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 each file
       with the load command, in the order specified, and exits after the last
       file is processed.  If no files are given, gnuplot prompts for interac-
       tive commands.

       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 zoom and rotation.

       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.

       -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.

       -h, --help print summary of usage

       -V show current version

X11 OPTIONS
       Gnuplot provides the x11 terminal type for use  with  X  servers.  This
       terminal  type  is set automatically at startup if the GNUTERM environ-
       ment variable is set to x11, or if the -display command line option  is
       used.   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.

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.

SEE ALSO
       See the printed manual or the on-line help for details on specific com-
       mands.  Project web site at http://gnuplot.info



4th Berkeley Distribution        2 October 2013                     GNUPLOT(1)
