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From: [e-mail] (Thomas Koenig)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.gnuplot,comp.answers,news.answers
Subject: comp.graphics.gnuplot FAQ (Frequent Answered Questions)
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Summary: This is the FAQ (Frequently Answered Questions) list of the
     comp.graphics.gnuplot newsgroup, which discusses the
         gnuplot program for plotting 2D - and 3D - graphs.
Keywords: computer graphics, gnuplot
Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu comp.graphics.gnuplot:724 comp.answers:44 news.answers:5657

Archive-name: graphics/gnuplot-faq
Version: $Header: comp-graphics-gnuplot,v 1.3 93/02/02 12:06:53 ig25 Exp $

This is the FAQ (Frequently Answered Questions) list of the
comp.graphics.gnuplot newsgroup, which discusses the gnuplot program for
plotting 2D - and 3D - graphs.

Most of the information in this document came from public discussion on
comp.graphics.gnuplot; quotations are believed to be in the public
domain.

Here's a list of the questions.  If you are looking for the answer for a
specific question, look for the string Qxx:  at the beginning of a line,
with xx being the question number.

Questions:

Section 0: Meta - Questions
Q0.1: Where do I get this document?
Q0.2: Where do I send comments about this document?

Section 1: General Information
Q1.1: What is gnuplot?
Q1.2: How did it come about and why is it called gnuplot?
Q1.3: Does gnuplot have anything to do with the FSF and the GNU project?
Q1.4: What does gnuplot offer?
Q1.5: Is gnuplot suitable for batch processing?
Q1.6: Can I run gnuplot on my computer?

Section 2: Setting it up
Q2.1: What is the current version of gnuplot?
Q2.2: Where can I get gnuplot?
Q2.3: How do I get gnuplot to compile on my system?
Q2.4: What documentation is there, and how do I get it?

Section 3: Working with it
Q3.1: How do I get help?
Q3.2: How do I print out my graphs?
Q3.3: How do I include my graphs in <word processor>?

Section 4: Wanted Features in gnuplot
Q4.1: Does gnuplot have hidden line removal?
Q4.2: Does gnuplot support boxes?

Section 5: Miscellaneous
Q5.1: I've found a bug, what do I do?
Q5.2: Can I use gnuplot routines for my own programs?
Q5.3: What extensions have people made to gnuplot? Where can I get them?


Questions and Answers:

Section 0: Meta - Questions.

Q0.1: Where do I get this document?

This document is posted about once every four weeks to the newsgroups
comp.graphics.gnuplot, comp.answers and news.answers.  It will also be
available via anonymous ftp from rtfm.mit.edu [18.172.1.27] in the
directory /pub/usenet/comp.graphics.gnuplot.

Q0.2: Where do I send comments about this document?

Send comments, suggestions etc. via e-mail to Thomas Koenig,
[e-mail] or [e-mail].

Section 1: General Information

Q1.1: What is gnuplot?

Gnuplot is a command-driven interactive function plotting program.  It
can be used to plot functions and data points in both two- and three-
dimensional plots in many different formats, and will accomodate many of
the needs of today's scientists for graphic data representation.
Gnuplot is copyrighted, but freely distributable; you don't have to pay
for it.

Q1.2: How did it come about and why is it called gnuplot?

The authors of gnuplot are:

Thomas Williams, Colin Kelley, Russell Lang, Dave Kotz, John Campbell,
Gershon Elber, Alexander Woo and many others.

The following quote comes from Thomas Williams:

Any reference to GNUplot is incorrect.  The real name of the program
is "gnuplot".  You see people use "Gnuplot" quite a bit because many
of us have an aversion to starting a sentence with a lower case
letter, even in the case of proper nouns and titles.  Gnuplot is not
related to the GNU project or the FSF in any but the most peripheral
sense.  Our software was designed completely independently and the
name "gnuplot" was actually a compromise.  I wanted to call it
"llamaplot" and Colin wanted to call it "nplot."  We agreed that
"newplot" was acceptable but, we then discovered that there was an
absolutely ghastly pascal program of that name that the Computer
Science Dept. occasionally used.  I decided that "gnuplot" would make
a nice pun and after a fashion Colin agreed.

Q1.3: Does gnuplot have anything to do with the FSF and the GNU project?

No.  Gnuplot is not covered by the General Public License, either.

Q1.4: What does gnuplot offer?

