Annotation of OpenXM_contrib/gnuplot/0FAQ, Revision 1.1.1.2
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1.1 maekawa 2:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 3: Gnuplot FAQ
1.1 maekawa 4:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 5: Contents
1.1 maekawa 6:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 7: * Contents
! 8: * Meta - Questions
! 9: o 0.1 Where do I get this document?
! 10: o 0.2 Where do I send comments about this document?
! 11: * 1. General Information
! 12: o 1.1 What is gnuplot?
! 13: o 1.2 How did it come about and why is it called gnuplot?
! 14: o 1.3 Does gnuplot have anything to do with the FSF and the GNU
! 15: project?
! 16: o 1.4 What does gnuplot offer?
! 17: o 1.5 Is gnuplot suitable for batch processing?
! 18: o 1.6 Can I run gnuplot on my computer?
! 19: o 1.7 Legalize it!
! 20: o 1.8 Is gnuplot Y2K compliant?
! 21: o 1.9 Where do I get further information?
! 22: * 2. Setting it up
! 23: o 2.1 What is the current version of gnuplot?
! 24: o 2.2 Where can I get gnuplot?
! 25: o 2.3 How do I get gnuplot to compile on my system?
! 26: o 2.4 What documentation is there, and how do I get it?
! 27: * 3. Working with it.
! 28: o 3.1 How do I get help?
! 29: o 3.2 How do I print out my graphs?
! 30: o 3.3 How do I include my graphs in <word processor>?
! 31: o 3.4 How do I post-process a gnuplot graph?
! 32: o 3.5 How do I change symbol size, line thickness and the like?
! 33: o 3.6 How do I generate plots in the GIF format?
! 34: o 3.7 Can I animate my graphs?
! 35: o 3.8 How do I plot implicit defined graphs?
! 36: * 4. Wanted features
! 37: o 4.1 What's new in gnuplot 3.7?
! 38: o 4.2 Does gnuplot have hidden line removal?
! 39: o 4.3 Does gnuplot support bar-charts/histograms/boxes?
! 40: o 4.4 Does gnuplot support pie charts?
! 41: o 4.5 Does gnuplot quarterly time charts?
! 42: o 4.6 Does gnuplot support multiple y-axes on a single plot?
! 43: o 4.7 Can I put multiple pages on one page?
! 44: o 4.8 Can I put both data files and commands into a single file?
! 45: o 4.9 Can I put Greek letters and super/subscripts into my labels?
! 46: o 4.10 Can I do 1:1 scaling of axes?
! 47: o 4.11 Can I put tic marks for x and y axes into 3d plots?
! 48: o 4.12 Does gnuplot support a driver for <graphics format>?
! 49: o 4.13 Can I put different text sizes into my plots?
! 50: o 4.14 How do I modify gnuplot, and apply 'patches'?
! 51: o 4.15 How do I skip data points?
! 52: o 4.16 How do I plot every nth point?
! 53: o 4.17 How do I plot a vertical line?
! 54: * 5. Miscellaneous
! 55: o 5.1 I've found a bug, what do I do?
! 56: o 5.2 Can I use gnuplotroutines for my own programs?
! 57: o 5.3 What extensions have people made to gnuplot? Where can I get
! 58: them?
! 59: o 5.4 Can I do heavy-duty data processing with gnuplot?
! 60: o 5.5 I have ported gnuplotto another system, or patched it. What do
! 61: I do?
! 62: o 5.6 I want to help in developing the next version of gnuplot. What
! 63: can I do?
! 64: * 6. Making life easier
! 65: o 6.1 How do I plot two functions in non-overlapping regions?
! 66: o 6.2 How do I run my data through a filter before plotting?
! 67: o 6.3 How do I make it easier to use gnuplot with LATEX?
! 68: o 6.4 How do I save and restore my settings?
! 69: o 6.5 How do I plot lines (not grids) using splot?
! 70: o 6.6 How do I plot a function f(x,y) which is bounded by other
! 71: functions in the x-y plain?
! 72: o 6.7 How do I get rid of <feature in a plot>?
! 73: o 6.8 How do I call gnuplot from my own programs?
! 74: o 6.9 What if I need h-bar (Planck's constant)?
! 75: * 7. Known Problems
! 76: o 7.1 Gnuplot is not plotting any points under X11! How come?
! 77: o 7.2 My isoline data generated by a Fortran program is not handled
! 78: correctly. What can I do?
! 79: o 7.3 Why does gnuplot ignore my very small numbers?
! 80: o 7.4 Gnuplot is plotting nothing when run via gnuplot <filename>!
! 81: What can I do?
! 82: o 7.5 My formulas are giving me nonsense results! What's going on?
! 83: o 7.6 Set output 'filename' isn't outputting everything it should!
! 84: o 7.7 When using the LATEX-terminal, there is an error during the
! 85: LATEX-run!
! 86: o 7.8 The exit command does not work as documented!
! 87: o 7.9 I can't find the demos and example files at the URLs in the
! 88: documentation!
! 89: o 7.10 Calling gnuplot in a pipe or with a gnuplot-script doesn't
! 90: produce aplot!
! 91: * 8. Credits
! 92:
! 93: Meta - Questions
! 94:
! 95: 0.1 Where do I get this document?
! 96:
! 97: This document is posted about once every two weeks to the newsgroups
! 98: comp.graphics.apps.gnuplot . Its newest (plaintext) version is available via
! 99: anonymous ftp from ftp.ucc.ie in /pub/gnuplot/faq/gnuplot-faq.txt .
! 100:
! 101: If you have access to the WWW, you can get the newest version of this
! 102: document from ~http://www.ucc.ie/gnuplot/gnuplot-faq.html .
! 103:
! 104: Today's version is version Revision: 1.4, dated Date: 99/10/07 09:37:56
! 105:
! 106: 0.2 Where do I send comments about this document?
! 107:
! 108: Send comments, suggestions etc via email to the developer newsgroup
! 109: info-gnuplot-beta@Dartmouth.EDU and additionally to j.vonhagen@web.de .
! 110:
! 111: 1. General Information
! 112:
! 113: 1.1 What is gnuplot?
! 114:
! 115: gnuplot is a command-driven interactive function plotting program. It can be
! 116: used to plot functions and data points in both two- and three-dimensional
! 117: plots in many different formats, and will accommodate many of the needs of
! 118: today's scientists for graphic data representation. gnuplot is copyrighted,
! 119: but freely distributable; you don't have to pay for it.
! 120:
! 121: This document deals with gnuplot Version 3.7 which is the latest official
! 122: release as of October 20, 1999. References to bug-fix versions or (recent)
! 123: beta versions are explicitly marked.
! 124:
! 125: 1.2 How did it come about and why is it called gnuplot?
