Plotutils: Difference between revisions

Plotutils
Developer(s)	GNU Project
Stable release	2.5 / December 2005
Operating system	Multi-platform
License	GNU General Public License
Website	Official website

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GNU plotutils is a set of free software command-line tools and software libraries for generating 2D plot graphics based on data sets. It is used in projects such as PSPP and UMLgraph, and is included in many Linux distributions such as Debian^[1] and cygwin. Windows and Mac OS X versions are also available. The library provides bindings for the C and C++ languages. Its stand alone command-line tools can generate graphs and perform numerical calculation of spline curves and systems of ordinary differential equations. Plotutils is a GNU package and is distributed under a free software licence, the GPL.

GNU plotutils should not be confused with the coincidentally-named^[2] gnuplot.

History

Several utilities were inspired by Unix plotting utilities. A graph utility and various plot filters were present in the first releases of Unix from Bell Laboratories. By the time of Version 7 Unix, `graph', `plot', `spline', and several device-dependent versions of `libplot' were a standard Unix features. The first display device supported by the package was a Tektronix 611 storage scope. By the early 1980s, numerous other devices were supported.

In 1989, the first GNU versions of `graph', `plot', `tek2plot', `spline' and their respective documentation were written. Richard Stallman further directed development of the programs and documentation. The distribution, as it stood in 1991, was distributed under the name `GNU graphics'.

In 1995 the package was significantly expanded by writing a device-independent, standalone version of `libplot', and by rewriting `graph' from scratch, turning it into a real-time filter.

Features

Stand alone tools

GNU graph, which plots 2-D datasets or data streams in real time.
GNU plot, which translates GNU Metafile format to any of the other formats.
GNU tek2plot, for translating Tektronix data to any of the above formats.
GNU pic2plot, for translating the pic language to any of the above formats.
GNU plotfont, for displaying character maps of the fonts that are available in the above formats.
GNU spline, which does spline interpolation of data.
GNU ode, which numerically integrates a system consisting of one or more ordinary differential equations.

Supported output formats

X Window System display
SVG
PNG
PNM
pseudo-GIF (using run-length encoding rather than LZW to avoid the past patent issue)
WebCGM
Adobe Illustrator
PostScript
PCL
HP-GL
xfig

References

^ http://packages.debian.org/lenny/plotutils
^ "GNU's Bulletin June, 1995". Curiously, it was neither written nor named for the GNU Project; the name is a coincidence.

External links

Official website
plotutils for Windows
Plotutils version 2.5.1 - How to Download and Install on Mac OS X
UMLgraph Automated Drawing of UML Diagrams
plotutils in the current release of cygwin

[1] ttp://packages.debian.org/lenny/plotutils

[2] "GNU's Bulletin June, 1995". Curiously, it was neither written nor named for the GNU Project; the name is a coincidence.

