Provided by: stilts_3.2-2_all bug

NAME

       stilts-plothist - Old-style Histogram

SYNOPSIS

       stilts plothist [xpix=<int-value>] [ypix=<int-value>] [font=dialog|serif|...]
                       [fontsize=<int-value>] [fontstyle=plain|bold|italic|bold-italic]
                       [legend=true|false] [title=<value>] [omode=swing|out|cgi|discard|auto]
                       [out=<out-file>] [ofmt=png|png-transp|gif|jpeg|pdf|eps|eps-gzip]
                       [inN=<table>] [ifmtN=<in-format>] [istreamN=true|false] [cmdN=<cmds>]
                       [xdataN=<expr>] [xlo=<float-value>] [xhi=<float-value>] [xlog=true|false]
                       [xflip=true|false] [xlabel=<value>] [subsetNS=<expr>] [nameNS=<value>]
                       [colourNS=<rrggbb>|red|blue|...] [barstyleNS=fill|open|...]
                       [linewidthNS=<int-value>] [dashNS=dot|dash|...|<a,b,...>]
                       [grid=true|false] [antialias=true|false] [sequence=<suffix>,<suffix>,...]
                       [ylo=<float-value>] [yhi=<float-value>] [ylog=true|false] [ylabel=<value>]
                       [weightN=<value>] [binwidth=<float-value>] [norm=true|false]
                       [cumulative=true|false] [binbase=<float-value>]

DESCRIPTION

       This  section  describes  a deprecated command. It still works, but you are advised to use
       the more capable plot2plane instead.

       plothist performs histogram plots, sending the output to a graphical display or writing it
       to  a  file in some vector or bitmapped graphics format. You need to supply it with values
       for one or more sets of X values, in terms of table columns, and it will bin the data  and
       draw bars appropriately. Plot bounds, bin widths etc may be supplied expliicitly, but will
       be calculated from the data and set from defaults as appropriate otherwise. There are many
       options  available  to  configure the detailed appearance of the plot, but in its simplest
       form invocation is quite straightforward. See SUN/256 for more discussion on  use  of  the
       plotting commands.

OPTIONS

       xpix=<int-value>
              The width of the output graphic in pixels.

       ypix=<int-value>
              The height of the output graphic in pixels.

       font=dialog|serif|...
              Determines the font that will be used for textual annotation of the plot, including
              axes etc. At least the following fonts will be available:

                * serif

                * sansserif

                * monospaced

                * dialog

                * dialoginput
               as well as a range of system-dependent fonts, possibly including

                * dejavu_sans

                * dejavu_sans_mono

                * dejavu_serif

       fontsize=<int-value>
              Sets the font size used for plot annotations.

       fontstyle=plain|bold|italic|bold-italic
              Gives a style in which the font is to be applied for plot annotations. Options  are
              plain, bold, italic and bold-italic.

       legend=true|false
              Determines whether a legend showing which plotting style is used for each data set.
              Defaults to true if there is more than one set, false otherwise.

       title=<value>
              A one-line title to display at the top of the plot.

       omode=swing|out|cgi|discard|auto
              Determines how the drawn plot will be output, see SUN/256.

                * swing: Plot will be displayed in a window on the screen. This plot  is  "live";
                  it  can be resized and (except for old-style plots) navigated around with mouse
                  actions in the same way as plots in TOPCAT.

                * out: Plot will be written to a file given by  out  using  the  graphics  format
                  given by ofmt.

                * cgi:  Plot  will  be  written  in  a way suitable for CGI use direct from a web
                  server. The output is in the graphics format  given  by  ofmt,  preceded  by  a
                  suitable "Content-type" declaration.

                * discard: Plot is drawn, but discarded. There is no output.

                * auto: Behaves as swing or out mode depending on presence of out parameter

       out=<out-file>
              The  location  of the output file. This is usually a filename to write to. If it is
              equal to the special value "-" the output will be written to standard output.

       ofmt=png|png-transp|gif|jpeg|pdf|eps|eps-gzip
              Graphics format in which the plot is written to the output file, see  SUN/256.  One
              of:

                * png: PNG

                * png-transp: PNG with transparent background

                * gif: GIF

                * jpeg: JPEG

                * pdf: Portable Document Format

                * eps: Encapsulated PostScript

                * eps-gzip: Gzipped Encapsulated PostScript
               May default to a sensible value depending on the filename given by out.

       inN=<table>
              The location of the input table. This may take one of the following forms:

                * A filename.

