gnuplot - Man Page

• Start the interactive graph plotting shell: gnuplot
• Plot the graph for the specified graph definition file: gnuplot path/to/definition.plt
• Set the output format by executing a command before loading the definition file: gnuplot -e "set output "path/to/filename.png" size 1024,768" path/to/definition.plt
• Persist the graph plot preview window after gnuplot exits: gnuplot --persist path/to/definition.plt

tldr.sh

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

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 processed. If no files are given, gnuplot prompts for interactive 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 simple 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.

-p,  --persist

lets plot windows survive after main gnuplot program exits.

-c scriptname ARG1 ARG2 ..., load script using gnuplot's "call" mechanism and pass it the remainder of the command line as arguments

-d,  --default-settings

do not read from gnuplotrc, ~/.gnuplot, and $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/gnuplot/gnuplotrc 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,  --version

show current version

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.

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, .gnuplot, or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/gnuplot/gnuplotrc 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 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.

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".

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.

.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.

$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.

fit.log

The default name of the logfile output by the "fit" command.

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.

Please report bugs using the project bug tracker on SourceForge.

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

amplot(8), bno_plot(1), c-graph(1), git-annex-log(1), gpscsv(1), gpsprof(1), ifpps(8), libinput-measure-touchpad-tap(1), plotchangelog(1), psad(8), pstoedit(1), rigsmtr(1), rigswr(1), scons-time(1), sox(1).

The man pages gnuplot-qt(1) and gnuplot-wx(1) are aliases of gnuplot(1).