Ubuntu Manpage: gnuplot - an interactive plotting program

Provided by: gnuplot-x11_6.0.0+dfsg1-1ubuntu3_amd64

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 and executes each file 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 zooming, rotation, and hypertext.

       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.

       -c scriptname ARG1 ARG2 ..., load script using gnuplot's "call" mechanism and pass it  the  remainder  of
       the command line as arguments

       -d,  --default-settings do not read from gnuplotrc, ~/.gnuplot, and $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/gnuplot/gnuplotrc on
       entry.

       -e "command list" executes the requested commands before loading the next input file.

       -s, --slow wait for slow font initialization rather than continuing with an error.

       -h, --help print summary of usage

       -V, --version show current version

X11 OPTIONS

       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. These options have no  effect  on
       other terminal types.

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,
.gnuplot, or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/gnuplot/gnuplotrc 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.

       $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/gnuplot/gnuplotrc
              After loading the other initialization files,  Gnuplot  will  check  if  there  is  a  file  named
              gnuplotrc  in  the  gnuplot  subdirectory  in  $XDG_CONFIG_HOME  (default  ~/.config).   The  same
              restrictions as for .gnuplot apply.

       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.