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.
13 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.
18 Here are some of its features:
20 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 User-defined constants and functions.
25 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 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 Nonlinear least-squares fitting.
36 2D and 3D plots with mouse-controlled zooming, rotation, and hypertext.
38 Shell escapes and command line substitution.
40 Load and save capability.
42 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 ex‐
47 its.
48 -c scriptname ARG1 ARG2 ..., load script using gnuplot's "call" mecha‐
50 nism and pass it the remainder of the command line as arguments
51 -d, --default-settings do not read from gnuplotrc, ~/.gnuplot, and
53 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/gnuplot/gnuplotrc on entry.
54 -e "command list" executes the requested commands before loading the
56 next input file.
57 -s, --slow wait for slow font initialization rather than continuing
59 with an error.
60 -h, --help print summary of usage
62 -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.
75 GNUTERM
77 The name of the terminal type to be used by default. This can
78 be overridden by the gnuplotrc, .gnuplot, or $XDG_CON‐
79 FIG_HOME/gnuplot/gnuplotrc start-up files and, of course, by
80 later explicit "set terminal" commands.
81 GNUHELP
83 The pathname of the HELP file (gnuplot.gih).
84 HOME The name of a directory to search for a .gnuplot file.
86 PAGER An output filter for help messages.
88 SHELL The program used for the "shell" command.
90 FIT_SCRIPT
92 Specifies a gnuplot command to be executed when a fit is inter‐
93 rupted---see "help fit".
94 FIT_LOG
96 The name of the logfile maintained by fit.
97 GNUPLOT_LIB
99 Additional search directories for data and command files. The
100 variable may contain a single directory name, or a list of di‐
101 rectories separated by ':'. The contents of GNUPLOT_LIB are ap‐
102 pended to the "loadpath" variable, but not saved with the "save"
103 and "save set" commands.
104 GDFONTPATH
106 Several gnuplot terminal drivers access TrueType fonts via the
107 gd library. This variable gives the font search path for these
108 drivers.
109 GNUPLOT_DEFAULT_GDFONT
111 The default font for the terminal drivers that access TrueType
112 fonts via the gd library.
113 GNUPLOT_FONTPATH
115 The font search path used by the postscript terminal. The format
116 is the same as for GNUPLOT_LIB. The contents of GNUPLOT_FONTPATH
117 are appended to the "fontpath" variable, but not saved with the
118 "save" and "save set" commands.
119 GNUPLOT_PS_DIR
121 Used by the postscript driver to locate external prologue files.
122 Depending on the build process, gnuplot contains either a
123 builtin copy of those files or simply a default hardcoded path.
124 Use this variable to test the postscript terminal with custom
125 prologue files. See "help postscript prologue".
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128 gnuplotrc
129 When gnuplot is run, it first looks for a system-wide initial‐
130 ization file named gnuplotrc. The standard location of this
131 file expected by the program is reported by the "show loadpath"
132 command.
133 .gnuplot
135 After loading the system-wide initialization file, if any, Gnu‐
136 plot looks for a private initialization file in the HOME direc‐
137 tory. It may contain any legal gnuplot commands, but typically
138 they are limited to setting the preferred terminal and line
139 types and defining frequently-used functions or variables.
140 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/gnuplot/gnuplotrc
142 After loading the other initialization files, Gnuplot will check
143 if there is a file named gnuplotrc in the gnuplot subdirectory
144 in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME (default ~/.config). The same restrictions
145 as for .gnuplot apply.
146 fit.log
148 The default name of the logfile output by the "fit" command.
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151 Original authors: Thomas Williams and Colin Kelley. Starting with gnu‐
152 plot version 3.8, the project source is cooperatively maintained on
153 SourceForge by a large number of contributors.
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156 Please report bugs using the project bug tracker on SourceForge.
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159 See the printed manual or the on-line help for details on specific com‐
160 mands. Project web site at http://gnuplot.info
1614th Berkeley Distribution 15 March 2019 GNUPLOT(1)