! 126:
! 127: The authors of gnuplot are: Thomas Williams, Colin Kelley, Russell Lang,
! 128: Dave Kotz, John Campbell, Gershon Elber, Alexander Woo and many others.
! 129:
! 130: The following quote comes from Thomas Williams:
1.1 maekawa 131:
132: I was taking a differential equation class and Colin was taking
133: Electromagnetics, we both thought it'd be helpful to visualize the
134: mathematics behind them. We were both working as sys admin for an
135: EE VLSI lab, so we had the graphics terminals and the time to do
136: some coding. The posting was better received than we expected, and
137: prompted us to add some, albeit lame, support for file data.
138:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 139: Any reference to GNUplot is incorrect. The real name of the
! 140: program is "gnuplot". You see people use "gnuplot" quite a bit
! 141: because many of us have an aversion to starting a sentence with a
! 142: lower case letter, even in the case of proper nouns and titles.
! 143: gnuplot is not related to the GNU project or the FSF in any but
! 144: the most peripheral sense. Our software was designed completely
1.1 maekawa 145: independently and the name "gnuplot" was actually a compromise. I
146: wanted to call it "llamaplot" and Colin wanted to call it "nplot."
147: We agreed that "newplot" was acceptable but, we then discovered
148: that there was an absolutely ghastly pascal program of that name
149: that the Computer Science Dept. occasionally used. I decided that
150: "gnuplot" would make a nice pun and after a fashion Colin agreed.
151:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 152: 1.3 Does gnuplot have anything to do with the FSF and the GNU project?
! 153:
! 154: Gnuplot is neither written nor maintained by the FSF. It is not covered by
! 155: the General Public License, either. It used to be distributed by the FSF,
! 156: however, due to licensing issues it is no longer.
! 157:
! 158: Gnuplot is freeware in the sense that you don't have to pay for it. However
! 159: it is not freeware in the sense that you would be allowed to distribute a
! 160: modified version of your gnuplot freely. Please read and accept the
! 161: Copyright file in your distribution.
! 162:
! 163: 1.4 What does gnuplot offer?
! 164:
! 165: * Plotting of two-dimensional functions and data points in many different
! 166: styles (points, lines, error bars)
! 167: * computations in integer, float and complex arithmetic
! 168: * plotting of three-dimensional data points and surfaces in many
! 169: different styles (contour plot, mesh).
! 170: * support for complex arithmetic
! 171: * self - defined functions
! 172: * support for a large number of operating systems, graphics file formats
! 173: and devices
! 174: * extensive on-line help
! 175: * labels for title, axes, data points
! 176: * command line editing and history on most platforms
! 177:
! 178: 1.5 Is gnuplot suitable for batch processing?
! 179:
! 180: Yes. You can read in files from the command line, or you can redirect your
! 181: standard input to read from a file. Both data and command files can be
! 182: generated automatically, from data acquisition programs or whatever else you
! 183: use.
! 184:
! 185: 1.6 Can I run gnuplot on my computer?
! 186:
! 187: Gnuplot is available for a number of platforms. These are: Unix (X11 and
! 188: NeXTSTEP), VAX/VMS, OS/2, MS-DOS, Amiga, MS-Windows, OS-9/68k, Atari ST,
! 189: BeOS, and the Macintosh.
! 190:
! 191: Please notify the FAQ-maintainer of any further ports you might be aware of.
! 192:
! 193: You should be able to compile the gnuplot source more or less out of the box
! 194: on any reasonable standard (ANSI/ISO C, POSIX) environment.
! 195:
! 196: 1.7 Legalize it!
! 197:
! 198: Gnuplot is freeware authored by a collection of volunteers, who cannot make
! 199: any legal statement about the compliance or non-compliance of gnuplot or its
! 200: uses. There is also no warranty whatsoever. Use at your own risk.
! 201:
! 202: Citing from the README of a mathematical subroutine package by R. Freund:
! 203:
! 204: For all intent and purpose, any description of what the codes are
! 205: doing should be construed as being a note of what we thought the
! 206: codes did on our machine on a particular Tuesday of last year. If
! 207: you're really lucky, they might do the same for you someday. Then
! 208: again, do you really feel *that* lucky?
! 209:
! 210: 1.8 Is gnuplot Y2K compliant?
! 211:
! 212: Gnuplot's compliance depends in part on the compliance of the underlying
! 213: operating system and hardware. The only use gnuplot makes of a system-
! 214: supplied date is in the "set timestamp" command, which simply echos the date
! 215: on the plot. If the underlying OS cannot produce an accurate time string,
! 216: then the "set timestamp" command may fail to print the correct date on
! 217: plots.
! 218:
! 219: In gnuplot 3.5, if the user chooses to use %y in a timestamp format, rather
! 220: than %Y, it will print 2-digit rather than 4-digit years. The effects depend
! 221: on the importance you place on the timestamps printed on plots.
! 222:
! 223: Gnuplot3.7 also allows the use of time/date data as variables, but the user
! 224: has complete control over the input format of the data and the output format
! 225: of the tic labels - the same 2-digit "%y" (interpreted as 1900+) and 4-digit
! 226: "%Y" formats are both available. But again, these are user-specifiable, so
! 227: if there is a Y2K problem here, it is the responsibility of the user.
! 228:
! 229: Of course, gnuplot is built by executing a makefile, which may well be
! 230: date-dependent. So if the operating system has a Y2K problem, the process of
! 231: building a new executable of gnuplot may be affected. But that wouldn't be a
! 232: problem with gnuplot per se.
! 233:
! 234: IMPORTANT NOTICE
! 235:
! 236: As of gnuplot beta version 3.7.0.9, the interpretation of the "%y" two digit
! 237: year specifier was changed in accordance with the recommendations of The
! 238: Open Group and all major Unix vendors. When a century is not otherwise
! 239: specified, values in the range 69-99 refer to the twentieth century and
! 240: values in the range 00-68 refer to the twenty-first century. Be very careful
! 241: when interpreting 2-digit year expressions.
! 242:
! 243: 1.9 Where do I get further information?
! 244:
! 245: The following sites have more information about gnuplot.