- Plotting of two - dimensional functions and data points in many different
  styles (points, lines, error bars)
- plotting of three - dimensional data points and surfaces in many
  different styles (contour plot, mesh).
- support for complex arithmetic
- self - defined functions
- support for a large number of operating systems, graphics file formats
  and devices
- extensive online help
- labels for title, axes, data points
- command line editing and history on most platforms

Q1.5: Is gnuplot suitable for batch processing?

Yes.  You can read in files from the command line, or you can redirect
your standard input to read from a file.  Both data and command files
can be generated automatically, from data aquisition programs or
whatever else you use.

Q1.6: Can I run gnuplot on my computer?

Gnuplot is available for a number of platforms.  These are:  UNIX,
VAX/VMS, OS/2, MS-DOS.  Modifications for Macintosh (Think - C 3.0)
exist and are part of the gpcontrb distribution; they are untested.
Modifications for NEC 8901 and OS/9 are said to exist (where?).  A
version for the Atari ST exists at terminator.cc.umich.edu, but is
unstable.  The MS-Windows version at ftp.cica.indiana.edu is
an extemely early alpha version.

Section 2: Setting it up

Q2.1: What is the current version of gnuplot?

The current version of gnuplot is 3.2, patchlevel 2.  Version 3.3
is currently in beta test.

Q2.2: Where can I get gnuplot?

The official distribution site for the gnuplot source is dartmouth.edu
[129.170.16.4], the file is called gnuplot.3.2.tar.Z.  Official mirrors
of that distribution are (for Australia) monu1.cc.monash.edu.au
[130.194.1.101] and (for Europe) irisa.irisa.fr [131.254.2.3].  You can
also get it from your friendly neighbourhood comp.sources.misc archive.

MS-DOS binaries are available from garbo.uwasa.fi [128.214.87.1] as
/pc/plot/gnup32.zip.  Plaza.aarnet.edu.au [139.130.4.6] and
wuarchive.wustl.edu [128.252.135.4] are available as mirrors.  OS/2
binaries are at ftp-os2.nmsu.edu [128.123.35.151], in
/pub/os2/unix/gnu/gnuplt32.zip .

People without ftp access can use an ftp-mail server; send mail to
[e-mail] (for BITNET only) or [e-mail] with the
word 'help' in the mail body for more information.

It is a good idea to look for a nearby ftp site when downloading things.
You can use archie for this.  See if an archie client is installed at
your system (by simply typing archie at the command prompt), or send
mail to [e-mail] with the word 'help' in both the subject line
and the body of the mail.  However, be aware that the version you find
at a near ftp site may well be out of date; check the last modification
date and the number of bytes against the newest release at one of the
official servers.

Q2.3: How do I get gnuplot to compile on my system?

As you would any other installation.  Read the files README and
README.Install, edit the Makefile according to taste, and run make or
whatever is suitable for your operating system.

If you get a complaint about a missing file libplot.a or something
similar when building gnuplot for x11, remove -DUNIXPLOT from the
TERMFLAGS= line, remove -lplot from the LIBS= line and run again.  If
you are making x11 on a sun, type 'make x11_sun'.

Q2.4: What documentation is there, and how do I get it?

The documentation is included in the source distribution.  Look at the
docs subdirectory, where you'll find

 - a unix man page, which says how to start gnuplot
 - a help file, which also can be printed as a manual
 - a tutorial on using gnuplot with latex
 - a quick reference summary sheet for TeX only

Postscript copies of the documentation can be ftp'd from dartmouth.edu,
in pub/gnuplot, as manual.ps.Z and tutorial.ps.Z


Section 3: Working with it

Q3.1: How do I get help?

Give the 'help' command at the initial prompt.  After that, keep
looking through the keywords.  Good starting points are 'plot'
and 'set'.

Read the manual, if you have it.

Ask your colleagues, the system administrator or the person who set
up gnuplot.

Post a question to comp.graphics.gnuplot or send mail to the gatewayed
mailing list [e-mail].  If you want to subscribe to
the mailing list, send mail to [e-mail],
but please don't do this if you can get comp.graphics.gnuplot directly.
If you pose a question there, it is considered good form to solicit
e-mail replies and post a summary.

Q3.2: How do I print out my graphs?

The kind of output produced is determined by the 'set terminal' command;
for example, 'set terminal postscript' will produce the graph in
postscript format.  Output can be redirected using the 'set output'
command.

