How can I plot directly on the screen?

You can plot directly on the screen with the keyword 'CONS' in the DISLIN routine METAFL. METAFL must be called before the initialization routine DISINI. On windows screens, you can also use the keyword 'XWIN' in METAFL that creates a smaller window while METAFL('CONS') creates a full size window.

How can I get a white background on the screen?

By default, the background colour is black and the foreground colour is white for screen output. You can reverse these colours by using the routine SCRMOD before DISINI with the keyword 'REVERSE'. SCRMOD ('REVERSE') works for screen output, PostScript, TIFF and PNG files.

How can I change a graphs background ?

The statement PAGFLL (NCLR) fills the plotting page with the colour NCLR while the statement AXSBGD (NCLR) defines a background colour for an axis system plotted with GRAF.

Can I use DISLIN as a viewer for PostScript files?

No, the DISLIN driver utility DISDRV can only display PostScript files created by DISLIN.

Can I use DISLIN as a viewer for TIFF files?

No, the DISLIN driver utility DISTIF can only display TIFF files created by DISLIN.

Can I import DISLIN PostScript files into TeX?

Yes, DISLIN PostScript files contain a bounding box so that they can be imported directly into TeX or other third party products.

What is the best output format for importing DISLIN graphics into MS-Word

I think it's the Windows metafile format that can be defined in DISLIN with the keyword 'WMF' in the routine METAFL.

How would I draw tics inward rather than outward?

You can use the keyword 'REVERS' in the routine TICPOS for plotting ticks inside of an axis system.

How can I plot indices in DISLIN?

You can enable shift characters for indices and exponents with the routine MIXALF. The default shift characters are '[' for exponents, ']' for indices and '$' for moving back to the base line. Alternate shift characters can be defined with the routines NEWMIX and SETMIX. For example, the string 'A]1$' will be interpreted in DISLIN as the character A with the index 1 after a call to SETMIX.

How can I plot Greek letters in axis titles?

You have to define shift characters for the Greek alphabet with the routine SMXALF. For example, the statement SMXALF ('GREEK', '{', '}', 1) defines the shift characters '{' and '}' for the Greek alphabet. The charater '{' shifts to the Greek alphabet and the character '}' back to the base alphabet. For example, the term '{D}' in a string will be interpreted as an uppercase Greek delta in DISLIN. Take a look at the character sets in the DISLIN manual for the ASCII codes of the Greek letters.

How can I reset automatic scaling?

Automatic scaling can be reset with the keyword 'SETSCL' in the routine RESET and with the keywords 'XRESET', 'YRESET', 'ZRESET' and 'RESET' in the routine SETSCL.