! 246:
! 247: * ~http://www.comnets.rwth-aachen.de/doc/gnu/gnuplot37/gnuplot.html an
! 248: online documentation in html-format
! 249: * ~http://www.usf.uni-osnabrueck.de/ breiter/tools/gnuplot/index.en.html
! 250: has many links to many features and add-ons for gnuplot
! 251: * ~http://web.math-cs.uni.edu/cs/Help/gnuplot/TOC.html contains an online
! 252: tutorial
! 253: * ~http://brian.me.tufts.edu/GnuplotInLaTeX/ contrains infos abount
! 254: gnuplot and LATEX
! 255: * ~http://www.eso.org/ ndevilla/gnuplot/ explains the use of a gnuplot
! 256: API in ANSI C (commonly known as gnuplot_(pipes)
! 257: * ~http://ricardo.ecn.wfu.edu/ cottrell/qplot/ on how to plot quarterly
! 258: time data
! 259: * ~http://monsoon.harvard.edu/ mhagger/download a Python interface for
! 260: gnuplot
! 261: * ftp.thewrittenword.com in /free/by-package/ contains Solaris, IRIX,
! 262: HP-UX and Digital Unix binaries
! 263: * ~http://www.sci.muni.cz/ mikulik/gnuplot.html has Petr's famous OS/2
! 264: mouse support and the pm3d terminal for colour 3d surfaces. Furthermore
! 265: some more links to other sites
! 266:
! 267: Some documentation is available in other languages than English. Those
! 268: include:
! 269:
! 270: * ~http://mucha.obspm.fr/ grouss/gnuplt/gnuplot.html contient des
! 271: informations dans la langue de Molière: les 1ers pas avec gnuplot,
! 272: malheureusement seulement version 3.5
! 273: * ~http://www.al.lu/euler/gnuplot.shtml encore des informations en langue
! 274: française avec possibilité de téléchargement des versions binaires
! 275:
! 276: Here are some more sites, however these are somewhat outdated in carrying
! 277: still references to beta versions. If you download software from there you
! 278: should be aware that beta versions are not officially endorsed.
! 279:
! 280: * ~http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/gnuplot_info.html slightly outdated site
! 281: for the 3.6 beta version, but also a web-gateway to the users'
! 282: newsgroup
! 283: * ~http://members.theglobe.com/gnuplot/ basically same as above.
! 284: * ~http://users.ece.gatech.edu/ schooley/gnuplot.html contains a
! 285: Macintosh version based on 3.6 beta 322
! 286:
! 287: The following sites were said to exist, howevere they seem to be down right
! 288: now.
! 289:
! 290: * ~http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Foothills/6647/ the copyright
! 291: statement and some binaries contains ads
! 292: * ~http://www.delorie.com/gnu/docs/gnuplot/gplot_toc.html doesn't work
! 293: * picard.tamu.edu in /pub/gnuplot gives a tutorial
! 294: * ~http://feff.phys.washington.edu/ ravel/gnuplot has a new mode for the
! 295: users of (X)Emacs
! 296:
! 297: 2. Setting it up
! 298:
! 299: 2.1 What is the current version of gnuplot?
! 300:
! 301: The current version of gnuplot is 3.7, which has many improvements over 3.5.
! 302: 3.6 was never released to avoid confusions with the beta versions.
! 303:
! 304:
! 305: 2.2 Where can I get gnuplot?
! 306:
! 307: The source distribution ("gnuplot-3.7.tar.gz" or a similar name) is
! 308: available from the official distribution site and its mirrors.
! 309:
! 310: The main server is ftp.ucc.ie in /pub/gnuplot/ . This server is mirrored by
! 311: several others, among those are
! 312:
! 313: * mirror.aarnet.edu.au in /pub/gnuplot/
! 314: * ftp.dartmouth.edu in /pub/gnuplot/
! 315: * ftp.irisa.fr in /pub/gnuplot/
! 316: * ftp.gnuplot.vt.edu in /pub/gnuplot/
! 317:
! 318: You can also have a look at the following WWW-pages which provide a source
! 319: to obtain gnuplot:
! 320:
! 321: * ~http://members.theglobe.com/gnuplot/
! 322: * ~http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Foothills/6647/
! 323: * ~http://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/gnuplot/
! 324:
! 325: The current version for the Macintosh is 2.04b, based on gnuplot 3.5
! 326: pre3.6beta338, and is available from
! 327:
! 328: * ~http://users.ece.gatech.edu/ schooley/ .
! 329:
! 330: Unfortunately, this version does not seem to be maintained anymore.
! 331:
! 332: Source and binary distributions for the Amiga are available on Aminet
! 333: ftp.wustl.edu in aminet/ and its mirrors, for example ftp.uni-kl.de,
! 334: oes.orst.edu or ftp.luth.se.
! 335:
! 336: MS-DOS and MS-Windows binaries are available from the above servers and are
! 337: called gp37dos.zip, gp37dj.zip, gp37w16.zip, gp37mgw.zip, gnuplot3.7cyg.zip.
! 338:
! 339: OS/2 binaries are called gp37os2.zip.
! 340:
! 341: An X11 Window System front-end is available at
! 342: ~http://www.flash.net/ dmishee/xgfe/xgfe.html .
! 343:
! 344: The NeXTSTEP front end can be found at next-ftp.peak.org in
! 345: /pub/next/binaries/plotting/Gnuplot1.2_bin.tar.Z .
! 346:
! 347: A version for OS-9/68K can be found at cabrales.cs.wisc.edu in
! 348: /pub/OSK/GRAPHICS/gnuplot32x.tar.Z ; it includes both an X-Window Systems
! 349: and a non - X-Window Systems version.
! 350:
! 351: Versions for the Atari ST and TT, which include some GEM windowing support,
! 352: are available from ftp.uni-kl.de in /pub/atari/graphics/ , as gplt35st.zip
! 353: and gplt35tt.zip. They work best under MiNT.
! 354:
! 355: Executable files, plus documentation in Japanese, exist for the X680x0 on
! 356: ftp.csis.oita-u.ac.jp in /pub/x68k/fj.binaries.x68000/vol2 .
! 357:
! 358: It is a good idea to look for a nearby ftp site when downloading things. You
! 359: can use archie for this. See if an archie client is installed at your system
! 360: (by simply typing archie at the command prompt), or send mail to
! 361: archie@sura.net with the word 'help' in both the subject line and the body
! 362: of the mail. However, be aware that the version you find at a near ftp site
! 363: may well be out of date; check the last modification date and the number of
! 364: bytes against the newest release at one of the official servers.
! 365:
! 366: If you can't locate a working archie server, you can use other web-based
! 367: search engines for searching for gnuplot. One of these would be Lycos at
! 368: ~http://ftpsearch.lycos.com/ .
! 369:
! 370: As of June 1999, the gnuplot distribution is also mirrored at the
! 371: Comprehensive TeX Archive Network (CTAN) in the graphics/gnuplot directory.
! 372: See
! 373:
! 374: * ~http://www.ctan.org/ .
! 375:
! 376: Bug fixes can also be found at gnuplot distribution sites in the patches
! 377: directory.
! 378:
! 379: 2.3 How do I get gnuplot to compile on my system?
! 380:
! 381: As you would any other installation. Read the files README.1ST and README.
