Any data set with known X-Y coordinates can be used in DotProc. Data can either be imported from a delimited file or pasted from clipboard. DotProc uses two columns of the data set which are chosen when importing or pasting data:

The default delimiter is TAB. If another delimiter is used in the data set DotProc will ask it to be specified:

DotProc allows none or a single first row headings in the data set.

Fry analysis offers a visual approach to quantify characteristic spatial trends for groups of point objects. The technique was originally designed to quantify finite strain based on a 2-D analysis of the nearest neighbours to a central reference point, assuming that the original distribution pattern was random.

Fry analysis can also be used to search for anisotropies in the distribution of point objects. More specifically it can be used to investigate if a distribution of point objects occurs along linear trends, and whether such linear trends occur at a characteristic spacing.

In Fry analysis data is assessed by placing a point object on a central point within a fixed reference frame. The position of all other occurrences relative to that point is marked. This procedure is then repeated for each point, and will result in a dot distribution pattern or Fry plot that displays the relative position of each point object to all other point objects viewed from a central position. If any regular patterns in terms of spacing and orientation of point objects exists, the Fry plot will enhance such patterns allowing an easy, visual assessment of the controlling trends.

The figures above provide an example of a Fry Plot. The figure on the left is a simplified geological map of the NW sector of the Zimbabwe craton. Known gold occurrences are marked as red dots. The gold occurrences positioned in the blue square have been used for the Fry plot shown on the right. The Fry plot helps to enhance linear trends along which deposits occur and clearly shows the characteristic spacing between deposit trends.

DotProc's Fry plot window looks as follows:

DotProc is optimized for large numbers of points to be displayed in the Fry plot. Thus when resizing Fry plot windows it is necessary to refresh its contents so that all available space is used. "Update" button is used for that.

While drawing Fry plot the status line indicates progress. Operation can be stopped by clicking on "Update/Stop" button or pressing "ESC" key on the keyboard.

Fry plot area can be zoomed by dragging a mouse selecting zoom rectangle.

When Fry plot window is active the status line indicates rectangular coordinates of the cursor together with the distance and angle from the centre point.

The data can be saved as geo-referenced data in tab delimited text files and exported to GIS software.

The following attributes of the Fry plot can be changed by selecting "Tools / Settings" menu item:

Orientation diagrams allow you an opportunity to further analyze the anisotropy of data contained in the Fry plot. Orientation diagrams investigate the orientation distribution of the connecting lines between points in the Fry plot.

When considering a Fry plot, lines can be drawn between all points in the plot. Each such line has a specific length and orientation. If the original data set is a perfectly random point distribution, lines of all lengths will be homogeneously distributed in all directions. If the original distribution is not random, lines of particular lengths and/or orientations will occur more frequently displaying a fabric. Therefore this technique allows to quantify the direction of preferred orientations of point distributions that can be seen in the Fry plot.

DotProc's Orientation diagram window looks as follows:

The boxes "From distance" and "To distance" define the line length range for which the orientation data is to be analysed.

When Orientation diagram window is active the status line indicates number of poits under the cursor together with the angle and percentage distribution of the points.

The data can be saved as tab-delimited text files (or copied to clipboard) that can be opened in data management programs such as Excel, where the data can be analyzed further.

The following attributes of the Orientation diagram can be changed by selecting "Tools / Settings" menu item:

The distribution of the length of connecting lines between points in a Fry plot can be further analyzed by looking at the frequency distribution of lines that fall within a particular length range. This allows an easy assessment of clustering effects and enables you to semi-quantitatively determine the characteristic spacing of linear arrays observed on the Fry plot.

DotProc's Line length frequency plot window looks as follows:

Line length intervals are calculated by dividing the longest line in the distribution plot by the number of segments indicated.

The data can be saved as tab-delimited text files (or copied to clipboard) that can be opened in data management programs such as Excel, where the data can be analyzed further.

The chart can be zoomed by dragging the mouse selecting a zoom rectangle. To zoom all drag the mouse towards top-left.

Click on "Show / Stop" button or press "ESC" key to stop the operation.

The following attributes of the Line length frequency plot can be changed by selecting "Tools / Settings" menu item:

A point distribution is said to be fractal if it exhibits scale invariance. In other words, the distribution pattern looks the same at a range of different magnifications. The distribution of mineral deposits such as gold resulted from the favorable interaction of a number of controlling parameters including fracture patterns. There is no guarantee that such controls acted in the same way on all scales or originated as a result of the same tectonic process. However, if controls are related, e.g. to one generation of fractures, a fractal distribution of gold occurrences is expected within a certain scale range.

To test the fractal nature of a point distribution, square grids of various cell sizes are superimposed on the points. For each grid cell size (as characterized by the side length of a grid square), the number of grid squares required to cover all points is counted.

If the distribution pattern of the points is scale independent or fractal, it can be described with a fractal relationships of the type: N(r) = C r^D, where N(r) = the number of squares with side length 'r' required to cover all points, 'C' = a fractal constant and 'D' = the fractal dimension.

Plotting N(r) against 'r' on a log-log scale will result in a straight line with slope -D if the distribution is truly fractal. Slopes may also be kinked, with the kink point representing a characteristic dimension at which one geological process overtakes another in determining the distribution pattern of the points under investigation. Such a dimension may control the clustering behavior of the point distribution pattern.

DotProc's Fractal distribution plot window looks as follows:

The data can be saved as tab-delimited text files (or copied to clipboard) that can be opened in data management programs such as Excel, where the data can be analyzed further.

The chart can be zoomed by dragging the mouse selecting a zoom rectangle. To zoom all drag the mouse towards top-left.

Click on "Show / Stop" button or press "ESC" key to stop the operation.

The following attributes of the Orientation diagram can be changed by selecting "Tools / Settings" menu item:

Choosing "File / Information" menu item will indicate the number of points in use:

DotProc has an inbuilt clipboard viewer:

And simple text / RTF editor: