1GNUPLOT(1) General Commands Manual GNUPLOT(1)
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6 gnuplot - an interactive plotting program
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9 gnuplot [X11 options] [options] [file ...]
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12 Gnuplot is a command-driven interactive plotting program.
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14 If file names are given on the command line, gnuplot loads and executes
15 each file in the order specified, and exits after the last file is pro‐
16 cessed. If no files are given, gnuplot prompts for interactive com‐
17 mands.
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19 Here are some of its features:
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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.
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24 User-defined constants and functions.
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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.
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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
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35 Nonlinear least-squares fitting.
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37 2D and 3D plots with mouse-controlled zooming, rotation, and hypertext.
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39 Shell escapes and command line substitution.
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41 Load and save capability.
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43 Support for a huge variety of output devices and file formats.
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46 -p, --persist lets plot windows survive after main gnuplot program
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49 -c scriptname ARG1 ARG2 ..., load script using gnuplot's "call" mecha‐
50 nism and pass it the remainder of the command line as arguments
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52 -d, --default-settings settings. Do not read from gnuplotrc or ~/.gnu‐
53 plot on entry.
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55 -e "command list" executes the requested commands before loading the
56 next input file.
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58 -h, --help print summary of usage
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60 -V, --version show current version
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63 For terminal type x11, gnuplot accepts the standard X Toolkit options
64 and resources such as geometry, font, and background. See the X(1) man
65 page for a description of common options. For additional X options
66 specific to gnuplot, type help x11 on the gnuplot command line. These
67 options have no effect on other terminal types.
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70 A number of shell environment variables are understood by gnuplot.
71 None of these are required.
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73 GNUTERM
74 The name of the terminal type to be used by default. This can
75 be overridden by the gnuplotrc or .gnuplot start-up files and,
76 of course, by later explicit "set terminal" commands.
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78 GNUHELP
79 The pathname of the HELP file (gnuplot.gih).
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81 HOME The name of a directory to search for a .gnuplot file.
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83 PAGER An output filter for help messages.
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85 SHELL The program used for the "shell" command.
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87 FIT_SCRIPT
88 Specifies a gnuplot command to be executed when a fit is inter‐
89 rupted---see "help fit".
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91 FIT_LOG
92 The name of the logfile maintained by fit.
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94 GNUPLOT_LIB
95 Additional search directories for data and command files. The
96 variable may contain a single directory name, or a list of
97 directories separated by ':'. The contents of GNUPLOT_LIB are
98 appended to the "loadpath" variable, but not saved with the
99 "save" and "save set" commands.
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101 GDFONTPATH
102 Several gnuplot terminal drivers access TrueType fonts via the
103 gd library. This variable gives the font search path for these
104 drivers.
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106 GNUPLOT_DEFAULT_GDFONT
107 The default font for the terminal drivers that access TrueType
108 fonts via the gd library.
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110 GNUPLOT_FONTPATH
111 The font search path used by the postscript terminal. The format
112 is the same as for GNUPLOT_LIB. The contents of GNUPLOT_FONTPATH
113 are appended to the "fontpath" variable, but not saved with the
114 "save" and "save set" commands.
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116 GNUPLOT_PS_DIR
117 Used by the postscript driver to locate external prologue files.
118 Depending on the build process, gnuplot contains either a
119 builtin copy of those files or simply a default hardcoded path.
120 Use this variable to test the postscript terminal with custom
121 prologue files. See "help postscript prologue".
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124 gnuplotrc
125 When gnuplot is run, it first looks for a system-wide initial‐
126 ization file named gnuplotrc. The standard location of this
127 file expected by the program is reported by the "show loadpath"
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130 .gnuplot
131 After loading the system-wide initialization file, if any, Gnu‐
132 plot looks for a private initialization file in the HOME direc‐
133 tory. It may contain any legal gnuplot commands, but typically
134 they are limited to setting the preferred terminal and line
135 types and defining frequently-used functions or variables.
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137 fit.log
138 The default name of the logfile output by the "fit" command.
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141 Original authors: Thomas Williams and Colin Kelley. Starting with gnu‐
142 plot version 3.8, the project source is cooperatively maintained on
143 SourceForge by a large number of contributors.
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146 Please report bugs using the project bug tracker on SourceForge.
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149 See the printed manual or the on-line help for details on specific com‐
150 mands. Project web site at http://gnuplot.info
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1544th Berkeley Distribution 11 June 2014 GNUPLOT(1)