! 382:
! 383: For Unix, use configure and make. For DOS, if you are using bash and DJGPP,
! 384: you can just run djconfig.sh. For other platforms, copy the relevant
! 385: makefile from config/ to src, change to src and run make.
! 386:
! 387: 2.4 What documentation is there, and how do I get it?
! 388:
! 389: The documentation is included in the source distribution. Look at the docs
! 390: subdirectory, where you'll find
! 391:
! 392: * a Unix man page, which says how to start gnuplot
! 393: * a help file, which also can be printed as a manual
! 394: * a tutorial on using gnuplot with LATEX
! 395: * a quick reference summary sheet for TEXonly
! 396:
! 397: PostScript copies of the documentation can be ftp'd from ftp.dartmouth.edu
! 398: in /pub/gnuplot , as manual.ps.Z and tutorial.ps.Z
! 399:
! 400: The documentation is built during the installation if you have LATEX
! 401: installed on your system, look in the directories docs and tutorial.
! 402:
! 403: Documentation about gnuplot is available in the most common formats at the
! 404: gnuplot distribution sites in the files gpdoc.zip and gpdoc2.zip.
! 405:
! 406: 3. Working with it.
! 407:
! 408: 3.1 How do I get help?
! 409:
! 410: Read this document.
! 411:
! 412: Give the 'help' command at the initial prompt. After that, keep looking
! 413: through the keywords. Good starting points are 'plot' and 'set'.
! 414:
! 415: Read the manual, if you have it.
! 416:
! 417: Look through the demo subdirectory; it should give you some ideas.
! 418:
! 419: Ask your colleagues, the system administrator or the person who set up
! 420: gnuplot.
! 421:
! 422: If all these fail, please upgrade to the newest version of gnuplot or urge
! 423: your system-administrator to do so. Then post a question to
! 424: comp.graphics.apps.gnuplot or send mail to the gatewayed mailing list
! 425: info-gnuplot@dartmouth.edu . Do not forget to cite the version number and
! 426: the operating system. If you want to subscribe to the mailing list, send a
! 427: mail to majordomo@dartmouth.edu with the body of the message being
! 428: 'subscribe info-gnuplot'. Please don't do this if you can get
! 429: comp.graphics.apps.gnuplot directly. If you post a question there, it is
! 430: considered good form to solicit e-mail replies and post a summary.
! 431:
! 432: 3.2 How do I print out my graphs?
! 433:
! 434: The kind of output produced is determined by the 'set terminal' command; for
! 435: example, 'set terminal postscript' will produce the graph in PostScript
! 436: format. Output can be redirected using the 'set output' command.
! 437:
! 438: As an example, the following prints out a graph of sin(x) on a Unix machine
! 439: running the X-Window System.
! 440:
! 441: gnuplot> plot [-6:6] sin(x)
! 442: gnuplot> set terminal postscript
! 443: Terminal type set to 'postscript'
! 444: Options are 'landscape monochrome "Courier" 14'
! 445: gnuplot> set output "sin.ps"
! 446: gnuplot> replot
! 447: gnuplot> set output # set output back to default
! 448: gnuplot> set terminal x11 # ditto for terminal type
! 449: gnuplot> ! lp -ops sin.ps # print PS File (site dependent)
! 450: request id is lprint-3433 (standard input)
! 451: lp: printed file sin.ps on fg20.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de (5068 Byte)
! 452: !
! 453: gnuplot>
! 454:
! 455: In Microschrott Windows you click in the upper left corner of the graph
! 456: window and print directly from there.
! 457:
! 458: 3.3 How do I include my graphs in <word processor>?
! 459:
! 460: Basically, you save your plot to a file in a format your word processor can
! 461: understand (using "set term" and "set output", see above), and then you read
! 462: in the plot from your word processor. Vector formats should be prefered, as
! 463: you can scale your graph later to the right size.
! 464:
! 465: Details depend on the kind of word processor you use; use "set term" to get
! 466: a list of available file formats.
! 467:
! 468: Many word processors can use Encapsulated PostScript for graphs. This can be
! 469: generated by the "set terminal postscript eps" command. Most MS-DOS word
! 470: processors understand HPGL (terminal type hpgl).
! 471:
! 472: With TeX, it depends on what you use to print your dvi files. If you use
! 473: dvips or dvi2ps, you can use Encapsulated PostScript. For emTeX (popular for
! 474: MS-DOSns OS/2), you can use emTeX, otherwise use the LATEXterminal type,
! 475: which generates a picture environment.
! 476:
! 477: If nothing else helps, try using the pgm or ppm format and converting it to
! 478: a bitmap format your favourite word processor can understand. An invaluable
! 479: tool for this is Jef Poskanzer's PBMPLUS package.
! 480:
! 481: The PBMPLUS package is available in the contrib distribution for the
! 482: X-Window System. The original site for this is ftp.x.org in /contrib/ .
! 483: There are many mirrors, e.g. ftp.tu-darmstadt.de in /pub/X11/contrib/ or .
! 484: sunsite.unc.edu in /pub/X11/contrib/ .
! 485:
! 486: The most recent release of pbm by the author is dated December 91 and is
! 487: called pbmplus10dec91.tar.Z.
! 488:
! 489: There is new version including lots of patches from the net that is not
! 490: maintained by the author called netpbm, with the newest version called
! 491: netpbm-1mar1994.tar.gz.
! 492:
! 493: Check archie (see Q2.2) for an archive site near you.
! 494:
! 495: For Microso$t Windows and MacOS you can use the clip board to copy your
! 496: graph and paste it into your favourite Windows or MacOS word processor.
! 497:
! 498: 3.4 How do I post-process a gnuplot graph?
! 499:
! 500: This depends on the terminal type you use.
! 501:
! 502: You can use the terminal type fig (you may need to recompile gnuplot to
! 503: enable this terminal type, by putting #define FIG into <term.h>), and use
! 504: the xfig drawing program to edit the plot afterwards. You can obtain the
! 505: xfig program from its web site ~http://www.xfig.org/ . More information
! 506: about the text-format used for fig can be found in the fig-package.
! 507:
! 508: You may use the tgif terminal, which creates output suitable for reading
! 509: within tgif (~http://bourbon.cs.umd.edu:8001/tgif/ ), an interactive 2-D
! 510: drawing tool under X11.
! 511:
! 512: Both tgif and xfig can also be obtained from the X Window contrib
! 513: distribution (see Q3.3).
! 514:
! 515: Pstoedit can convert Postscript into a wide variety of formats. Pstoedit is
! 516: available a ~http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Nework/1958/pstoedit/ .
! 517:
! 518: Gimp may be able to post-process pixel graphics generated with gnuplot.
! 519:
! 520: In general, you should use a vector graphics program to post-process vector
! 521: graphic formats, and pixel based programs for pixel graphics.
! 522:
! 523: 3.5 How do I change symbol size, line thickness and the like?
