GNUPLOT(1)GNUPLOT(1)NAME
gnuplot - an interactive plotting program
SYNOPSIS
gnuplot [X11 options] [options] [file ...]
DESCRIPTION
Gnuplot is a command-driven interactive function plotting program.
If file names are given on the command line, gnuplot loads each file
with the load command, in the order specified, and exits after the last
file is processed. If no files are given, gnuplot prompts for interac‐
tive commands.
Here are some of its features:
Plots any number of functions, built up of C operators, C library func‐
tions, and some things C doesn't have like **, sgn(), etc.
User-defined constants and functions.
All computations performed in the complex domain. Just the real part
is plotted by default, but functions like imag() and abs() and arg()
are available to override this.
Also support for plotting data files, to compare actual data to theo‐
retical curves.
Nonlinear least-squares fitting.
2D plots with mouse-controlled zooming.
3D plots with mouse-controlled point of view.
User-defined X and Y ranges (optional auto-ranging), smart axes scal‐
ing, smart tic marks.
Labelling of X and Y axes.
Shell escapes and command line substitution.
Load and save capability.
Support for many output devices and file formats.
Output redirection.
OPTIONS-p, --persist lets plot windows survive after main gnuplot program
exits.
-e "command list" executes the requested commands before loading the
next input file.
-h, --help print summary of usage
-V show current version
X11 OPTIONS
Gnuplot provides the x11 terminal type for use with X servers. This
terminal type is set automatically at startup if the DISPLAY environ‐
ment variable is set, if the TERM environment variable is set to xterm,
or if the -display command line option is used. For terminal type x11,
gnuplot accepts the standard X Toolkit options and resources such as
geometry, font, and background. See the X(1) man page for a description
of the options. In addition to the X Toolkit options:
-clear requests that the window be cleared momentarily before a new
plot is displayed.
-gray requests grayscale rendering on grayscale or color displays.
(Grayscale displays receive monochrome rendering by default.)
-mono forces monochrome rendering on color displays.
-raise raises the plot window after each plot.
-noraise does not raise the plot window after each plot.
-tvtwm requests that geometry specifications for position of the window
be made relative to the currently displayed portion of the virtual
root.
These options may also be controlled with resources in your .Xdefaults
file. For example: gnuplot*gray: on .
Gnuplot provides a command line option (-pointsize v) and a resource
(gnuplot*pointsize: v) to control the size of points plotted with the
"points" plotting style. The value v is a real number (greater than 0
and less than or equal to ten) used as a scaling factor for point
sizes. For example, -pointsize 2 uses points twice the default size,
and -pointsize 0.5 uses points half the normal size.
For monochrome displays, gnuplot does not honor foreground or back‐
ground colors. The default is black-on-white. -rv or gnuplot*reverseV‐
ideo: on requests white-on-black.
For color displays gnuplot honors the following resources (shown here
with default values). The values may be color names in the X11 rgb.txt
file on your system, hexadecimal RGB color specifications (see X11 doc‐
umentation), or a color name followed by a comma and an intensity value
from 0 to 1. For example, blue,.5 means a half intensity blue.
gnuplot*background: white
gnuplot*textColor: black
gnuplot*borderColor: black
gnuplot*axisColor: black
gnuplot*line1Color: red
gnuplot*line2Color: green
gnuplot*line3Color: blue
gnuplot*line4Color: magenta
gnuplot*line5Color: cyan
gnuplot*line6Color: sienna
gnuplot*line7Color: orange
gnuplot*line8Color: coral
When -gray is selected, gnuplot honors the following resources for
grayscale or color displays (shown here with default values). Note that
the default background is black.
gnuplot*background: black
gnuplot*textGray: white
gnuplot*borderGray: gray50
gnuplot*axisGray: gray50
gnuplot*line1Gray: gray100
gnuplot*line2Gray: gray60
gnuplot*line3Gray: gray80
gnuplot*line4Gray: gray40
gnuplot*line5Gray: gray90
gnuplot*line6Gray: gray50
gnuplot*line7Gray: gray70
gnuplot*line8Gray: gray30
Gnuplot honors the following resources for setting the width in pixels
of plot lines (shown here with default values.) 0 or 1 means a minimal
width line of 1 pixel width. A value of 2 or 3 may improve the appear‐
ance of some plots.
