plot type and add it to the plot
var plt = new ScottPlot.Plot();
var experimental = new ScottPlot.Plottable.ScatterPlotList();
plt.Add(experimental);

// interact with the plot type using public methods
experimental.Add(x, y);

Resources

Relevant Conversations on GitHub