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Archive-name: graphics/gnuplot-faq
Version: $Header: comp-graphics-gnuplot,v 1.13 93/05/13 10:07:52 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 Qx.x:  at the beginning of a line,
with x.x 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?
Q5.4: Can I do heavy - duty data processing with gnuplot?
Q5.5: I have ported gnuplot to another system, or patched it.  What do I do?
Q5.6: Where can I get a beta version of gnuplot 3.3?

Section 6: Making life easier
Q6.1: How do I plot two functions in non - overlapping regions?
Q6.2: How do I run my data through a filter before plotting?
Q6.3: How do I make it easier to use gnuplot with LaTeX?
Q6.4: Why does gnuplot ignore my very small numbers?
Q6.5: How do I save and restore my settings?

Section 7: Credits

Questions and Answers:

Section 0: Meta - Questions.

Q0.1: Where do I get this document?

This document is posted about once every two weeks to the newsgroups
comp.graphics.gnuplot, comp.answers and news.answers.  Like many other
FAQ's, it is available via anonymous ftp from rtfm.mit.edu [18.70.0.226]
from the directory /pub/usenet/news.answers under the Archive-Name:  at
the top of the article, graphics/gnuplot-faq.

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:

I was taking a differential equation class and Colin was taking
Electromagnetics, we both thought it'd be helpful to visualize the
mathematics behind them.  We were both working as sys admin for an EE
VLSI lab, so we had the graphics terminals and the time to do some
coding.  The posting was better received than we expected, and prompted
us to add some, albeit lame, support for file data.

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 on-line 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 acquisition 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 (X11
and NeXTSTEP), VAX/VMS, OS/2, MS-DOS, Amiga, MS-Windows, OS-9/68k and
the Macintosh.  Modifications for NEC 8901 are said to exist (where?).
A version for the Atari ST exists at atari.archive.umich.edu, but is
unstable.

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.  The release will be Version 3.4.

Q2.2: Where can I get gnuplot?

All of the later addresses refer to ftp sites.  Please note that it is
preferable for you to use the symbolic name, rather than the IP address
given in brackets, because that address is much more subject to change.

The official distribution site for the gnuplot source is dartmouth.edu
[129.170.16.4], the file is called /pub/gnuplot/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 oak.oakland.edu (North America)
[141.210.10.117] as pub/msdos/plot/gnuplt32.zip, garbo.uwasa.fi (Europe)
[128.214.87.1] as /pc/plot/gnup32.zip and archie.au (Australia)
[139.130.4.6] as micros/pc/oak/plot/gnuplt32.zip.  A version for MS-DOS
with at least a 386 is to be found at simtel-20 and its numerous
mirrors, for example

wuarchive.wustl.edu:/mirrors/msdos/plot/gplot386.zip [128.252.135.4]
sun0.urz.uni-heidelberg.de:/pub/msdos/simtel/plot/gplot386.zip
    [129.206.100.126]
isfs.kuis.kyoto-u.ac.jp:/mirrors/simtel20.msdos/plot [130.54.20.1]

OS/2 2.0 binaries are at ftp-os2.nmsu.edu [128.123.35.151], in
/pub/os2/2.x/unix/gnu/gplt33b2.zip .

Amiga sources and binaries are available from ux1.cso.uiuc.edu
[128.174.5.59] as /pub/amiga/fish/f7/ff701/gnuplot.lzh.

The NeXTSTEP front-end can be found at sonata.cc.purdue.edu and
cs.orst.edu.

An MS-Windows Version is available, among other servers, from
ftp.cica.indiana.edu:/pub/pc/win3/uploads/?????/wgnuplot.zip, where the
?????  part refers to the date the latest upload happened (JAN93, for
example).  Please note that wgpt3382.zip is an extremely early alpha
version and should not be used.  A Windows version is included in the
3.3 beta release and will be in 3.4.

