I have a file with about a couple thousand entries in the form timestamp cmdType latency
I want an automated script to graph all the points on a graph. What is the best way to write a script for creating the graph 9and in what language. No java)? I dont want to open excel and import points etc etc.
I would suggest using the Python programming language and the matplotlib plotting library.
You could do it using VB.NET or C#. Parsing files is a piece of strawberry cake in either, and GDI is powerful enough to load preexisting graph-paper background and draw lines/points etc.
The same could be said for Processing
Because you haven't said anything about the platform you are using, or what you know, you are opening yourself up to completely random suggestions, so here is mine:
I would use ROOT. Probably with compiled c++ code, but maybe with a cint macro or running cint interactively if its a one off.
But that is because I already have ROOT installed and know how to use it.
On a *nix platform (or even windows) good old gnuplot should have all the functionality you need.
gnuplot is particulary good at time series type graphs as it understands timestamps as intervals on a timeline (unlike say excel which treats them as discreet data and cannot scale them correctly).
It has a nice simple script interface, but with lots of powerful options.
Link [1]: http://www.gnuplot.info/"gnuplot home page"
Prior to matplotlib coming around, gnuplot was pretty much the de facto standard when it came to graphing data. Plotting is very similar to MATLAB, and scripts are generally easy to set up.
They have demos to show you what it's like and some tutorials to boot.
It's also very easy to install on Windows and Linux -- I haven't tried it on a Mac but I bet it's a breeze there too.