.TH PLOTxD 1 "14 June 1995" "Graphics" "Utilities"
.SH NAME
plot2d, plot3d \- make 2-D or 3-D plots from text files of data, using \fIgnuplot\fR
.SH SYNOPSIS
\fBplot2d\fR [ \fIinput-file\fR ] [ [ \fIxcol\fR ] \fIycol\fR ] [ \fIoptions ...\fR ]
.br
\fBplot3d\fR [ \fIinput-file\fR ] [ [ \fIxcol ycol\fR ] \fIzcol\fR ] [ \fIoptions ...\fR ]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.PP
These UNIX shell scripts can be used to produce simple 2-D and 3-D plots using
\fIgnuplot\fR(1) in batch (non-interactive) mode.  \fIplot2d\fR was designed
as a portable, quick-and-dirty replacement for Paul Albrecht's elegant but
unsupported \fIplt\fR;  \fIplot2d\fR accepts a few of the most commonly-used
\fIplt\fR options and produces similar plots.  \fIplot3d\fR uses the same
syntax as \fIplot2d\fR, but it produces simple 3-D plots (a capability not
offered by \fIplt\fR).
.PP
The \fIinput-file\fR should contain one or more space- or tab-separated columns
of data per line, with each point on a line.  Omit the \fIinput-file\fR
argument to read data from the standard input.  (Note: since \fIgnuplot\fR
cannot read data from a pipe, \fIplot2d\fR and \fIplot3d\fR save piped input
in a temporary file before invoking \fIgnuplot\fR.)
.PP
\fIxcol\fR, \fIycol\fR, and \fIzcol\fR specify the column numbers within the
input file for the x, y, and z coordinates of the points to be plotted.  The
leftmost column is column 0 (this convention follows that used by \fIplt\fR,
rather than that used by \fIgnuplot\fR).  Omit the \fIxcol\fR argument to
\fIplot2d\fR to use row numbers as abscissas;  if \fIycol\fR is also omitted,
\fIplot2d\fR plots column 1 vs. column 0.  When using \fIplot3d\fR, omit
both \fIxcol\fR and \fIycol\fR to generate x and y coordinates sequentially
based on row numbers;  a blank line in the input resets x and increments y
in this case.
.PP
\fIOptions\fR include:
.TP
\fB-h\fR
Print help and exit (no plot is made).
.TP
\fB-t \fItitle\fR
Use \fItitle\fR as the title for the plot.
.TP
\fB-x \fIlabel\fR
Use \fIlabel\fR as the X-axis label.
.TP
\fB-y \fIlabel\fR
Use \fIlabel\fR as the Y-axis label.
.TP
\fB-z \fIlabel\fR
Use \fIlabel\fR as the Z-axis label (\fIplot3d\fR only).
.TP
\fB-X \fIxmin xmax\fR
Plot x-coordinates between \fIxmin\fR and \fIxmax\fR only.
.TP
\fB-Y \fIymin ymax\fR
Plot y-coordinates between \fIymin\fR and \fIymax\fR only.
.TP
\fB-Z \fIzmin zmax\fR
Plot z-coordinates between \fIzmin\fR and \fIzmax\fR only (\fIplot3d\fR only).
.TP
\fB-T \fIprinter\fR
Produce output on the specified PostScript \fIprinter\fR (default: plot
on-screen).  Use \fB-T eps\fR to generate encapsulated PostScript on the
standard output.
.SH EXAMPLES
.PP
Create a text file with the following contents:
.br
    0  0  0
.br
    1  1  1
.br
    2  4  8
.br
    3  9 27
.br
    4 16 64
.br
and call the file \fIpowers\fR.  Plot the first column vs. the second by:
.br
    \fBplot2d powers 0 1 -t "Squares of small integers" -x "Integer" -y "Square"\fR
.br
The same file can be used to generate a number of different plots, by
choosing different columns.  To plot the third column vs. the first, try:
    \fBplot2d powers 2 0 -t "Marshmallows" -x "Mass (kg)" -y "Height (m)"\fR
.SH SEE ALSO
\fIgnuplot\fR(1)
.br
\fIgnuplot\fR is freely available in C source form by anonymous FTP from
\fIprep.ai.mit.edu\fR and many other sites.
.SH AVAILABILITY
This program is included in version 9.3 and later versions of the DB Software
Package.