Ubuntu Manpage: gnuplot - an interactive plotting program

NAME

       gnuplot - an interactive plotting program

SYNOPSIS

       gnuplot [X11 options] [options] [file ...]

DESCRIPTION

       Gnuplot is a command-driven interactive 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 interactive commands.

       Here are some of its features:

       Plots any number of functions, built up of C operators, C math library functions, 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.

       Many  presentation  styles  for  plotting user data from files, including surface-fitting,
       error bars, boxplots, histograms, heat maps, and simple manipulation of image data.  There
       is an on-line demo collection at
       http://gnuplot.info/demo

       Nonlinear least-squares fitting.

       2D and 3D plots with mouse-controlled zoom and rotation.

       Shell escapes and command line substitution.

       Load and save capability.

       Support for a huge variety of output devices and file formats.

OPTIONS

       -p, --persist lets plot windows survive after main gnuplot program exits.

       -d, --default settings.  Do not read from gnuplotrc or ~/.gnuplot on entry.

       -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 GNUTERM environment variable is set  to  x11,  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 common options.  For additional X options specific to gnuplot,
       type help x11 on the gnuplot command line.

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 by default. This can be overridden by the
gnuplotrc or .gnuplot start-up files and, of course, by later explicit "set
terminal" commands.

GNUHELP
The pathname of the HELP file (gnuplot.gih).

HOME The name of a directory to search for a .gnuplot file.

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 interrupted---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

       gnuplotrc
              When gnuplot is run, it first looks for a  system-wide  initialization  file  named
              gnuplotrc.   The standard location of this file expected by the program is reported
              by the "show loadpath" command.

       .gnuplot
              After loading the system-wide initialization file, if  any,  Gnuplot  looks  for  a
              private  initialization  file  in  the  HOME  directory.   It may contain any legal
              gnuplot commands, but typically they are limited to setting the preferred  terminal
              and line types and defining frequently-used functions or variables.

       fit.log
              The default name of the logfile output by the "fit" command.

AUTHORS

       Original  authors:  Thomas  Williams and Colin Kelley.  Starting with gnuplot version 3.8,
       the project source is cooperatively  maintained  on  SourceForge  by  a  large  number  of
       contributors.

BUGS

       Please report bugs using the project bug tracker on SourceForge.