! 524:
! 525: Again, this depends on the terminal type. For PostScript, you can edit the
! 526: generated PostScript file. An overview of what means what in the PostScript
! 527: files gnuplot generates can be found at picard.tamu.edu in /pub/gnuplot/ as
! 528: gs-ps.doc. A general introduction to PostScript can be found at
! 529: unix.hensa.ac.uk in /pub/misc/ukc.reports/comp.sci/reports/ as 11-92.ps.Z.
! 530:
! 531: 3.6 How do I generate plots in the GIF format?
1.1 maekawa 532:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 533: If gnuplot was compiled with the external GD library, there is a gif
! 534: terminal.
1.1 maekawa 535:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 536: As of version 1.6, gd library dropped support for gif in favour of the
! 537: superior png format. For those who absolutely need gif support in gnuplot,
! 538: we are providing older versions of gd library at the gnuplot distribution
! 539: sites which are free of Unisys patented code. Please read also the file
! 540: README a the ftp-sites.
1.1 maekawa 541:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 542: 3.7 Can I animate my graphs?
1.1 maekawa 543:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 544: First have a look at animate.dem in the demo directory of gnuplot.
! 545: Basically, animated graphs are a sequence of plots in a suitable format.
1.1 maekawa 546:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 547: Then have a look at the tool whirlgif 3.04, available at
! 548: ~http://www.danbbs.dk/ dineo/whirlgif . It reads run-length encoded gifs and
! 549: packs them into a minimal animation. On the web-pages you will find a manual
! 550: and an example.
! 551:
! 552: You can also write a small script to get gnuplot to output a family of GIF
! 553: files, then have it execute some animator such as gifsicle:
! 554: ~http://http://www.lcdf.org/ eddietwo/gifsicle or gifmerge
! 555: ~http://http://the-labs.com/GIFMerge
! 556:
! 557: mpeg_encode will encode a sequence of images into the mpeg-format.
! 558:
! 559: 3.8 How do I plot implicit defined graphs?
! 560:
! 561: Implicit graphs or curves cannot be plotted directly in gnuplot. However
! 562: there is a workaround.
! 563:
! 564: gnuplot> # as example. Place your definition in the following line
! 565: gnuplot> f(x,y) = y - x**2 / tan(y)
! 566: gnuplot> set contour base
! 567: gnuplot> set cntrparam levels discrete 0.0
! 568: gnuplot> set nosurface
! 569: gnuplot> set term table
! 570: gnuplot> set out 'curve.dat'
! 571: gnuplot> splot f(x,y)
! 572: gnuplot> set out
! 573: gnuplot> set term {your usual terminal for interactive work}
! 574: gnuplot> plot 'curve.dat' w l
! 575:
! 576: The trick is to draw the single contour line z=0 of the surface z=f(x,y),
! 577: and store the resulting contour curve to a gnuplot datafile.
! 578:
! 579: 4. Wanted features
! 580:
! 581: 4.1 What's new in gnuplot 3.7?
! 582:
! 583: Too many things to be named here. Please refer to the NEWS file in the
! 584: source distribution.
! 585:
! 586: 4.2 Does gnuplot have hidden line removal?
! 587:
! 588: Version 3.7 supports hidden line removal on all platforms; use the command
! 589: set hidden3d.
! 590:
! 591: The 16-bit binaries of gnuplot support the hidden line removal only
! 592: partially as the hidden-line algorithm may hit the 640k memory limit.
! 593:
! 594: 4.3 Does gnuplot support bar-charts/histograms/boxes?
! 595:
! 596: Use the style "with boxes" for bar charts. To get filled boxes, you can try
! 597: a modification by Steve Cumming and jturk, available via ftp from the
! 598: contrib directory ftp.ucc.ie in /pub/gnuplot/contrib/gpl37fboxpatch.tar.gz .
! 599:
! 600: Bernhard Reiter wrote an AWK script to post-process the fig-terminal output.
! 601: Please have a look at
! 602: ~http://www.usf.uni-osnabrueck.de/ breiter/tools/gnuplot/barcharts.en.html .
! 603:
! 604: 4.4 Does gnuplot support pie charts?
! 605:
! 606: It's not possible in gnuplot, but have a look at
! 607: ~http://www.usf.uni-osnabrueck.de/ breiter/tools/piechart/piecharts.en.html
! 608:
! 609: 4.5 Does gnuplot quarterly time charts?
! 610:
! 611: It's not possible in gnuplot, but have a look at
! 612: ~http://ricardo.ecn.wfu.edu/ cottrell/qplot . The corresponding file
! 613: qplot.zip can be obtained from the contrib directory on any gnuplot server.
! 614:
! 615: 4.6 Does gnuplot support multiple y-axes on a single plot?
! 616:
! 617: Yes. You can have 2 x- and 2 y-axes per plot. See "plot".
! 618:
! 619: 4.7 Can I put multiple pages on one page?
! 620:
! 621: Yes. "set multiplot"
! 622:
! 623: If you use the postscript terminal and plot one graph per page you can use
! 624: the program mpage (~http://www.mesa.nl/pub/mpage ) to print multiple logical
! 625: pages per physical page. A similar program is the psnup program in the
! 626: psutils package. This package is available at any CTAN mirror.
! 627:
! 628: 4.8 Can I put both data files and commands into a single file?
! 629:
! 630: This feature is in gnuplot 3.7 when using the set multiplot command.
! 631:
! 632: 4.9 Can I put Greek letters and super/subscripts into my labels?
! 633:
! 634: You might try using the LATEXterminal type and putting text like
! 635: "\alpha_{3}" into it.
! 636:
! 637: The enhanced option in the postscript terminal is also able to use sub- and
! 638: superscripts.
! 639:
! 640: If you include your gnuplot-graphs into a LATEX document you can use the
! 641: LATEX-package psfrag to typeset any characters into your graphs.
! 642:
! 643: 4.10 Can I do 1:1 scaling of axes?
! 644:
! 645: Use "set size square".
! 646:
! 647: 4.11 Can I put tic marks for x and y axes into 3d plots?
! 648:
! 649: Use the "with boxes" option.
! 650:
! 651: 4.12 Does gnuplot support a driver for <graphics format>?
! 652:
! 653: To see a list of the available graphic drivers for your installation of
! 654: gnuplot, type "set term".
! 655:
! 656: Some graphics drivers are included in the normal distribution, but are
! 657: uncommented by default. If you want to use them, you'll have to change
! 658: gnuplot/term.h, and recompile.
! 659:
! 660: 4.13 Can I put different text sizes into my plots?
! 661:
! 662: Some terminals, like the postscript terminal can, others can't. Look at the
! 663: help for the different terminals.
