Function Grapher is a free software utility for the Mac OS X operating system. The application lets you create visual maps and charts with a variety of common map formats, such as JPEG, GIF, PNG, and others. In addition, you can also export data from GP as a text file or as an Excel spreadsheet. Function Grapher has an optional component, called the Maps widget, which allows you to view any map on your Mac screen. This widget comes installed with many newer versions of the Mac OS X operating system, and works very well with both vector and raster graphics formats. If you're going to use the Maps widget, you may want to install the latest version, since recent versions of the OS X system have been enhanced to support the Maps widget even better.
Function Grapher can be used as a stand-alone program, but it's also available as part of a number of other graphing software applications, such as those for creating basic line and bar charts, heat maps, histograms, and scatter plots. The stand-alone program version works quite well with Microsoft Excel, especially if you make use of the custom graph types available in the Microsoft Office Graph Solitaire software package. For example, you can generate bar charts, pie charts, or monthly averages by just entering your data in the appropriate cells, and hitting the Enter key. Function Grapher offers a number of built-in functions to perform all kinds of graph functions, so if you want to do some more advanced work with your data, you might want to look around for additional functions.
You may also find that there are several add-on features that are not built into the basic version of Function Grapher. These features, along with the many functions that are available with the stand-alone application, make Function Grapher an excellent tool for graphing calculator users. One of these features is the support for the Mac format. The Mac format provides a number of different options for graph types, including the ability to enter multiples of data, rotate the data grid, and customize the size of the text boxes and labels. This means that you can create really nice looking bar charts with very minimal customization required on the part of the user. Function Grapher allows you to do this, as well as export your finished charts to a file that is compatible with the Mac computer system.
