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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
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Archive-name: graphics/gnuplot-faq
Version: $Header: comp-graphics-gnuplot,v 1.24 93/08/31 23:58:52 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 bar-charts/histograms/boxes?
Q4.3: Does gnuplot support multiple y-axes on a single plot?
Q4.4: Can I put multiple plots on a single page?
Q4.5: Can I put both data files and commands into a single file?
Q4.6: Can I put Greek letters and super/subscripts into my labels?
Q4.7: Can I do 1:1 scaling of axes?
Q4.8: Can I put tic marks for x and y axes into 3d plots?

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?

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: How do I save and restore my settings?

Section 7: Known Problems

Q7.1: Gnuplot is not plotting any points under X11!  How come?
Q7.2: My isoline data generated by a Fortran program is not handled
        correctly.  What can I do?
Q7.3: Why does gnuplot ignore my very small numbers?

Section 8: 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 [18.70.0.224]
>from the directory /pub/usenet/news.answers under the Archive-Name:  at
the top of the article, graphics/gnuplot-faq, and from the directory
/pub/usenet/comp.graphics.gnuplot, as well as via gopher from
gopher.univ-lyon1.fr [134.214.100.25].

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 accommodate 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?

Gnuplot is neither written nor maintained by the FSF.  It is not covered
by the General Public License, either.

However, the FSF has decided to distribute gnuplot as part of the GNU
system, because it is useful, redistributable software.

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 PC-9801 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