gnuplot - an interactive plotting program
gnuplot [X11 options] [options] [file ...]
GNUPLOT(1) General Commands Manual GNUPLOT(1)
NAME
gnuplot - an interactive plotting program
SYNOPSIS
gnuplot [X11 options] [options] [file ...]
DESCRIPTION
Gnuplot is a command-driven interactive plotting program.
If file names are given on the command line, gnuplot loads and executes
each file in the order specified, and exits after the last file is pro-
cessed. If no files are given, gnuplot prompts for interactive com-
mands.
Here are some of its features:
Plots any number of functions, built up of C operators, C math library
functions, and some things C doesn't have like **, sgn(), etc.
User-defined constants and functions.
All computations performed in the complex domain. Just the real part
is plotted by default, but functions like imag() and abs() and arg()
are available to override this.
Many presentation styles for plotting user data from files, including
surface-fitting, error bars, boxplots, histograms, heat maps, and sim-
ple manipulation of image data. There is an on-line demo collection at
http://gnuplot.info/demo
Nonlinear least-squares fitting.
2D and 3D plots with mouse-controlled zooming, rotation, and hypertext.
Shell escapes and command line substitution.
Load and save capability.
Support for a huge variety of output devices and file formats.
OPTIONS
-p, --persist lets plot windows survive after main gnuplot program
exits.
-c scriptname ARG1 ARG2 ..., load script using gnuplot's "call" mecha-
nism and pass it the remainder of the command line as arguments
-d, --default settings. Do not read from gnuplotrc or ~/.gnuplot on
entry.
-e "command list" executes the requested commands before loading the
next input file.
-s, --slow wait for slow font initialization rather than continuing
with an error.
-h, --help print summary of usage
-V show current version
X11 OPTIONS
For terminal type x11, gnuplot accepts the standard X Toolkit options
and resources such as geometry, font, and background. See the X(1) man
page for a description of common options. For additional X options
specific to gnuplot, type help x11 on the gnuplot command line. These
options have no effect on other terminal types.
ENVIRONMENT
A number of shell environment variables are understood by gnuplot.
None of these are required.
GNUTERM
The name of the terminal type to be used by default. This can
be overridden by the gnuplotrc or .gnuplot start-up files and,
of course, by later explicit "set terminal" commands.
GNUHELP
The pathname of the HELP file (gnuplot.gih).
HOME The name of a directory to search for a .gnuplot file.
PAGER An output filter for help messages.
SHELL The program used for the "shell" command.
FIT_SCRIPT
Specifies a gnuplot command to be executed when a fit is inter-
rupted---see "help fit".
FIT_LOG
The name of the logfile maintained by fit.
GNUPLOT_LIB
Additional search directories for data and command files. The
variable may contain a single directory name, or a list of
directories separated by ':'. The contents of GNUPLOT_LIB are
appended to the "loadpath" variable, but not saved with the
"save" and "save set" commands.
GDFONTPATH
Several gnuplot terminal drivers access TrueType fonts via the
gd library. This variable gives the font search path for these
drivers.
GNUPLOT_DEFAULT_GDFONT
The default font for the terminal drivers that access TrueType
fonts via the gd library.
GNUPLOT_FONTPATH
The font search path used by the postscript terminal. The format
is the same as for GNUPLOT_LIB. The contents of GNUPLOT_FONTPATH
are appended to the "fontpath" variable, but not saved with the
"save" and "save set" commands.
GNUPLOT_PS_DIR
Used by the postscript driver to locate external prologue files.
Depending on the build process, gnuplot contains either a
builtin copy of those files or simply a default hardcoded path.
Use this variable to test the postscript terminal with custom
prologue files. See "help postscript prologue".
FILES
gnuplotrc
When gnuplot is run, it first looks for a system-wide initial-
ization file named gnuplotrc. The standard location of this
file expected by the program is reported by the "show loadpath"
command.
.gnuplot
After loading the system-wide initialization file, if any, Gnu-
plot looks for a private initialization file in the HOME direc-
tory. It may contain any legal gnuplot commands, but typically
they are limited to setting the preferred terminal and line
types and defining frequently-used functions or variables.
fit.log
The default name of the logfile output by the "fit" command.
AUTHORS
Original authors: Thomas Williams and Colin Kelley. Starting with gnu-
plot version 3.8, the project source is cooperatively maintained on
SourceForge by a large number of contributors.
BUGS
Please report bugs using the project bug tracker on SourceForge.
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(7) for descriptions of the following attributes:
+---------------+------------------+
|ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
+---------------+------------------+
|Availability | image/gnuplot |
+---------------+------------------+
|Stability | Uncommitted |
+---------------+------------------+
SEE ALSO
See the printed manual or the on-line help for details on specific com-
mands. Project web site at http://gnuplot.info
NOTES
Source code for open source software components in Oracle Solaris can
be found at https://www.oracle.com/downloads/opensource/solaris-source-
code-downloads.html.
This software was built from source available at
https://github.com/oracle/solaris-userland. The original community
source was downloaded from https://sourceforge.net/projects/gnu-
plot/files/gnuplot/5.4.2/gnuplot-5.4.2.tar.gz/download.
Further information about this software can be found on the open source
community website at http://gnuplot.info/.
4th Berkeley Distribution 15 March 2019 GNUPLOT(1)