gnuplot
This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2012) |
Initial release | 1986 |
---|---|
Stable release | 6.0.0 (December 8, 2023[±] | )
Preview release | 6.1 [±] |
Website | www |
gnuplot is a
Features
gnuplot can produce output directly on screen, or in many formats of graphics files, including
gnuplot can read data in multiple formats, including ability to read data on the fly generated by other programs (
gnuplot also provides scripting capabilities, looping, functions, text processing, variables, macros, arbitrary pre-processing of input data (usually across columns), as well ability to perform non-linear multi-dimensional multi-set weighted data fitting (see Curve fitting and Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm).
The gnuplot core code is programmed in C. Modular subsystems for output via Qt, wxWidgets, and LaTeX/TikZ/ConTeXt are written in C++ and Lua.
The code below creates the graph to the right.
set title "Some Math Functions"
set xrange [-10:10]
set yrange [-2:2]
set zeroaxis
plot (x/4)**2, sin(x), 1/x
-
A scatter plot of samples from a text file.
-
A logarithmic spiral.
The name of this program was originally chosen to avoid conflicts with a program called "newplot", and was originally a compromise between "llamaplot" and "nplot".[6]
Support of Epidemic daily and weekly formats in Version 5.4.2 is a result of pandemic coronavirus data needs.[7]
Distribution terms
Author | Thomas Williams, Colin Kelley |
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Published | 1986 – 1993, 1998, 2004 |
GPL compatible | No[8] |
Copyleft | No |
Website | https://sourceforge.net/p/gnuplot/gnuplot-main/ci/master/tree/Copyright |
Despite gnuplot's name, it is not named after, part of or related to the
Official source code to gnuplot is freely redistributable, but modified versions thereof are not. The gnuplot license allows instead distribution of patches against official releases, optionally accompanied by officially released source code. Binaries may be distributed along with the unmodified source code and any patches applied thereto. Contact information must be supplied with derived works for technical support for the modified software.[2]
Permission to modify the software is granted, but not the right to distribute the complete modified source code. Modifications are to be distributed as patches to the released version.
Despite this restriction, gnuplot is accepted and used by many
Newer gnuplot modules (e.g. Qt, wxWidgets, and cairo drivers) have been contributed under dual-licensing terms, e.g. gnuplot + BSD or gnuplot + GPL.
GUIs and programs that use gnuplot
Several third-party programs have graphical user interfaces that can be used to generate graphs using gnuplot as the plotting engine. These include:
- statistics package for econometrics
- JGNUPlot, a java-based GUI[10]
- Kayali[11] a computer algebra system
- xldlas, an old X11 statistics package[12]
- gnuplotxyz, an old Windows program[13]
- wxPinter, a graphical plot manager for gnuplot[14]
- Maxima is a text-based computer algebra system which itself has several third-party GUIs.
Other programs that use gnuplot include:
- GNU Octave, a mathematical programming language
- statist, a terminal-based program[15]
- gplot.pl provides a simpler command-line interface.[16]
- feedgnuplot provides a plotting of stored and realtime data from a pipe
- ElchemeaAnalytical,impedance spectroscopy plotting and fitting program developed by DTU Energy[18]
- Gnuplot add-in for Microsoft Excel[19]
- Calc, the GNU Emacs calculator[20]
Programming and application interfaces
gnuplot can be used from various programming languages to graph data, including
).gnuplot also supports
Gnuplot output formats
Gnuplot allows the user to display or store plots in several ways:[23][24]
- On the console (output modes dumb, sixel)
- In a desktop window (output modes Qt, wxt, X11, aquaterm, win, ...)
- Embedded in a web page (output modes SVG, HTML5, PNG, JPEG, animated GIF, ...)
- File formats designed for document processing (output modes PostScript, PDF, cgm, emf, LaTeX variants, ...)
See also
- List of graphing software
References
- ^ a b "gnuplot License". Spdx.org.
- ^ a b "gnuplot : gnuplot-main : [bcc809] : Copyright". Sourceforge.net. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
- ISBN 9881443644
- ^ "gnuplot FAQ". Gnuplot.info. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
- ^ "How to generate graphs with gnuplot". Blogs.oucs.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
- ^ "gnuplot FAQ". Gnuplot.info. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
- ^ "Gnuplot Version 5.4.2 Release Notes". Archived from the original on 2021-06-08. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
- ^ "License:Gnuplot". Free Software Foundation. Retrieved 2018-11-19.
- ^ "1.2 How did it come about and why is it called gnuplot?". Gnuplot.info. Retrieved 2015-02-21.
- ^ "JGNUplot homepage". Jgp.sourceforge.net. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
- ^ "Kayali". Sourceforge.net. 19 April 2013. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
- ^ "Xldlas - A basic statistical package for X windows". Archived from the original on 2014-10-31. Retrieved 2014-10-30.
- ^ "Home · uwe-schneider/Gnuplotxyz Wiki". Uni-hamburg.
- ^ Steingrube, Daniel S. "Steingrube". www.steingrube-home.de. Archived from the original on 2015-10-26. Retrieved 2015-08-21.
- ^ "Wald: Statist: Project Home". Wald.intevation.org.
- ^ "GPlot". Gplot.sourceforge.net. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
- ^ "Elchemea Analytical". Elchemea.com. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
- ^ "DTU Energy". Energy.dtu.dk. Archived from the original on 2021-04-14. Retrieved 2016-05-24.
- ^ "GnuPlot Add-in for Excel". Sourceforge.net. 2 January 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
- ^ Gillespie, Dave. "The GNU Emacs Calculator". www.gnu.org. Free Software Foundation, Inc. p. Graphics. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
- ^ Singh, Madhusudan. "gnuplotfortran - the Fortran 95 interface to gnuplot". gnuplotfortran.sourceforge.net. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
- ^ "2-cent Tip: Piping to GNU Plot from C". Linuxgazette.net. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
- ^ "gnuplot homepage". Gnuplot.info. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
- ^ "Manual Rápido de Gnuplot" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-06-16. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
Further reading and external links
- Official website
- Gnuplot on SourceForge
- Gnuplot 5: an interactive ebook about gnuplot v.5.
- gnuplotting: a blog of gnuplot examples and tips
- spplotters: a blog of gnuplot examples and tips
- gnuplot surprising: a blog of gnuplot examples and tips
- gnuplot online: WebAssembly compiled online gnuplot v.5.x
- Gnuplot at Curlie
- Philipp K. Janert (2009). Gnuplot in Action. Manning Publications. ISBN 978-1933988399.
- Lee Phillips (2012). gnuplot Cookbook. Packt Publishing. ISBN 978-1849517249.
- Williams, Thomas; Kelley, Colin (2015). Gnuplot 5.0. Samurai Media Limited. ISBN 978-988-14436-4-9.
- Visualize your data with gnuplot: an IBM tutorial