gnuplot*borderWidth: 2
gnuplot*axisWidth: 0
gnuplot*line1Width: 0
gnuplot*line2Width: 0
gnuplot*line3Width: 0
gnuplot*line4Width: 0
gnuplot*line5Width: 0
gnuplot*line6Width: 0
gnuplot*line7Width: 0
gnuplot*line8Width: 0
Gnuplot honors the following resources for setting the dash style used
for plotting lines. 0 means a solid line. A 2 digit number jk (j and k
are >= 1 and <= 9) means a dashed line with a repeated pattern of j
pixels on followed by k pixels off. For example, '16' is a "dotted"
line with 1 pixel on followed by 6 pixels off. More elaborate on/off
patterns can be specified with a 4 digit value. For example, '4441' is
4 on, 4 off, 4 on, 1 off. The default values shown below are for mono‐
chrome displays or monochrome rendering on color or grayscale displays.
For color displays, the defaults for all are 0 (solid line) except for
axisDashes which defaults to a '16' dotted line.
gnuplot*borderDashes: 0
gnuplot*axisDashes: 16
gnuplot*line1Dashes: 0
gnuplot*line2Dashes: 42
gnuplot*line3Dashes: 13
gnuplot*line4Dashes: 44
gnuplot*line5Dashes: 15
gnuplot*line6Dashes: 4441
gnuplot*line7Dashes: 42
gnuplot*line8Dashes: 13
The size or aspect ratio of a plot may be changed by resizing the gnu‐
plot window.
ENVIRONMENT
A number of shell environment variables are understood by gnuplot.
None of these are required.
GNUTERM
The name of the terminal type to be used. This overrides any
terminal type sensed by gnuplot on start-up, but is itself over‐
ridden by the .gnuplot (or equivalent) start-up file (see FILES
and "help start-up") and, of course, by later explicit changes.
GNUHELP
The pathname of the HELP file (gnuplot.gih).
HOME The name of a directory to search for a .gnuplot file if none is
found in the current directory.
PAGER An output filter for help messages.
SHELL The program used for the "shell" command.
FIT_SCRIPT
Specifies a gnuplot command to be executed when a fit is inter‐
rupted---see "help fit".
FIT_LOG
The name of the logfile maintained by fit.
GNUPLOT_LIB
Additional search directories for data and command files. The
variable may contain a single directory name, or a list of
directories separated by ':'. The contents of GNUPLOT_LIB are
appended to the "loadpath" variable, but not saved with the
"save" and "save set" commands.
GDFONTPATH
Several gnuplot terminal drivers access TrueType fonts via the
gd library. This variable gives the font search path for these
drivers.
GNUPLOT_DEFAULT_GDFONT
The default font for the terminal drivers that access TrueType
fonts via the gd library.
GNUPLOT_FONTPATH
The font search path used by the postscript terminal. The format
is the same as for GNUPLOT_LIB. The contents of GNUPLOT_FONTPATH
are appended to the "fontpath" variable, but not saved with the
"save" and "save set" commands.
GNUPLOT_PS_DIR
Used by the postscript driver to locate external prologue files.
Depending on the build process, gnuplot contains either a
builtin copy of those files or simply a default hardcoded path.
Use this variable to test the postscript terminal with custom
prologue files. See "help postscript prologue".
FILES
.gnuplot
Gnuplot looks for this initialization file, first in the current
directory, then in the HOME directory. It may contain any legal
gnuplot commands, but typically they are limited to setting the
terminal and defining frequently-used functions or variables.
fit.log
The default name of the logfile maintained by fit.
AUTHORS
Thomas Williams, Pixar Corporation,
(gnuplot-info@lists.sourceforge.net)
and Colin Kelley.
Additions for labelling by Russell Lang, Monash University, Australia.
(rjl@monu1.cc.monash.edu.au)
Further additions by David Kotz, Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, USA
(formerly of Duke University, North Carolina, USA).
(David.Kotz@Dartmouth.edu)
BUGS
See the help bugs command in gnuplot.
SEE ALSO
See the printed manual or the on-line help for details on specific com‐
mands.
X(1).
4th Berkeley Distribution 7 October 2008 GNUPLOT(1)