! 664:
! 665: 4.14 How do I modify gnuplot, and apply 'patches'?
! 666:
! 667: For this, you will need to recompile gnuplot.
! 668:
! 669: Modifications people make are either done by replacing files, such as
! 670: terminal drivers, or by 'patching'. If a file is a replacement, it will
! 671: probably tell you in its README or in the lines at the beginning.
! 672:
! 673: To patch a file, you need Larry Wall's patch utility. On many UNIX systems,
! 674: it is already installed; do a man patch to check. If it isn't, you'll have
! 675: to get it; it can be found wherever GNU software is archived.
! 676:
! 677: 4.15 How do I skip data points?
! 678:
! 679: By specifying ? as a data value, as in
1.1 maekawa 680:
681: 1 2
682: 2 3
683: 3 ?
684: 4 5
685:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 686: 4.16 How do I plot every nth point?
1.1 maekawa 687:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 688: This can be specified with the various options for the command "plot".
1.1 maekawa 689:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 690: 4.17 How do I plot a vertical line?
1.1 maekawa 691:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 692: Depending on context, the main methods are:
! 693:
! 694: * set arrow .... .... nohead where you have to compute explicitly the
! 695: start and the end of the arrow.
! 696: * generate (inlined) datapoints and plot them
! 697: * switch to parametric mode
! 698:
! 699: 5. Miscellaneous
! 700:
! 701: 5.1 I've found a bug, what do I do?
! 702:
! 703: First, try to see whether it actually is a bug, or whether it is a feature
! 704: which may be turned off by some obscure set-command.
! 705:
! 706: Next, see whether you have an old version of gnuplot; if you do, chances are
! 707: the bug has been fixed in a newer release.
! 708:
! 709: Fixes for bugs reported since the release of the current version are held in
! 710: the patches directory at gnuplotdistribution sites. Before submitting a bug
! 711: report, please check whether the bug in question has already been fixed.
! 712:
! 713: If, after checking these things, you still are convinced that there is a
! 714: bug, proceed as follows. If you have a fairly general sort of bug report,
! 715: posting to comp.graphics.apps.gnuplot is probably the way to go. If you have
! 716: investigated a problem in detail, especially if you have a context or
! 717: unified diff that fixes the problem, please e-email a report to
! 718: bug-gnuplot@dartmouth.edu .
! 719:
! 720: The bug-gnuplot list is for reporting and collecting bug fixes, the
! 721: comp.graphics.apps.gnuplot newsgroup will be more help for finding work
! 722: arounds or actually solving gnuplotrelated problems. If you do send in a bug
! 723: report, be sure and include the version of gnuplot (including patchlevel) as
! 724: shown by the command "show version long", terminal driver, operating system,
! 725: an exact description of the bug and input which can reproduce the bug.
! 726: Failure to indicate these details can render a solution to your problem
! 727: almost impossible. Also, any context diffs should be referenced against the
! 728: latest official version of gnuplotif at all possible.
! 729:
! 730: 5.2 Can I use gnuplotroutines for my own programs?
! 731:
! 732: Yes. John Campbell jdc@nauvax.ucc.nau.edu has written gplotlib, a version of
! 733: gnuplotas C subroutines callable from a C program. This is available as
! 734: gplotlib.tar.Z at ftp.nau.edu in /pub/gplotlib.tar.Z . This library has been
! 735: updated to be compatible with version 3.5.
! 736:
! 737: On systems supporting the pipes, you can pipe commands to gnuplotfrom other
! 738: programs.
! 739:
! 740: 5.3 What extensions have people made to gnuplot? Where can I get them?
! 741:
! 742: Extensions are available from ftp.ucc.ie in /pub/gnuplot/contrib/
1.1 maekawa 743:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 744: Some extensions available:
1.1 maekawa 745:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 746: * barchart_via_fig: awk scripts to produce barcharts with filled boxes.
! 747: * date-errorbar: allows dates in the hi/lo fields for errorbars.
! 748: * gp37os2-mouse: OS/2 binaries with mouse support (feature included in
! 749: current beta versions).
! 750: * perltk: A perl/tk canvas widget.
! 751: * polyg.patch: Implements a polygon plotting style.
! 752: * xgfe: graphical front end using the Qt widgets available at
! 753: ~http://lnc.usc.edu/docs/xgfe/xgfe.html .
1.1 maekawa 754:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 755: 5.4 Can I do heavy-duty data processing with gnuplot?
! 756:
! 757: gnuplotalone is not suited very well for this. One thing you might try is
! 758: fudgit, an interactive multi-purpose fitting program written by Martin-D.
! 759: Lacasse (isaac@frodo.physics.mcgill.ca). It can use gnuplotas its graphics
! 760: back end and is available from ftp.physics.mcgill.ca in
! 761: /pub/Fudgit/fudgit_2.33.tar.Z and from the main Linux server, tsx-11.mit.edu
! 762: and its numerous mirrors around the world as
! 763: /pub/linux/sources/usr.bin/fudgit-2.33.tar.z. Versions are available for
! 764: AIX, Data General, HP-UX, IRIX 4, Linux, NeXT, Sun3, Sun4, Ultrix, OS/2 and
! 765: MS-DOS. The MS-DOS version is available on simtel20 mirrors (simtel20 itself
! 766: has closed down) in the "math" subdirectory as fudg_231.zip.
! 767:
! 768: Carsten Grammes has written a fitting program which has been merged into
! 769: gnuplot3.7.
! 770:
! 771: Michael Courtney has written a program called lsqrft, which uses the
! 772: Levenberg-Marquardt - Algorithm for fitting data to a function. It is
! 773: available from hobbes.nmsu.edu in /pub/os2/apps/analysis/lsqrft15.zip ;
! 774: sources, which should compile on Unix, and executables for MS-DOS and OS/2
! 775: are available. There is an interface to the OS/2 presentation manager.
! 776:
! 777: You might also want to look at the applications developed by the Software
! 778: Tools Group (STG) at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications.
! 779: Ftp to ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu and get the file README.BROCHURE for more
! 780: information.
! 781:
! 782: You can also try pgperl, an integration of the PGPLOT plotting package with
! 783: Perl 5. Information can be found at
! 784: ~http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/AAO/local/www/kgb/pgperl , the source is available
! 785: from ftp.ast.cam.ac.uk in /pub/kgb/pgperl/ or linux.nrao.edu in
! 786: /pub/packages/pgperl/ .
! 787:
! 788: Another possibility is Octave. To quote from its README: Octave is a
! 789: high-level language, primarily intended for numerical computations. It
! 790: provides a convenient command line interface for solving linear and
! 791: nonlinear problems numerically. The latest released version of Octave is
! 792: always available from ~http://www.che.wisc.edu/octave/ and via anonymous ftp
! 793: from bevo.che.wisc.edu in /pub/octave .