A version for OS-9/68K can be found at cabrales.cs.wisc.edu
[128.105.36.20] as /pub/OSK/GRAPHICS/gnuplot32x.tar.Z; it includes both
X-Windows and non - X-windows versions.

A version of gnuplot for the Macintosh is included in the gpcontrb
file, or can be found at wuarchive.wustl.edu [128.252.135.4], in
edu/math/mac/graphingAids, as MacGnuPlot3.2.sea.hqx and
MacGnuPlotPackage3.2.sea.hqx.

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 x11                # ditto 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>?

Basically, you save your plot to a file in a format your word processor
can understand (using "set term" and "set output", see above), and then
you read in the plot from your word processor.

Details depend on the kind of word processor you use; use "set term" to
get a list of available file formats.

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 Jef Poskanzer's PBMPLUS 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.  Version 3.2 supports hidden line
removal.

Q4.2: Does gnuplot support boxes?

Version 3.4 will.


Section 5:  Miscellaneous

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

First, try to see whether it actually is a bug, or whether 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, which will
officially be available with the 3.4 release.  If you are lucky, you
will be able to download it from:

    ftp.cygnus.com:~ftp/pub/incoming/gpcontrb.tar.z

That directory is not readable, but getting the file actually works.
Note that it is 2.5 megabytes and compressed using gzip.  The gzip
program is available from everywhere where you can find GNU software.
The main distribution site is prep.ai.mit.edu [18.71.0.38], in the
directory /pub/gnu.

For European users, gpcontrb is also available from

    src.doc.ic.ac.uk:/pub/packages/gnuplot/gpcontrb.tar.Z

It contains the following subdirectories:

bigler subdirectory:
    From: [e-mail]
    Subject: Multiple plots from a FORTRAN program
budelsky subdirectory:
    From: [e-mail]
    Subject: This is the information file for porting GNUPLOT 3.2
        to OS-9/68000
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
clift subdirectory:
    From: [e-mail] (Simon Clift)
    Subject: Re: Running Gnuplot from FORTRAN, (and C)
green subdirectory:
    From: Roque Donizete de Oliveira <[e-mail]>
    Subject: Postscript greek symbols in gnuplot, new prologue
hanna subdirectory:
    From: [e-mail] (gregg hanna)
    Subject: x11-library mode, gnulib_x11.[c,h], xlibtest.c,makefile.xlib
klosowski subdirectory:
    From:   Carsten Steger <[e-mail]>
    Subject: New file "klein.dat"
    From: [e-mail] (Przemek Klosowski)
    Subject: calling GNUplot from Fortran
kocaturk subdirectory:
    From: [e-mail] (Mustafa Kocaturk)
    Subject: Histograms in Gnuplot
richardson subdirectory:
    From: [e-mail] (Tony Richardson)
    Subject: Programmatic control of gnuplot from UNIX
rosendorf subdirectory:
    From:  [e-mail]
    Subject: Multiple plots on a page
vanzandt subdirectory:
    From: James R. Van Zandt <[e-mail]>
    Subject: Spline generating program
white subdirectory:
    From: [e-mail]
    Subject: Gnuplot 3.2 for Titan 3000
woo subdirectory:
    From: "Alex Woo" <[e-mail]>
    Subject: two additional title lines and fixes to errorbar style
yamamoto subdirectory:
        From: "NOBORU YAMAMOTO     " <sun!kekvax.kek.jp![e-mail]>
    Subject: Re: gnuplot on Apple Macintosh, "diff -c" of version 3.0
        (now includes binaries)

Q5.4: Can I do heavy - duty data processing with gnuplot?

Gnuplot alone is not suited very well for this.  One thing you might try
is fudgit, an interactive multi-purpose fitting program written by
Martin-D. Lacasse.  It can use gnuplot as its graphics back-end and is
available from ftp.physics.mcgill.ca:/pub/Fudgit/fudgit_2.31.tar.Z
[132.206.9.13], and from the main Linux server, tsx-11.mit.edu
[18.172.1.2] and its numerous mirrors around the world as
/pub/linux/sources/usr.bin/fudgit-2.31.tar.z.  Versions are available
for AIX, Data General, HP-UX, IRIX 4, Linux, NeXT, Sun3, Sun4 and Ultrix.

