gnuplot(1)

1GNUPLOT(1)                  General Commands Manual                 GNUPLOT(1)
2
3
4

NAME

6       gnuplot - an interactive plotting program
7

SYNOPSIS

9       gnuplot [X11 options] [options] [file ...]
10

DESCRIPTION

12       Gnuplot is a command-driven interactive plotting program.
13
14       If  file  names  are given on the command line, gnuplot loads each file
15       with the load command, in the order specified, and exits after the last
16       file is processed.  If no files are given, gnuplot prompts for interac‐
17       tive commands.
18
19       Here are some of its features:
20
21       Plots any number of functions, built up of C operators, C math  library
22       functions, and some things C doesn't have like **, sgn(), etc.
23
24       User-defined constants and functions.
25
26       All  computations  performed in the complex domain.  Just the real part
27       is plotted by default, but functions like imag() and  abs()  and  arg()
28       are available to override this.
29
30       Many  presentation  styles for plotting user data from files, including
31       surface-fitting, error bars, boxplots, histograms, heat maps, and  sim‐
32       ple manipulation of image data.  There is an on-line demo collection at
33       http://gnuplot.info/demo
34
35       Nonlinear least-squares fitting.
36
37       2D and 3D plots with mouse-controlled zoom and rotation.
38
39       Shell escapes and command line substitution.
40
41       Load and save capability.
42
43       Support for a huge variety of output devices and file formats.
44

OPTIONS

46       -p,  --persist  lets  plot  windows  survive after main gnuplot program
47       exits.
48
49       -e "command list" executes the requested commands  before  loading  the
50       next input file.
51
52       -h, --help print summary of usage
53
54       -V show current version
55

X11 OPTIONS

57       Gnuplot  provides  the  x11  terminal type for use with X servers. This
58       terminal type is set automatically at startup if the  GNUTERM  environ‐
59       ment  variable is set to x11, or if the -display command line option is
60       used.  For terminal type x11, gnuplot accepts the  standard  X  Toolkit
61       options  and  resources such as geometry, font, and background. See the
62       X(1) man page for a description of common options.   For  additional  X
63       options specific to gnuplot, type help x11 on the gnuplot command line.
64

ENVIRONMENT

66       A  number  of  shell  environment  variables are understood by gnuplot.
67       None of these are required.
68
69       GNUTERM
70              The name of the terminal type to be used by default.   This  can
71              be  overridden  by the gnuplotrc or .gnuplot start-up files and,
72              of course, by later explicit "set terminal" commands.
73
74       GNUHELP
75              The pathname of the HELP file (gnuplot.gih).
76
77       HOME   The name of a directory to search for a .gnuplot file.
78
79       PAGER  An output filter for help messages.
80
81       SHELL  The program used for the "shell" command.
82
83       FIT_SCRIPT
84              Specifies a gnuplot command to be executed when a fit is  inter‐
85              rupted---see "help fit".
86
87       FIT_LOG
88              The name of the logfile maintained by fit.
89
90       GNUPLOT_LIB
91              Additional  search  directories  for data and command files. The
92              variable may contain a single  directory  name,  or  a  list  of
93              directories  separated  by  ':'. The contents of GNUPLOT_LIB are
94              appended to the "loadpath" variable,  but  not  saved  with  the
95              "save" and "save set" commands.
96
97       GDFONTPATH
98              Several  gnuplot  terminal drivers access TrueType fonts via the
99              gd library.  This variable gives the font search path for  these
100              drivers.
101
102       GNUPLOT_DEFAULT_GDFONT
103              The  default  font for the terminal drivers that access TrueType
104              fonts via the gd library.
105
106       GNUPLOT_FONTPATH
107              The font search path used by the postscript terminal. The format
108              is the same as for GNUPLOT_LIB. The contents of GNUPLOT_FONTPATH
109              are appended to the "fontpath" variable, but not saved with  the
110              "save" and "save set" commands.
111
112       GNUPLOT_PS_DIR
113              Used by the postscript driver to locate external prologue files.
114              Depending on  the  build  process,  gnuplot  contains  either  a
115              builtin  copy of those files or simply a default hardcoded path.
116              Use this variable to test the postscript  terminal  with  custom
117              prologue files. See "help postscript prologue".
118

FILES

120       gnuplotrc
121              When  gnuplot  is run, it first looks for a system-wide initial‐
122              ization file named gnuplotrc.  The  standard  location  of  this
123              file  expected by the program is reported by the "show loadpath"
124              command.
125
126       .gnuplot
127              After loading the system-wide initialization file, if any,  Gnu‐
128              plot  looks for a private initialization file in the HOME direc‐
129              tory.  It may contain any legal gnuplot commands, but  typically
130              they  are  limited  to  setting  the preferred terminal and line
131              types and defining frequently-used functions or variables.
132
133       fit.log
134              The default name of the logfile output by the "fit" command.
135

AUTHORS

137       Original authors: Thomas Williams and Colin Kelley.  Starting with gnu‐
138       plot  version  3.8,  the  project source is cooperatively maintained on
139       SourceForge by a large number of contributors.
140

BUGS

142       Please report bugs using the project bug tracker on SourceForge.
143