Examples | Spectra Docs

Running Examples

# Build examples
cmake -B build -DSPECTRA_BUILD_EXAMPLES=ON -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build -j$(nproc)

# Run
./build/examples/basic_line
./build/examples/demo_3d
./build/examples/easy_api_demo

# Windows
.\build\examples\Release\basic_line.exe

Core Plotting (C++)

Example	Description
`basic_line.cpp`	Minimal line plot
`easy_api_demo.cpp`	Easy API progressive complexity showcase
`easy_realtime_demo.cpp`	Multi-signal sensor dashboard with tabs
`live_stream.cpp`	Real-time streaming data
`animated_scatter.cpp`	Animated scatter plot
`multi_subplot.cpp`	Grid-based subplot layout
`multi_figure_demo.cpp`	Multiple figures with tabs
`multi_window_tabs_demo.cpp`	Tab tear-off and multi-window
`plot_styles_demo.cpp`	All 18 markers, dash patterns, format strings
`stats_demo.cpp`	Box plot, violin, histogram, bar chart
`empty_launch_csv.cpp`	Empty canvas + CSV data loading
`comprehensive_subplot_demo.cpp`	Full subplot grid feature tour
`multi_window_demo.cpp`	Independent OS windows, peer-equivalent
`eigen_demo.cpp`	Plot directly from Eigen matrices / vectors
`logger_example.cpp`	Spectra structured logging
`shapes_demo.cpp`	2D shape primitives overlay

3D Visualization

Example	Description
`demo_3d.cpp`	3D scatter, line, surface, mesh showcase
`surface_3d.cpp`	3D surface with colormap
`lit_surface_demo.cpp`	Blinn-Phong lit surface with materials
`transparency_demo.cpp`	Transparent surfaces, wireframe, painter's sort
`mind_blowing_3d.cpp`	Advanced 3D visualization
`mode_transition_demo.cpp`	Animated 2D↔3D view switching
`axes3d_demo.cpp`	3D axes / grid / tick label rendering
`simple_3d_scatter.cpp`	Minimal 3D scatter plot
`parametric_3d_line.cpp`	Parametric 3D curves
`shapes3d_demo.cpp`	3D primitives (cubes, spheres, arrows)
`realtime_3d_stream.cpp`	Live-streaming 3D data
`camera_animation_3d.cpp`	Scripted 3D camera fly-through

Animation & Recording

Example	Description
`advanced_animation_demo.cpp`	Frame updates, pacing, timeline workflows
`timeline_animation_demo.cpp`	Timeline editor with keyframes
`timeline_curve_demo.cpp`	Animation curve editor
`camera_animator_demo.cpp`	Camera orbit and turntable animation
`offscreen_export.cpp`	Headless PNG export
`video_record.cpp`	MP4 recording via ffmpeg

UI & Extensibility

Example	Description
`shortcut_config_demo.cpp`	Custom keybinding persistence
`plugin_api_demo.cpp`	Plugin system demonstration
`qt_embed_demo.cpp`	Native Qt + Vulkan integration — see Qt Embedding
`embed_cpp_demo.cpp`	C++ embed surface (host any OS window)
`easy_embed_demo.cpp`	Headless one-liner rendering — see guide
`knob_demo.cpp`	Interactive knob overlay widgets
`shortcut_usage_demo.cpp`	Default shortcut tour
`axes_menu_demo.cpp`	Axes context menu customisation
`legend_panel_test.cpp`	Legend panel layout

Topics & Multi-Process

Example	Description
`topic_publisher.cpp`	Publish a named topic to `spectra-backend` — see Topics guide
`multiproc_demo.sh`	End-to-end daemon + window agent walkthrough

WebGPU / WASM

Example	Description
`webgpu_demo.cpp`	2D plotting via WebGPU — see WebGPU guide
`webgpu_shell.html`	HTML shell for the Emscripten build

ROS2 Demos

Example	Description
`ros2_demo.cpp`	Minimal ROS2 subscriber + plot — see ROS2 Adapter
`ros2_ui_preview.cpp`	ROS2 panel UI preview without a live graph

PX4 / ULog

The PX4 adapter ships as a standalone spectra-px4 binary rather than an example program. See the PX4 Adapter guide for ULog and MAVLink workflows.

./build/spectra-px4 flight.ulg
./build/spectra-px4 --connect --port 14540

Python Examples

Located in python/examples/:

Example	Description
`basic_line.py`	Simple line plot
`easy_3d.py`	3D plotting from Python
`easy_live_dashboard.py`	Live streaming dashboard
`easy_multi_live.py`	Multi-signal live streams
`easy_subplots.py`	Subplot layouts

# Run Python examples
cd python && pip install -e ".[dev]"
python examples/basic_line.py
python examples/easy_live_dashboard.py

ROS2 Launch Files

Located in examples/ros2_launch/:

File	Description
`imu_monitor.launch.py`	Linear acceleration + angular velocity from `sensor_msgs/Imu`
`nav_dashboard.launch.py`	cmd_vel + odom fields for navigation monitoring
`bag_replay.launch.py`	Open a rosbag by path with configurable rate and loop

ros2 launch spectra imu_monitor.launch.py
ros2 launch spectra nav_dashboard.launch.py cmd_vel:=/cmd_vel_mux/input/navi
ros2 launch spectra bag_replay.launch.py bag:=/data/run42.mcap rate:=2.0

Use this page as your team onboarding index. For full API details, see the Feature Guide. For build instructions, see Getting Started.