You might also want to look at the applications developed by the
Software Tools Group (STG) at the National Center for Supercomputing
Applications.  Ftp to ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu [141.142.20.50] and get the
file README.BROCHURE for more information.

Q5.5: I have ported gnuplot to another system, or patched it.  What do I do?

If your patch is small, mail it to [e-mail], with
a thorough description of what the patch is supposed to do, which version
of gnuplot it is relative to, etc.  Please don't mail it to the FAQ
maintainer.

If your modifications are extensive (such as a port to another system),
upload your modifications to dartmouth.edu:/pub/dropoff.  Please drop a
note to [e-mail], the maintainer of the gnuplot
subdirectory there, plus a note to [e-mail].

Q5.6: Where can I get a beta version of gnuplot 3.3?

You should be able to get it from one of the following sites (not
necessarily all of them):

sun.soe.clarkson.edu:~ftp/submit/gnuplot3_3b??.tar.Z
cygnus.com:~ftp/incoming/gnuplot3_3b??.tar.Z
rsm2.physics.uiuc.edu:~ftp/pub/gnuplot/gnuplot3_3b??.tar.Z

(where the ?? part is subject to change).


Section 6: Making life easier

Q6.1: How do I plot two functions in non - overlapping regions?

Use a parametric plot.  An example:

set parametric
a=1
b=3
c=2
d=4
x1(t) = a+(b-a)*t
x2(t) = c+(d-c)*t
f1(x) = sin(x)
f2(x) = x**2/8
plot [t=0:1] x1(t),f1(x1(t)) title "f1", x2(t), f2(x2(t)) title "f2"

Q6.2: How do I run my data through a filter before plotting?

If your system supports the popen() - function, as UNIX does, you should
be able to run the output through another process such as a short awk
program (use the "help plot datafile" command for an example).
Unfortunately, in 3.2, there is a rather short limitation on the maximum
argument length, so your command line may be truncated (usually, this
will mean that awk cannot find the filename).  Also, you may need to
escape the $ - characters in your awk programs.

Version 3.4 will include the thru - keyword for the plot command for
running data files through a gnuplot - defined function.

Q6.3: How do I make it easier to use gnuplot with LaTeX?

There is a set of LaTeX macros and shell scripts that are meant to
make your life easier when using gnuplot with LaTeX.  This package can
be found on dartmouth.edu [129.170.16.4] in pub/gnuplot/latex.shar, by
David Kotz.  For example, the program "plotskel" can turn a
gnuplot-output file plot.tex into a skeleton file skel.tex, that has
the same size as the original plot but contains no graph.  With the
right macros, the skeleton can be used for preliminary LaTeX passes,
reserving the full graph for later passes, saving tremendous amounts
of time.

Q6.4: Why does gnuplot ignore my very small numbers?

Gnuplot treats all numbers less than 1e-08 as zero, by default.  Thus,
if you are trying to plot a collection of very small numbers, they may
be plotted as zero.  Worse, if you're plotting on a log scale, they will
be off scale.  Or, if the whole set of numbers is "zero", your range may
be considered empty:

gnuplot> plot 'test1'
Warning: empty y range [4.047e-19:3e-11], adjusting to [-1:1]
gnuplot> set yrange [4e-19:3e-11]
gnuplot> plot 'test1'
                     ^
         y range is less than `zero`

The solution is to change gnuplot's idea of "zero":
    set zero 1e-20
For more information,
    help set zero

Q6.5: How do I save and restore my settings?

Use the "save" and "load" commands for this; see "help save" and
"help load" for details.


Section 7: Credits

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