                * A URL.

                * The  special  value  "-", meaning standard input. In this case the input format
                  must be given explicitly using the ifmtN parameter. Note that not  all  formats
                  can be streamed in this way.

                * A  system  command  line  with  either  a  "<" character at the start, or a "|"
                  character at the end ("<syscmd" or "syscmd|"). This executes the given pipeline
                  and  reads  from its standard output. This will probably only work on unix-like
                  systems.
               In any case, compressed data in one of the supported  compression  formats  (gzip,
              Unix compress or bzip2) will be decompressed transparently.

       ifmtN=<in-format>
              Specifies  the  format  of the input table as specified by parameter inN. The known
              formats are listed in SUN/256. This flag can be used if you know what  format  your
              table is in. If it has the special value (auto) (the default), then an attempt will
              be made to detect the format of the table automatically. This cannot always be done
              correctly  however,  in  which  case the program will exit with an error explaining
              which formats were attempted.

       istreamN=true|false
              If set true, the input table specified by the inN  parameter  will  be  read  as  a
              stream.  It is necessary to give the ifmtN parameter in this case. Depending on the
              required operations and processing mode, this may cause the read to fail (sometimes
              it  is necessary to read the table more than once). It is not normally necessary to
              set this flag; in most cases the data will be streamed automatically if that is the
              best  thing  to  do.  However  it  can sometimes result in less resource usage when
              processing large files in certain formats (such as VOTable).

       cmdN=<cmds>
              Specifies processing to be performed on the table. The value of this  parameter  is
              one or more of the filter commands described in SUN/256. If more than one is given,
              they must be separated  by  semicolon  characters  (";").  This  parameter  can  be
              repeated  multiple  times on the same command line to build up a list of processing
              steps. The sequence of commands given in this way defines the  processing  pipeline
              which is performed on the table.

              Commands may alteratively be supplied in an external file, by using the indirection
              character '@'. Thus a value of "@filename" causes the file filename to be read  for
              a  list of filter commands to execute. The commands in the file may be separated by
              newline characters and/or semicolons, and lines which are blank or which start with
              a '#' character are ignored.

       xdataN=<expr>
              Gives  a  column name or expression for the x axis data for table N. The expression
              is a numeric algebraic expression based on column names as described in SUN/256

       xlo=<float-value>
              The lower limit for the plotted x axis. If not set, a value will be chosen which is
              low enough to accommodate all the data.

       xhi=<float-value>
              The upper limit for the plotted x axis. If not set, a value will be chosen which is
              high enough to accommodate all the data.

       xlog=true|false
              If false (the default), the  scale  on  the  x  axis  is  linear;  if  true  it  is
              logarithmic.

       xflip=true|false
              If set true, the scale on the x axis will increase in the opposite sense from usual
              (e.g. right to left rather than left to right).

       xlabel=<value>
              Specifies a label to be used for annotating axis x. A default values based  on  the
              plotted data will be used if no value is supplied for this parameter.

       subsetNS=<expr>
              Gives  the  selection  criterion  for  the  subset labelled "NS". This is a boolean
              expression which may be the name of a boolean-valued column or any  other  boolean-
              valued expression. Rows for which the expression evaluates true will be included in
              the subset, and those for which it evaluates false will not.

       nameNS=<value>
              Provides a name to use for a subset with the symbolic label NS. This name  will  be
              used for display in the legend, if one is displayed.

       colourNS=<rrggbb>|red|blue|...
              Defines  the  colour  of  bars  plotted for data set NS. The value may be a 6-digit
              hexadecimal number giving red,  green  and  blue  intensities,  e.g.  "ff00ff"  for
              magenta.  Alternatively it may be the name of one of the pre-defined colours. These
              are currently red, blue, green, grey, magenta, cyan, orange,  pink,  yellow,  black
              and white.

