A basic desktop plotter that spoke HP-GL couldn't do that. You couldn't tell it to just go plot a pie chart. It did have an arc primitive, but you had to specify the radius, color, start and end angles, and whether the arc was filled. You could build a basic pie chart out of several such arcs. There was also a label primitive, but only one font (variable sizes though). So if you had a fancy font you had to tell the plotter to draw it with simple line segments and arcs.
That said, most professional graphics software knew how to break down their elaborate output into HP-GL primitives with an appropriate output driver for the plotter. So few users actually had to do this unless they were talking to the plotter directly through a BASIC program or something.
That said, most professional graphics software knew how to break down their elaborate output into HP-GL primitives with an appropriate output driver for the plotter. So few users actually had to do this unless they were talking to the plotter directly through a BASIC program or something.