GNUPLOT(1)

💅 GNUPLOT(1) — like, the plotting program manual, bestie ✨

okay so quick meta moment: this is from the General Commands Manual, section 1, and the whole vibe is GNUPLOT(1). Buckle up, we're plotting. 📈🎀

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🌸 NAME 🌸

gnuplot — an interactive plotting program. that's it. that's the whole name section. iconic brevity honestly 👑

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

gnuplot [X11 options] [options] [file ...]

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

Gnuplot is a command-driven interactive plotting program. like, you talk to it, it draws stuff. main character energy fr fr 💖

If you give it file names on the command line, gnuplot loads and executes each file in the order specified, and then it exits after the last file is processed. If you give it no files at all? it just prompts you for interactive commands. cozy. 🫶

Here are some of its features — and bestie, there are so many:

• Plots any number of functions, built up of C operators, C math library functions, and some things C doesn't even have, like **, sgn(), etc. 🧮✨
• User-defined constants and functions. make it yours, no cap.
• All computations performed in the complex domain. Just the real part gets plotted by default, but functions like imag() and abs() and arg() are available to override that. complex numbers ate and left no crumbs 💅
• Many presentation styles for plotting user data from files — including surface-fitting, error bars, boxplots, histograms, heat maps, and simple manipulation of image data. There's an on-line demo collection at http://www.gnuplot.info/demo 🌈
• Nonlinear least-squares fitting. math girlies rise 🔥
• 2D and 3D plots with mouse-controlled zooming, rotation, and hypertext. you can literally grab it with your mouse, obsessed.
• Shell escapes and command line substitution. very useful, lowkey underrated.
• Load and save capability. save your whole setup, queen behavior 👑
• Support for a huge variety of output devices and file formats. so many. a whole buffet. 🍓

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💅 OPTIONS 💅

• -p, --persist — lets plot windows survive after the main gnuplot program exits. they simply refuse to leave the party 😭💀
• -c scriptname ARG1 ARG2 ... — load script using gnuplot's "call" mechanism and pass it the remainder of the command line as arguments. so -c walks in, hands over the rest of the line, and dips.
• -d, --default-settings — do not read from gnuplotrc, ~/.gnuplot, and $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/gnuplot/gnuplotrc on entry. no startup files, no baggage, fresh start energy ✨
• -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. patience is a virtue, bestie 🧘‍♀️
• -h, --help — print summary of usage. when in doubt, ask for help 🫶
• -V, --version — show current version. okay but which era are we in ⭐

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🎀 X11 OPTIONS 🎀

For terminal type x11, gnuplot accepts the standard X Toolkit options and resources such as geometry, font, and background. Peep 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. iykyk 💜

heads up: these options have no effect on other terminal types. x11 only, bestie. don't come for the others 🚫

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🌈 ENVIRONMENT 🌈

A number of shell environment variables are understood by gnuplot. None of these are required. zero pressure, they're just there if you want them 🫶

• GNUTERM — the name of the terminal type to be used by default. This can be overridden by the gnuplotrc, .gnuplot, or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/gnuplot/gnuplotrc start-up files and, of course, by later explicit "set terminal" commands. layers, bestie. layers. 💅
• 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. it pages your help, that's the whole job.
• SHELL — the program used for the "shell" command.
• FIT_SCRIPT — specifies a gnuplot command to be executed when a fit is interrupted—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. sneaky but documented 💀
• 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. same energy, different variable 🌸
• 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". very niche, very valid ⭐

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🧚 FILES 🧚

• gnuplotrc — When gnuplot is run, it first looks for a system-wide initialization file named gnuplotrc. The standard location of this file expected by the program is reported by the "show loadpath" command. ask the program where it lives, it'll tell you 🫶
• .gnuplot — After loading the system-wide initialization file, if any, Gnuplot looks for a private initialization file in the HOME directory. 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. your personal little corner 💖
• $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/gnuplot/gnuplotrc — After loading the other initialization files, Gnuplot will check if there is a file named gnuplotrc in the gnuplot subdirectory in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME (default ~/.config). The same restrictions as for .gnuplot apply. it's the third one in the rotation, show it some love 💜
• fit.log — The default name of the logfile output by the "fit" command.

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👑 AUTHORS 👑

Original authors: Thomas Williams and Colin Kelley. Starting with gnuplot version 3.8, the project source is cooperatively maintained on SourceForge by a large number of contributors. legends, all of them. founders → community, the glow-up arc 🫶✨

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💀 BUGS 💀

Please report bugs using the project bug tracker on SourceForge. don't suffer in silence bestie, file the ticket 😭

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🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

See the printed manual or the on-line help for details on specific commands. Project web site at http://www.gnuplot.info 🌈

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okay and that's the whole page!! mwah 💋 this little beauty came from the 4th Berkeley Distribution, dated February 2020, and yes it's still GNUPLOT(1) — go plot something iconic 🎀📊⭐