Provided by: xplot_1.19-9.1build1_amd64 bug

NAME

       xplot - simple x-y column data plotter for X

SYNOPSIS

       xplot  [-v]  [-title  'titlestring']  [-format  'formatstring']  [-y  'yrange']  [-display
       host:dpy] [-name appname] [-visual  class]  [-depth  d]  [-private]  [-shared]  [-stdcmap]
       [-debug l] [-sync] datafiles ...

DESCRIPTION

       This  manual  page  documents briefly the xplot command.  This manual page was written for
       the Debian GNU/Linux distribution using the program's intergrated help  file  because  the
       original program does not have a manual page.

       xplot is a small program to plot one- or twodimensional datasets, which are present either
       in a file or are generated `on-the-fly' and piped to XPlot.  XPlot lets you display one or
       more  datasets and lets you zoom to different sections of the sets. Also. `blowups' of the
       currently shown portion of the data can be made.

       xplot is meant for on-screen data exploration.  It does not have a print button, nor is it
       meant for final output and publication-quality figures.

       xplot  is non longer actively maintained upstream. If you would like to take it over, talk
       to the author: Karel Kubat <karel@icce.rug.nl>.

OPTIONS

       A summary of options are included below.

       -v     increases verbosity.  XPlot prints information about what files are read and of how
              many points they consist when this flag is present.

       -title 'titlestring'
              defines the title for the plot (can also be set interactively).

       -format 'formatstring'
              The  formatstring  FORMAT  is used to read in data. If you're familiar with C, then
              you know what a formatstring is. The default formatstring is "%f %f ", meaning that
              XPlot  should  try  to  interpret each line as two numbers (%f, for `floating point
              value'), separated by one or more whitespace characters. The -format  flag  can  be
              handy if, e.g., you want to read in a file like

                  time 12.0       value 3
                  time 12.1       value 4
                  time 12.2       value 5

              You'd then have a format string

               "time %f value %f "

              Don't forget the trailing blank in the formatstring, it makes sure that the end-of-
              line character is skipped.

       -y yrange'
              This flag allows you to specify the range of the Y axis at startup.  Normally XPlot
              determines  the  range from the read data. The YRANGE specifier must be in the form
              NUMBER:NUMBER (e.g., 0:13), where the first number specifies the  lowest  value  of
              the Y axis, and the second number specifies the highest value.

XFORMS OPTIONS

       XPlot  is built with the XForms Graphical User Interface Toolkit for X, and hence supports
       a number of flags which are interpreted by XForms.  The flags must be  stated  before  any
       file arguments, and are:

       -display host:dpy
              defines the X display.

       -name appname
              defines the application name.

       -visual class
              TrueColor, PseudoColor etc...

       -depth d
              visual depth in bits

       -private
              forces a private colormap.

       -shared
              forces a shared colormap.

       -stdcmap
              forces a standard colormap.

       -debug l
              prints debugging information, l is the level.

       -sync  forces synchronous mode.

USING XPLOT

       The XPlot window

       The  main  XPlot  window is called the `Control window'. It lets you select boundaries for
       the plot, activate or deactivate cetain datasets, etc.. See further the subsections.

       Boundaries of the plot

       The main XPlot window (called Control) shows the datasets in a small plot,  surrounded  by
       sliders.  Two  sliders  are  provided  per  axis,  one selecting the minimum value and one
       selecting the maximum value. E.g., if you want to see the middle portion of the plot,  set
       the  upper  horizontal  slider (the minimum X value to display) to about 1/3 of its length
       and set the lower horizontal slider to 2/3 of its length.

       The boundaries of the plot can furthermore be entered in the input fields, below the small
       plot.

       One last button, labeled `Scale Y', affects the sizing of the graph. The button scales the
       Y axis to contain all points given a certain X  range.  The  scaling  of  the  Y  axis  is
       performed  over  all  active  datasets  (you can also deactivate sets, see the appropriate
       section).

       Selecting and deselecting datasets

       When many datasets are plotted, it may be useful to deactivate (or later, reactivate) some
       of  the  sets.  The button which is labeled `(De)activate sets', on the right hand side of
       the control window, starts a small window (called the `activator'), showing an overview of
       the  plotted  sets.  The names of the active sets are prefixed with [+], the inactive sets
       are prefixed with [-].  Clicking on the line with  a  name  of  a  dataset  `toggles'  the
       activity: an active set becomes inactive and v.v..

       Initially, all datasets are `active' (i.e., displayed).

       The  activator  stays  on-screen  until  you  click  the `dismiss' button of the activator
       window.

       Making larger plots: blowups

       The buttons `static blowup' and `dynamic blowup' in the control window start a `blowup' of
       the  current  plot: i.e. using the current borders and currently active sets. The blown up
       graph is dismissed by clicking in the blowup window.  The blown up graph can  be  resized,
       e.g., to grab its contents in a paint program.

       The  difference  between  a  static and a dynamic blowup is the following. A static blowup
       will remain to show the the plotted data even when you, e.g., deactivate a set  or  change
       the  boundaries.  A  static blowup is handy when e.g.  you want to compare one part of the
       data with another part: make a static plot of the first part, move to the second part, and
       compare. In contrast, a dynamic plot redraws its data whenever necessary; therefore, it is
       an `enlargement' of the plot in the control window.

       XPlot can create an unlimited number of blowups: that way,  you  can  simultaneously  view
       different sets with different boundaries in different blowups..

       Line types of the plots

       The  radio  buttons  labelled  `Line types', on the right hand side of the control window,
       select the line types for the plotting of the datasets. All sets are plotted in  the  same
       style.

       The  default  style,  `solid  or circles', plots a set either with a solid line, or with a
       solid line and circles on the separate points. The  points  are  plotted  when  the  graph
       contains  less  than 20 points: the idea here is that the presence of circles obfuscates a
       graph when more than 20 circles would be present in the graph.

       Other styles force either solid lines, solid lines  with  circles,  or  solid  lines  with
       squares.

       Postponed or immediate plotting

       The  button  labeled  `Auto-redraw', on the right hand side of the Control window, selects
       whether XPlot should redo a plot when any change occurs (e.g.,  when  the  boundaries  are
       altered or when a linestyle is defined). Initially, auto-redraw is `on'.

       Setting  auto-redraw  to  `off'  is  a good idea when you are plotting large datasets. The
       reason for this is that the replotting of all sets (e.g., when sliding one of the boundary
       sliders)  may  take  too  long. In this case, you can disable the automatic redrawing, and
       `manually' redraw the plot when you are satisfied with all necessary changes. The  `manual
       redraw' is always done when you press the button labeled `Redraw now'.

       Plot titles

       The  input  field  labeled  `Title',  below the small plot on the Control window, lets you
       enter a title for the plot. XPlot's title facility is restricted to one title,  which  als
       used  in  blowups.  You  might want to define a title, make a blowup, and dump it to say a
       printer using `xwd' and related programs.

       Quitting XPlot

       The button labelled `dismiss' on the XPlot control window removes the control window  from
       the  screen.  The XPlot program will only terminate when no blowups are on-screen. To quit
       XPlot, you need to remove all blowups (by clicking on them) and  to  click  the  `dismiss'
       button of the control window.

SEE ALSO

       This text is also available on-line help by pressing xplot's Help/About button.

AUTHOR

       xplot  V1.18 Copyright (c) ICCE / Karel Kubat 1995

       This   manual   page   by   Peter   S   Galbraith   <psg@debian.org>   using   info   from
       /usr/share/xplot/xplot.help for the Debian GNU/Linux system (but may be used by others).

                                                                                         XPLOT(1)