[R] I have a question on nomograms.

[(Ted Harding)]

On 25-Mar-10 17:44:55, R Heberto Ghezzo, Dr wrote:
> On the same topic but from a different perspective. A Nomogram or
> better a Line Aligned Nomogram is a graph with 2 or more scales,
> maybe linear where by alignig values in each scale you can read
> values in the other scale. The relationship can be linear, then
> the scales are straight lines, or functional then the scale is
> curvilinear or even a bidimensional surface with 2 grids.

This is precisely what I normally understand by "nonogram".
Hence I was initially puzzled by ding ding's original query, asking
about "a nomogram for bladder cancer". This got me googling, and
I found the sort of thing you can try out at

 http://www.nomogram.org

They call this sort of interface "nomogram" too, and you can have
a go at the one they offer for bladder cancer. This is not a
graphical nomogram in the sense that you describe, rather it is
a form-filling interface with boxes into which you insert
information, and then press the button.

Hence my question, in my original response, to ding ding as to
whether this was the sort of thing he means (rather than the
graphical one).

Until we hear further from him about what he precisely means,
I don't think it it worth while anyone spending effort on chasing
solutions to what may be the wrong interpretation (either the
graphical or the form -- we don't know).

> Is there any program in R, S, C, Fortran, etc to compute such
> a graph. I know there is an old book by Ott or something like
> that in Nomograms but I could not find it.
> Does anybody knows anything about constructing LAN? Any books or
> already rograms to do it?
> There are very usefull for a 2 digits solution and they can be
> pin in the wall!
> Thanks for any info
> R.Heberto Ghezzo
> McGill University

Constructing a good nomogram can demand considerable skill in
combinatorial art! The few I have made in my time were not done
quickly, nor did they come out well first time (nor second ... ).
I've always constructed such things "by hand" (good layout is
very impotant), with computer support for computation of relevant
numerical values. So I can't suggest general-purpose nomogram
generating software (and I doubt it would work well in many cases).

Ted.

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Date: 25-Mar-10                                       Time: 19:01:05
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