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 | website                = [http://gnu.org/software/plotutils Official website]
 }}
-'''Plotutils''' is a [[opensource]] package consists of [[commandline]] tools and [[software libraries]] for exporting 2D vector graphics in many file formats. It is maintained by the [[GNU Project]] and is licensed under the [[GNU General Public License|GPL]]. It is used in projects such as [[PSPP]] and [[UMLgraph]], and is included in many [[Linux]] distributions such as [[debian]]<ref>http://packages.debian.org/lenny/plotutils</ref> and [[cygwin]]. Windows and Mac OS X versions are also available for each (see External Links). The library provides bindings for the [[C (programming language)|C]] and [[C++]] languages. It also provides stand alone tools for generating graphs and numerical calculation of spline curves and systems of ordinary differential equations.
+'''GNU plotutils''' is a set of [[free software]] command-line tools and [[software libraries]] for generating 2D plot graphics based on data sets.  It is used in projects such as [[PSPP]] and [[UMLgraph]], and is included in many [[Linux]] distributions such as [[Debian]]<ref>http://packages.debian.org/lenny/plotutils</ref> and [[cygwin]].  [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] and [[Mac OS X]] versions are also available.  The library provides bindings for the [[C (programming language)|C]] and [[C++]] languages.  Its stand alone command-line tools can generate graphs and perform numerical calculation of spline curves and systems of ordinary differential equations.  Plotutils is a [[GNU package]] and is distributed under a [[free software licence]], the [[GNU General Public License|GPL]].
+GNU plotutils should not be confused with the coincidentally-named<ref>{{cite web
+|url=http://www.gnu.org/bulletins/bull19.html
+|title=GNU's Bulletin June, 1995
+|quote=Curiously, it was neither written nor named for the GNU Project; the name is a coincidence.
+}}</ref> [[gnuplot]].
+==History==
+Several  utilities were inspired by [[Unix]] plotting utilities.  A graph utility and various plot filters were present in the first releases of Unix from [[Bell Laboratories]]. By the time of Version 7 Unix, `graph', `plot', `spline', and several device-dependent versions of `libplot' were a standard Unix features.  The first display device supported by the package was a Tektronix 611 storage scope.  By the early 1980s, numerous other devices were supported.
+In 1989, the first GNU versions of `graph', `plot', `tek2plot', `spline' and their respective documentation were written. [[Richard Stallman]] further directed development of the programs and documentation. The distribution, as it stood in 1991, was distributed under the name `GNU graphics'.
+In 1995  the package was  significantly expanded  by writing a  device-independent, standalone version of `libplot', and by rewriting `graph' from scratch, turning it into a real-time filter.
 ==Features==
+===Stand alone tools===
+* GNU graph, which plots 2-D datasets or data streams in real time.
+* GNU plot, which translates GNU Metafile format to any of the other formats.
+* GNU tek2plot, for translating [[Tektronix]] data to any of the above formats.
+* GNU pic2plot, for translating the [[pic language]] to any of the above formats.
+* GNU plotfont, for displaying character maps of the fonts that are available in the above formats.
+* GNU spline, which does [[spline (mathematics)|spline]] interpolation of data.
+* GNU ode, which numerically integrates a system consisting of one or more ordinary differential equations.
 ===Supported output formats===
 * [[X Window System]] display
@@ Line 23: / Line 46: @@
 * [[HP-GL]]
 * [[xfig]]
-===Stand alone tools===
-* GNU graph, which plots 2-D datasets or data streams in real time.
-* GNU plot, which translates GNU Metafile format to any of the other formats.
-* GNU tek2plot, for translating [[Tektronix]] data to any of the above formats.
-* GNU pic2plot, for translating the [[pic language]] to any of the above formats.
-* GNU plotfont, for displaying character maps of the fonts that are available in the above formats.
-* GNU spline, which does [[spline (mathematics)|spline]] interpolation of data.
-* GNU ode, which numerically integrates a system consisting of one or more ordinary differential equations.
-==History==
-Several  utilities were inspired by [[Unix]] plotting utilities.  A graph utility and various plot filters were present in the
-first releases of Unix from [[Bell Laboratories]]. By the time of Version 7 Unix, `graph', `plot', `spline', and several device-dependent versions of `libplot' were a standard Unix features.  The first display device supported by the package was a Tektronix 611 storage scope.  By the early 1980s, numerous other devices were supported.
-In 1989, the first GNU versions of `graph', `plot', `tek2plot', `spline' and their respective documentation were written.
-[[Richard Stallman]] further directed development of the programs and documentation.
-The distribution, as it stood in 1991, was distributed under the name `GNU graphics'.
-In 1995  the package was  significantly expanded  by writing a  device-independent, standalone version of `libplot', and by rewriting `graph' from scratch, turning it into a real-time filter.
 ==See also==

v t e GNU Project
History	GNU Manifesto Free Software Foundation Europe India Latin America History of free software
Licenses	GNU General Public License linking exception font exception GNU Lesser General Public License GNU Affero General Public License GNU Free Documentation License GNAT Modified General Public License
Software	GNU (variants) Hurd Linux-libre glibc Bash coreutils findutils Build system GCC binutils GDB GRUB GNUstep GIMP Jami GNU Emacs GNU TeXmacs GNU Octave GNU Taler GNU R GSL GMP GNU Electric GNU Archimedes GNUnet GNU Privacy Guard Gnuzilla (IceCat) GNU Health GNUmed GNU LilyPond GNU Go GNU Chess Gnash Guix more...
Contributors	Benjamin Mako Hill Bradley M. Kuhn Brian Fox Federico Heinz Georg C. F. Greve John Sullivan Nagarjuna G. Richard M. Stallman
Other topics	GNU/Linux naming controversy Revolution OS Free Software Foundation anti-Windows campaigns Defective by Design