! 794:
! 795: 5.5 I have ported gnuplotto another system, or patched it. What do I do?
! 796:
! 797: If your patch is small, mail it to info-gnuplot-beta@dartmouth.edu , with a
! 798: thorough description of what the patch is supposed to do, which version of
! 799: gnuplotit is relative to, etc. Also, you can send notification of the patch
! 800: to the FAQ maintainer, if you want a mention. Please don't send the patch
! 801: itself to me.
! 802:
! 803: If your modifications are extensive (such as a port to another system),
! 804: place them on a web/ftp site for download. There is currently no possibility
! 805: to upload patches. Send a note to info-gnuplot-beta@dartmouth.edu on where
! 806: to find the patch, what it is supposed to do, which version of gnuplotit is
! 807: to be applied against. For the time being (summer 1999) you can also send
! 808: the patch to gnuplot@ftp.ucc.ie .
! 809:
! 810: 5.6 I want to help in developing the next version of gnuplot. What can I do?
! 811:
! 812: Join the gnuplotbeta test mailing list by sending a mail containing the line
! 813: subscribe info-gnuplot-beta in the body (not the subject) of the mail to
! 814: Majordomo@Dartmouth.EDU .
! 815:
! 816: 6. Making life easier
! 817:
! 818: 6.1 How do I plot two functions in non-overlapping regions?
! 819:
! 820: Use a parametric plot. An example:
! 821:
! 822: gnuplot> set parametric
! 823: gnuplot> a=1
! 824: gnuplot> b=3
! 825: gnuplot> c=2
! 826: gnuplot> d=4
! 827: gnuplot> x1(t) = a+(b-a)*t
! 828: gnuplot> x2(t) = c+(d-c)*t
! 829: gnuplot> f1(x) = sin(x)
! 830: gnuplot> f2(x) = x**2/8
! 831: gnuplot> plot [t=0:1] x1(t),f1(x1(t)) title "f1", x2(t), f2(x2(t)) title "f2"
! 832:
! 833: You can also use gnuplot's ability to ignore mathematically undefined
! 834: expressions: the expression 1/0 is silently ignored, thus a construction
! 835: like
! 836:
! 837: gnuplot> set xran [-10:10]
! 838: gnuplot> plot (abs(x)>0.5?1/0: x**2)
! 839:
! 840: plots a quadratic function only for |x| < 0.5.
! 841:
! 842: 6.2 How do I run my data through a filter before plotting?
! 843:
! 844: If your system supports the popen() function, as Unix does, you should be
! 845: able to run the output through another process, for example a short awk
! 846: program, such as
! 847:
! 848: gnuplot> plot "< awk ' { print $1, $3/$2 } ' file.in"
! 849:
! 850: The plot command is very powerful and is able to do some arithmetic on
! 851: datafiles. See "help plot".
! 852:
! 853: 6.3 How do I make it easier to use gnuplot with LATEX?
! 854:
! 855: There is a set of LATEX macros and shell scripts that are meant to make your
! 856: life easier when using gnuplot with LaTeX. This package can be found on
! 857: ftp.dartmouth.edu in pub/gnuplot/latex.shar , by David Kotz. For example,
! 858: the program "plotskel" can turn a gnuplot-output file plot.tex into a
! 859: skeleton file skel.tex, that has the same size as the original plot but
! 860: contains no graph. With the right macros, the skeleton can be used for
! 861: preliminary LATEX passes, reserving the full graph for later passes, saving
! 862: tremendous amounts of time.
! 863:
! 864: 6.4 How do I save and restore my settings?
! 865:
! 866: Use the "save" and "load" commands for this; see "help save" and "help load"
! 867: for details.
! 868:
! 869: 6.5 How do I plot lines (not grids) using splot?
! 870:
! 871: If the data in a data file for splot is arranged in such a way that each one
! 872: has the same number of data points (using blank lines as delimiters, as
! 873: usual), splot will plot the data with a grid. If you want to plot just
! 874: lines, use a different number of data entries (you can do this by doubling
! 875: the last data point, for example). Don't forget to set parametric mode, of
! 876: course.
! 877:
! 878: 6.6 How do I plot a function f(x,y) which is bounded by other functions in
! 879: the x-y plain?
! 880:
! 881: An example:
! 882:
! 883: gnuplot> f(x,y) = x**2 + y **2
! 884: gnuplot> x(u) = 3*u
! 885: gnuplot> yu(x) = x**2
! 886: gnuplot> yl(x) = -x**2
! 887: gnuplot> set parametric
! 888: gnuplot> set cont
! 889: gnuplot> splot [0:1] [0:1] u,yl(x(u))+(yu(x(u)) - yl(x(u)))*v,\
! 890: > f(x(u), (yu(x(u)) - yl(x(u)))*v)
! 891:
! 892: 6.7 How do I get rid of <feature in a plot>?
! 893:
! 894: Usually, there is a set command to do this; do a gnuplot> ?set no for a
! 895: short overview.
! 896:
! 897: 6.8 How do I call gnuplot from my own programs?
! 898:
! 899: There's a code which works for a UNIX system, using (efficient) named pipes.
! 900: On M$ Windows platforms, due to the lacking standard input of GUI programs,
! 901: you need to use the C-code pgnuplot written by Hans-Bernhard Broeker
! 902: broeker@physik.rwth-aachen.de . You can obtain this file on a ftp-server
! 903: carrying the source for gnuplot.
! 904:
! 905: 6.9 What if I need h-bar (Planck's constant)?
! 906:
! 907: There is no predefined variable like pi. However to put h-bar as a character
! 908: into the label, you must use the PostScript terminal. You can play around
! 909: with constructs like @{/=56 -} {/=24 h} or {/=8 @{/Symbol=24 -} _{/=14 h}}
! 910: In the latter, the "-" (a long one in /Symbol) is non-spacing and 24-pt. The
! 911: 14-pt "h" is offset by an 8-pt space (which is the space preceding the "_")
! 912: but smaller, since it's written as a subscript. But these don't look too
! 913: much like the hbar we're used to, since the bar is horizontal instead of
! 914: sloped. I don't see a way to get that. I tried using an accent (
! 915: 264 in isoLatin encoding), but I haven't found a way to scale and position
! 916: the pieces correctly.
! 917:
! 918: One more possibility would be {/=14 @^{/Symbol=10 -}{/=14 h}}.
! 919:
! 920: (This is a hint by Richard Crawford).
! 921:
! 922: 7. Known Problems
! 923:
! 924: 7.1 Gnuplot is not plotting any points under X11! How come?
