ComparePlots

Python module focused on comparing two or more "similar" LDMX histogram files.

Installation

One may use this python module either inside or outside the ldmx-sw development container.

Inside ldmx-sw

Run the dedicated just command to install

just install-compare-plots-deps

This is named 'install' because we used to install the ComparePlots module as well as its dependencies. Now we just install its dependencies and then run the ComparePlots module "from source".

Outside ldmx-sw

Outside container it is helpful to put the ComparePlots module inside a virtual environment. This makes it easier to keep track of what you are doing and isolate the dependencies of ComparePlots from other python packages that may be on your system.

python3 -m venv .venv/valid --prompt valid
. .venv/valid/bin/activate
pip install -r ComparePlots/requirements.txt

I store the virtual environment files in a directory called .venv/valid and tell venv to use valid as the prompt so I can see in my terminal that I have access to the ComparePlots package. After activating the virtual environment, I install the ComparePlots module's requirements.

Using ComparePlots without a virtual environment and outside of the container is not recommended.

Usage

CLI

The ComparePlots module is constructed to do some common tasks quickly on the command line. Running it can be accessed via just as well

just compare-plots -h

For example if you would like to compare the ECAL shower features, put the input histograms into a directory, e.g. compareDir with names that are separated with an underscore, e.g. histo_new.root and histo_ref.root, then run the following command.

just compare-plots compareDir/  --systems ecal.shower_feats

This will produce plots in the compareDir directory and will include "new" and "ref" in the plot legend.