As an example, the following prints out a graph of sin(x) on a UNIX
machine running X - Windows.

gnuplot> plot [-6:6] sin(x)
gnuplot> set terminal postscript
Terminal type set to 'postscript'
Options are 'landscape monochrome "Courier" 14'
gnuplot> set output "sin.ps"
gnuplot> replot
gnuplot> set output                      # set output back to default
gnuplot> set terminal                    # dto. for terminal type
gnuplot> ! lp -ops sin.ps                # print ps - File (site dependent)
request id is lprint-3433 (standard input)
lp: printed file sin.ps on fg20.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de (5068 Byte)
!
gnuplot>

Q3.3: How do I include my graphs in <word processor>?

This depends on the kind of word processor you use.

Many word processors can use encapsulated postscript for graphs.  This
can be generated by the 'set terminal postscript eps' command.  Most
MS-DOS word processors understand HPGL (terminal type hpgl).

With TeX, it depends on what you use to print your dvi files.  If you
use dvips or dvi2ps, you can use encapsulated postscript.  For
emtex (popular for MS-DOS), you can use emtex, otherwise use the
latex terminal type, which generates a picture environment.

If nothing else helps, try using the pgm or ppm format and converting it
to a bitmap format your favourite word processor can understand.  An
invaluable tool for this is Jeff Poskanzer's ppmplus package.


Section 4:  Wanted Features in gnuplot

Q4.1: Does gnuplot have hidden line removal?

Version 3.3 supports hidden line removal on all platforms except MS-DOS.
If someone can solve the 64K DGROUP memory problem, it would support
hidden line removal there as well.

Q4.2: Does gnuplot support boxes?

Version 3.3 will.


Section  5:  Miscellaneous

Q5.1: I've found a bug, what do I do?

First, try to see wether it actually is a bug, or wether it is a feature
which may be turned off by some obscure set - command.  If you have a
fairly general sort of bug report, posting to comp.graphics.gnuplot is
probably the way to go.  If you have investigated a problem in detail,
especially if you have a context diff that fixes the problem, please
e-email a report to [e-mail].  The bug-gnuplot list
is for reporting and collecting bug fixes, the comp.graphics.gnuplot
mailing list will be more help for finding work arounds or actually
solving gnuplot related problems.  If you do send in a bug report, be
sure and include the version of gnuplot (including patchlevel), terminal
driver, operating system, an exact description of the bug and input
which can reproduce the bug.  Also, any context diffs should be
referenced against the latest official version of gnuplot if at all
possible.

Q5.2: Can I use gnuplot routines for my own programs?

Yes.  John Campbell <[e-mail]> has written gplotlib, a
version of gnuplot as C subroutines callable from a C program.  This is
available as gplotlib.tar.Z on the machine ftp.nau.edu in the directory
/pub/gplotlib.tar.Z.  It is also included in the gpcontrb distribution
in the campbell subdirectory.

Q5.3: What extensions have people made to gnuplot? Where can I get them?

Extensions have been put into the file gpcontrb.tar.Z.  Its contains
the following subdirectories:

byrne subdirectory:
    From: "Margaret R. Byrne" <[e-mail]>
    Subject: congp3d3 preprocessor to draw contour plots on
        irregular regions.
clark subdirectory:
    From: Michael Clark <[e-mail]>
    Subject: data filtering: adds point_skip & point_offs
hanna subdirectory:
    From: [e-mail] (gregg hanna)
    Subject: x11-library mode, gnulib_x11.[c,h], xlibtest.c,makefile.xlib
yamamoto subdirectory:
        From: "NOBORU YAMAMOTO     " <sun!kekvax.kek.jp![e-mail]>
    Subject: Re: gnuplot on Apple Macintosh, "diff -c" of version 3.0
russo subdirectory:
    From: [e-mail]
    Subject: gnuplotio bidirectional pipe C-library
woo subdirectory:
    From: "Alex Woo" <[e-mail]>
    Subject: two additional title lines and fixes to errorbar style
green subdirectory:
    From: Roque Donizete de Oliveira <[e-mail]>
    Subject: Postscript greek symbols in gnuplot, new prologue

Section 6: Credits

This list was initially compiled by John Fletcher with contributions
from Russell Lang, John Campbell, Dave Kotz, Rob Cunningham, Dan
Lewart and Alex Woo. Reworked by Thomas Koenig from a draft by
Alex Woo, with corrections from Alex Woo and John Campbell.
--
Thomas Koenig, [e-mail], [e-mail]
The joy of engineering is to find a straight line on a double
logarithmic diagram.