PLOT(6)PLOT(6)NAMEplot - graphics interface
DESCRIPTION
Files of this format are interpreted by plot(1) to draw graphics on the
screen. A plot file is a UTF stream of instruction lines. Arguments
are delimited by spaces, tabs, or commas. Numbers may be floating
point. Punctuation marks (except , spaces, and tabs at the beginning
of lines are ignored. Comments run from to newline. Extra letters
appended to a valid instruction are ignored. Thus all mean the same
thing. Arguments are interpreted as follows:
1. If an instruction requires no arguments, the rest of the line is
ignored.
2. If it requires a string argument, then all the line after the
first field separator is passed as argument. Quote marks may be
used to preserve leading blanks. Strings may include newlines
represented as
3. Between numeric arguments alphabetic characters and punctuation
marks are ignored. Thus line from 5 6 to 7 8 draws a line from
(5, 6) to (7, 8).
4. Instructions with numeric arguments remain in effect until a new
instruction is read. Such commands may spill over many lines.
Thus the following sequence will draw a polygon with vertices
(4.5, 6.77), (5.8, 5.6), (7.8, 4.55), and (10.0, 3.6).
move 4.5 6.77
vec 5.8, 5.6 7.8
4.55 10.0, 3.6 4.5, 6.77
The instructions are executed in order. The last designated point in a
line, move, rmove, vec, rvec, arc, or point command becomes the `cur‐
rent point' (X,Y) for the next command.
Open & Close
o string Open plotting device. For troff, string specifies the size
of the plot (default is
cl Close plotting device.
Basic Plotting Commands
e Start another frame of output.
m x y (move) Current point becomes x y.
rm dx dy Current point becomes X+dx Y+dy.
poi x y Plot the point x y and make it the current point.
v x y Draw a vector from the current point to x y.
rv dx dy Draw vector from current point to X+dx Y+dy
li x1 y1 x2 y2
Draw a line from x1 y1 to x2 y2. Make the current point x2
y2.
t string Place the string so that its first character is centered on
the current point (default). If string begins with it is
centered (right-adjusted) on the current point. A backslash
at the beginning of the string may be escaped with another
backslash.
a x1 y1 x2 y2 xc yc r
Draw a circular arc from x1 y1 to x2 y2 with center xc yc and
radius r. If the radius is positive, the arc is drawn coun‐
terclockwise; negative, clockwise. The starting point is
exact but the ending point is approximate.
ci xc yc r
Draw a circle centered at xc yc with radius r. If the range
and frame parameters do not specify a square, the `circle'
will be elliptical.
di xc yc r
Draw a disc centered at xc yc with radius r using the filling
color (see cfill below).
bo x1 y1 x2 y2
Draw a box with lower left corner at x1 y1 and upper right
corner at x2 y2.
sb x1 y1 x2 y2
Draw a solid box with lower left corner at x1 y1 and upper
right corner at x2 y2 using the filling color (see cfill
below).
par x1 y1 x2 y2 xg yg
Draw a parabola from x1 y1 to x2 y2 `guided' by xg yg. The
parabola passes through the midpoint of the line joining xg
yg with the midpoint of the line joining x1 y1 and x2 y2 and
is tangent to the lines from xg yg to the endpoints.
pol { {x1 y1 ... xn yn} ... {X1 Y1 ... Xm Ym} }
Draw polygons with vertices x1 y1 ... xn yn and X1 Y1 ... Xm
Ym. If only one polygon is specified, the inner brackets are
not needed.
fi { {x1 y1 ... xn yn} ... {X1 Y1 ... Xm Ym} }
Fill a polygon. The arguments are the same as those for pol
except that the first vertex is automatically repeated to
close each polygon. The polygons do not have to be con‐
nected. Enclosed polygons appear as holes.
sp { {x1 y1 ... xn yn} ... {X1 Y1 ... Xm Ym} }
Draw a parabolic spline guided by x1 y1 ... xn yn with simple
endpoints.
fsp { {x1 y1 ... xn yn} ... {X1 Y1 ... Xm Ym} }
Draw a parabolic spline guided by x1 y1 ... xn yn with double
first endpoint.
lsp { {x1 y1 ... xn yn} ... {X1 Y1 ... Xm Ym} }
Draw a parabolic spline guided by x1 y1 ... xn yn with double
last endpoint.
dsp { {x1 y1 ... xn yn} ... {X1 Y1 ... Xm Ym} }
Draw a parabolic spline guided by x1 y1 ... xn yn with double
endpoints.
csp { {x1 y1 ... xn yn} ... {X1 Y1 ... Xm Ym} }
in filename
(include) Take commands from filename.
de string { commands }
Define string as commands.
ca string scale
Invoke commands defined as string applying scale to all coor‐
dinates.
Commands Controlling the Environment
co string Use color given by first character of string, one of red,
yellow, green, blue, cyan, magenta, white, and kblack.
pe string Use string as the style for drawing lines. The available pen
styles are: solid, dott[ed], short, long, dotd[ashed], cdash,
ddash
cf string Color for filling (see co, above).
ra x1 y1 x2 y2
The data will fall between x1 y1 and x2 y2. The plot will be
magnified or reduced to fit the device as closely as possi‐
ble.
Range settings that exactly fill the plotting area with unity
scaling appear below for devices supported by the filters of
plot(1). The upper limit is just outside the plotting area.
In every case the plotting area is taken to be square; points
outside may be displayable on devices with nonsquare faces.
fr px1 py1 px2 py2
Plot the data in the fraction of the display specified by px1
py1 for lower left corner and px2 py2 for upper right corner.
Thus plots in the lower right quadrant of the display; uses
the whole display but inverts the y coordinates.
sa Save the current environment, and move to a new one. The new
environment inherits the old one. There are 7 levels.
re Restore previous environment.
SEE ALSOplot(1), graph(1)PLOT(6)
