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.

SEE ALSO

       See  the  printed  manual  or  the  on-line  help  for details on specific commands.  Project web site at
       http://gnuplot.info

4th Berkeley Distribution                         2 October 2013                                      GNUPLOT(1)