QUICKPLOT

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NAME

quickplot - make a printable ascii approximation of a plot stream

SYNOPSIS

quickplot [ option ] ... [ file ] [ option ] ... [ file ] ...

DESCRIPTION

Quickplot accepts a plot stream as produced by the plot(3) functions and generates on the standard output a byte stream which is a printable ascii approximation of the plot, suitable for viewing on an ascii terminal or printing device. Quickplot is useful for previewing plots on your terminal before sending to a plotting device.

Quickplot consults the termcap database for your terminal type (as given by the TERM environment variable) and attempts to size the plot to fill your screen. The terminal type may be overridden by specifying a terminal type on the command line or by specifying the rows and columns desired (see OPTIONS below).

If no file arguments are given, quickplot reads from the standard input. If file arguments are given, an argument consisting of the single character '-' will be replaced by the standard input.

OPTIONS

-T term: make a plot suitable for terminal given by term.
-H rows: map the plot into rows rows, instead of the rows given by termcap.
-W cols: map the plot into cols cols, instead of the cols given by termcap.
-s[xy] factor: set an overall scale factor. The plot is magnified by the scale factor (but may be truncated if the screen is too small). If x or y is given, the scale factor will be applied in the indicated direction only.
-X cols: move the plot right cols cols (negative cols moves left).
-Y rows: move the plot up rows rows (negative rows moves down).
-c char: The plotting character (default upper case 'X') will be replaced by char
-e: force an erase command between plot files
-N: suppress erase commands
-r: rotate the plot 90 degrees counter-clockwise
-d num: set debugging level to num (debugging is conditionally compiled; this may have no effect). The most useful setting is '1', which causes quickplot to print the plot(3) commands as it interprets them, with arguments scaled to final values. The plot is still generated.

NOTE BENE

Quickplot is unlike most plot filters in that it does not map your plot space specifically into a square plotting area; instead, it attempts to obtain maximum resolution by mapping the plot into the full screen. Since most terminals have many more columns than rows, most plots will be "distorted" (a square box will plot as a rectangle).

Data outside the plot area will be truncated (plotted at the maximum plot point) and the normal plot character will be replaced by the character '@' (which does not change if you select '@' as the plot character).

IF MORE THAN ONE PLOT FILE IS GIVEN AS ARGUMENT, quickplot will pause SILENTLY between plots (unless standard output and standard error have been re-directed) and wait for a single carriage return before proceeding to the next plot.

DIAGNOSTICS

'Bad input data: cmd %o' if an unrecognized plot command is received. May happen if labels contain newlines, or plot stream files are corrupted. Scanning will continue.
Premature EOF while reading data for a command will generate an appropriate error and the program will quit.

AUTHOR

Duane Hesser (sysad@teltone)

BUGS

Resolution is understandably poor. Plots are squashed vertically.

Quickplot attempts to identify dotted, dashed, etc. lines by plotting alternate characters in a line as a small integer digit representing the line type. For short line segments, this doesn't work very well, since there is no memory of the previous line segment.

This document was created by man2html, using the manual pages.
Time: 06:40:02 GMT, December 12, 2024