! 925:
! 926: On VMS, you need to make several symbols:
1.1 maekawa 927:
928: $ gnuplot_x11 :== $disk:[directory]gnuplot_x11
929: $ gnuplot :== $disk:[directory]gnuplot.exe
930: $ def/job GNUPLOT$HELP disk:[directory]gnuplot.hlb
931:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 932: Then run gnuplot from your command line, and use "set term x11".
1.1 maekawa 933:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 934: 7.2 My isoline data generated by a Fortran program is not handled correctly.
! 935: What can I do?
1.1 maekawa 936:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 937: Update to the newest gnuplot. Gnuplot 3.7 is able to read Fortran-style
! 938: files where a blanc line can contain more than a linefeed.
1.1 maekawa 939:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 940: 7.3 Why does gnuplot ignore my very small numbers?
1.1 maekawa 941:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 942: Gnuplot treats all numbers less than 1e-08 as zero, by default. Thus, if you
! 943: are trying to plot a collection of very small numbers, they may be plotted
! 944: as zero. Worse, if you're plotting on a log scale, they will be off scale.
! 945: Or, if the whole set of numbers is "zero", your range may be considered
! 946: empty:
1.1 maekawa 947:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 948: gnuplot> plot 'test1'
! 949: Warning: empty y range [4.047e-19:3e-11], adjusting to [-1:1]
! 950: gnuplot> set yrange [4e-19:3e-11]
! 951: gnuplot> plot 'test1'
! 952: ^
! 953: y range is less than `zero`
1.1 maekawa 954:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 955: The solution is to change gnuplot's idea of "zero":
1.1 maekawa 956:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 957: gnuplot> set zero 1e-20
1.1 maekawa 958:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 959: For more information, "help set zero"
1.1 maekawa 960:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 961: 7.4 Gnuplot is plotting nothing when run via gnuplot <filename>! What can I
! 962: do?
1.1 maekawa 963:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 964: Put a pause -1 after the plot command in the file. On an X-Window System
! 965: system, you can also use the -persist option, the X11 window is then not
! 966: closed. Close the X11 window by typing "q" when the focus is on it.
1.1 maekawa 967:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 968: 7.5 My formulas are giving me nonsense results! What's going on?
1.1 maekawa 969:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 970: Gnuplot does integer, and not floating point, arithmetic on integer
! 971: expressions. For example, the expression 1/3 evaluates to zero. If you want
! 972: floating point expressions, supply trailing dots for your floating point
! 973: numbers. Example:
1.1 maekawa 974:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 975: gnuplot> print 1/3
1.1 maekawa 976: 0
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 977: gnuplot> print 1./3.
1.1 maekawa 978: 0.333333
979:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 980: This way of evaluating integer expressions is shared by both C and Fortran.
! 981:
! 982: 7.6 Set output 'filename' isn't outputting everything it should!
! 983:
! 984: You need to flush the output with a closing 'set output'.
! 985:
! 986: 7.7 When using the LATEX-terminal, there is an error during the LATEX-run!
! 987:
! 988: Please upgrade to gnuplot 3.7. Some versions of its beta-release had a
! 989: problem in the LATEX-terminal.
! 990:
! 991: 7.8 The exit command does not work as documented!
! 992:
! 993: This is a known bug and is fixed in the latest release. If you need the
! 994: feature please upgrade to the latest release.
! 995:
! 996: 7.9 I can't find the demos and example files at the URLs in the
! 997: documentation!
! 998:
! 999: The examples have been removec from the NASA site. You can find the examples
! 1000: now at ~http://www.gnuplot.vt.edu/gnuplot/gpdocs . There you will find both
! 1001: PNG and GIF versions of the demo plots. There are some licensing problems
! 1002: with GIF images, so you should probably prefer the PNG ones. They also have
! 1003: the advantage to be much smaller in size.
! 1004:
! 1005: 7.10 Calling gnuplot in a pipe or with a gnuplot-script doesn't produce
! 1006: aplot!
! 1007:
! 1008: You can call gnuplot by using a short Perl-script like the following:
! 1009:
! 1010: #!/usr/bin/perl
! 1011: open GP, "/usr/local/bin/gnuplot";
! 1012: print GP,"plot '/tmp/data.dat' with lines\n";
! 1013: close GP
! 1014:
! 1015: Gnuplot closes its plot window on exit. The close GP command is executed,
! 1016: and the plot window is closed even before you have a chance to look at it.
! 1017:
! 1018: There are thre solutions to this: first, use the pause -1 command in gnuplot
! 1019: before closing the pipe. Second, close the pipe only if you are sure that
! 1020: you don't need gnuplot and its plot window anymore. Last, you can use the
! 1021: command line option -persist: this option leaves the X-Window System plot
! 1022: window open.
! 1023:
! 1024: 8. Credits
1.1 maekawa 1025:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 1026: Gnuplot 3.7's main contributors are (in alphabetical order) Hans-Bernhard
! 1027: Broeker, John Campbell, Robert Cunningham, David Denholm, Gershon Elber,
! 1028: Roger Fearick, Carsten Grammes, Lucas Hart, Lars Hecking, Thomas Koenig,
! 1029: David Kotz, Ed Kubaitis, Russell Lang, Alexander Lehmann, Alexander Mai,
! 1030: Carsten Steger, Tom Tkacik, Jos Van der Woude, James R. Van Zandt, and Alex
! 1031: Woo.
1.1 maekawa 1032:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 1033: This list was initially compiled by John Fletcher with contributions from
! 1034: Russell Lang, John Campbell, David Kotz, Rob Cunningham, Daniel Lewart and
! 1035: Alex Woo. Reworked by Thomas Koenig from a draft by Alex Woo, with
! 1036: corrections and additions from Alex Woo, John Campbell, Russell Lang, David
! 1037: Kotz and many corrections from Daniel Lewart. Again reworked for gnuplot 3.7
! 1038: by Alexander Mai and Jürgen v.Hagen with corrections by , Lars Hecking,
! 1039: Hans-Bernhard Broecker and other people.
1.1 maekawa 1040:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 1041: About this document ...
1.1 maekawa 1042:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 1043: Gnuplot FAQ
1.1 maekawa 1044:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 1045: This document was generated using the LaTeX2HTML translator Version 98.1p1
! 1046: release (March 2nd, 1998)
1.1 maekawa 1047:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 1048: Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, Nikos Drakos, Computer Based
! 1049: Learning Unit, University of Leeds.
1.1 maekawa 1050:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 1051: The command line arguments were:
! 1052: latex2html -split 0 -show_section_numbers -html_version 3.2 gnuplot-faq.tex.
1.1 maekawa 1053:
1.1.1.2 ! maekawa 1054: The translation was initiated by Juergen von Hagen on 1999-10-20
! 1055: ------------------------------------------------------------------------
! 1056: [next] [up] [previous]
! 1057: Juergen von Hagen
! 1058: 1999-10-20
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