              For most purposes, either the American or the British spelling is accepted for this
              parameter name.

       barstyleNS=fill|open|...
              Defines how histogram bars will be drawn for dataset NS. The options are:

                * fill

                * open

                * tops

                * semi

                * semitops

                * spikes

                * fillover

                * openover

       linewidthNS=<int-value>
              Defines the line width for lines drawn as part of the bars  for  dataset  NS.  Only
              certain bar styles are affected by the line width.

       dashNS=dot|dash|...|<a,b,...>
              Defines  the  dashing  pattern for lines drawn for dataset NS. To generate a dashed
              line the value may be one of the named dash types:

                * dot

                * dash

                * longdash

                * dotdash
               or may be a comma-separated string of on/off length values such  as  "4,2,8,2".  A
              null value indicates a solid line. Only certain bar styles are affected by the dash
              pattern.

       grid=true|false
              If true, grid lines are drawn on the plot. If false, they are absent.

       antialias=true|false
              Controls whether lines are drawn using antialiasing, where applicable. If lines are
              drawn  to  a  bitmapped-type  graphics output format setting this parameter to true
              smooths the lines out by using gradations of colour for diagonal lines, and setting
              it  false simply sets each pixel in the line to on or off. For vector-type graphics
              output formats, or for cases in which no diagonal lines are drawn, the  setting  of
              this parameter has no effect. Setting it true may slow the plot down slightly.

       sequence=<suffix>,<suffix>,...
              Can  be  used  to  control the sequence in which different datasets and subsets are
              plotted. This will affect which symbols are plotted on top of, and  so  potentially
              obscure, which other ones. The value of this parameter is a comma-separated list of
              the "NS" suffixes which appear on the parameters which apply to subsets.  The  sets
              which  are  named  will  be plotted in order, so the first-named one will be at the
              bottom (most likely to be obscured). Note that if this parameter is supplied,  then
              only those sets which are named will be plotted, so this parameter may also be used
              to restrict which plots appear (though it may not be  the  most  efficient  way  of
              doing  this).  If  no  explicit  value is supplied for this parameter, sets will be
              plotted in some sequence decided by STILTS (probably alphabetic by suffix).

       ylo=<float-value>
              Lower bound for Y axis.

       yhi=<float-value>
              Upper bound for Y axis. Autogenerated from the data if not supplied.

       ylog=true|false
              Whether to use a logarithmic scale for the Y axis.

       ylabel=<value>
              Specifies a label for annotating the vertical axis. A default value  based  on  the
              type of histogram will be used if no value is supplied for this parameter.

       weightN=<value>
              Defines  a  weighting for each point accumulated to determine the height of plotted
              bars. If this parameter has a value other than 1  (the  default)  then  instead  of
              simply  accumulating  the number of points per bin to determine bar height, the bar
              height will be the sum over the weighting expression for the points  in  each  bin.
              Note  that  with  weighting,  the  figure  drawn  is  no longer strictly speaking a
              histogram.

              When weighted, bars can be of negative height. An anomaly of the plot as  currently
              implemented  is  that  the  Y  axis never descends below zero, so any such bars are
              currently invisible. This may be amended in a future release (contact the author to
              lobby for such an amendment).

       binwidth=<float-value>
              Defines  the  width  on the X axis of histogram bins. If the X axis is logarithmic,
              then this is a multiplicative value.

       norm=true|false
              Determines whether bin counts are normalised. If true, histogram  bars  are  scaled
              such  that  summed  height  of  all  bars  over  the whole dataset is equal to one.
              Otherwise (the default), no scaling is done.

       cumulative=true|false
              Determines whether historams are cumulative. When false (the default),  the  height
              of  each  bar  is  determined  by counting the number of points which fall into the
              range on the X axis that it covers. When true, the height is determined by counting
              all  the points between negative infinity and the upper bound of the range on the X
              axis that it covers.

       binbase=<float-value>
              Adjusts the offset of the bins. By default zero (or one for logarithmic X axis)  is
              a boundary between bins; other boundaries are defined by this and the bin width. If
              this value is adjusted, the lower bound of one of the bins  will  be  set  to  this
              value, so all the bins move along by the corresponding distance.

SEE ALSO

       stilts(1)

       If  the  package  stilts-doc  is installed, the full documentation SUN/256 is available in
       HTML format:
       file:///usr/share/doc/stilts-doc/sun256/index.html

VERSION

       STILTS version 3.2-debian

       This is the Debian version of Stilts, which lack the support  of  some  file  formats  and
       network protocols. For differences see
       file:///usr/share/doc/stilts/README.Debian

AUTHOR

       Mark Taylor (Bristol University)

                                             Mar 2017                          STILTS-PLOTHIST(1)