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 -s, --slow wait for slow font initialization rather than continuing
59 with an error.
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61 -h, --help print summary of usage
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63 -V, --version show current version
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66 For terminal type x11, gnuplot accepts the standard X Toolkit options
67 and resources such as geometry, font, and background. See the X(1) man
68 page for a description of common options. For additional X options
69 specific to gnuplot, type help x11 on the gnuplot command line. These
70 options have no effect on other terminal types.
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73 A number of shell environment variables are understood by gnuplot.
74 None of these are required.
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76 GNUTERM
77 The name of the terminal type to be used by default. This can
78 be overridden by the gnuplotrc or .gnuplot start-up files and,
79 of course, by later explicit "set terminal" commands.
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81 GNUHELP
82 The pathname of the HELP file (gnuplot.gih).
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84 HOME The name of a directory to search for a .gnuplot file.
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86 PAGER An output filter for help messages.
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88 SHELL The program used for the "shell" command.
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90 FIT_SCRIPT
91 Specifies a gnuplot command to be executed when a fit is inter‐
92 rupted---see "help fit".
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94 FIT_LOG
95 The name of the logfile maintained by fit.
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97 GNUPLOT_LIB
98 Additional search directories for data and command files. The
99 variable may contain a single directory name, or a list of
100 directories separated by ':'. The contents of GNUPLOT_LIB are
101 appended to the "loadpath" variable, but not saved with the
102 "save" and "save set" commands.
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104 GDFONTPATH
105 Several gnuplot terminal drivers access TrueType fonts via the
106 gd library. This variable gives the font search path for these
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109 GNUPLOT_DEFAULT_GDFONT
110 The default font for the terminal drivers that access TrueType
111 fonts via the gd library.
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113 GNUPLOT_FONTPATH
114 The font search path used by the postscript terminal. The format
115 is the same as for GNUPLOT_LIB. The contents of GNUPLOT_FONTPATH
116 are appended to the "fontpath" variable, but not saved with the
117 "save" and "save set" commands.
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119 GNUPLOT_PS_DIR
120 Used by the postscript driver to locate external prologue files.
121 Depending on the build process, gnuplot contains either a
122 builtin copy of those files or simply a default hardcoded path.
123 Use this variable to test the postscript terminal with custom
124 prologue files. See "help postscript prologue".
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127 gnuplotrc
128 When gnuplot is run, it first looks for a system-wide initial‐
129 ization file named gnuplotrc. The standard location of this
130 file expected by the program is reported by the "show loadpath"
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133 .gnuplot
134 After loading the system-wide initialization file, if any, Gnu‐
135 plot looks for a private initialization file in the HOME direc‐
136 tory. It may contain any legal gnuplot commands, but typically
137 they are limited to setting the preferred terminal and line
138 types and defining frequently-used functions or variables.
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140 fit.log
141 The default name of the logfile output by the "fit" command.
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144 Original authors: Thomas Williams and Colin Kelley. Starting with gnu‐
145 plot version 3.8, the project source is cooperatively maintained on
146 SourceForge by a large number of contributors.
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149 Please report bugs using the project bug tracker on SourceForge.
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152 See the printed manual or the on-line help for details on specific com‐
153 mands. Project web site at http://gnuplot.info
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1574th Berkeley Distribution 15 March 2019 GNUPLOT(1)