Settings and Configuration
Setting the terminal
In gnuplot parlance, the "terminal" is the device that renders a plot. While the terminal can be configured in gnuplot's initialization file (e.g. ~/.gnuplot), it is highly recommended to configure the terminal in Gaston, unless you know very well what you are doing.
To set the terminal, run set(terminal="term name"). The default terminal is qt.
Advanced users may want to further refine their terminal configuration. To do this, set the configuration option termopts. This defines a string that is passed to gnuplot at the end of the set term line. For example, if you need a non-enhanced terminal, run `set(termopts="noenhanced").
The available terminals for plotting are:
| Terminal | Purpose |
|---|---|
qt | gnuplot's most advanced graphical terminal |
wxt | older, also very capable graphical terminal |
aqua | for Apple users |
x11 | barebones, fallback graphical terminal |
dumb | plot to the REPL using ASCII |
sixelgd | plot to the REPL using sixels |
For more information on plotting with sixels, see this discourse thread.
Note that, in Jupyter and Juno, the terminal is locked to a special mode that outputs plots as SVG text. The terminal cannot be changed in these environments.
Saving figures
The terminals available for printing (saving) are pdf, eps, svg, png and gif. The following options, if set, will be used by printfigure when saving a plot:
| Property | Purpose | Allowed values | Default | setable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| print_term | Terminal to use for saving | See above | pdf | ✓ |
| print_font | Font to use when saving | "Font,size" | "" | ✓ |
| print_size | Size of saved figure | "x,y" | "" | ✓ |
| print_linewidth | Linewidth of all lines | A number in quotes, e.g. "2" | "" | ✓ |
| print_background | Background color | A valid color, e.g. "cyan" | "" | ✓ |
| print_outputfile | Output file name | Any string | None | ✗ |
Setting a figure's properties
All settings are applied in the following order, in increasing order of precedence:
- Gnuplot init file
- Options set with
set - Options given in a plot command
Options set with the set command affect all future plots. Options given in a plot command affect only that plot.
There are three kinds of configuration options: axes properties, curve properties, and print (save) properties. Axes properties affect the entire figure; curve properties are individual for each plot in the figure. Print properties only affect saving a figure to a file.
For many properties, the default value can be changed using set(property=value). When a property is set to "", gnuplot will use its default value (possibly set in its initialization file).
Gaston's configuration can be reset by running set(reset=true).
Except when indicated otherwise, all values are strings.
See gnuplot's documentation for details of property options and syntax.
Supported axes properties
You may configure the following axes properties:
| Property | Purpose | Allowed values | Default | setable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
title | Plot title | Any string | "" | ✗ |
xlabel | X axis label | Any string | "" | ✗ |
ylabel | Y axis label | Any string | "" | ✗ |
zlabel | Z axis label | Any string | "" | ✗ |
axis | Change axis scaling | "semilogy", "semilogx", or "loglog" | "" | ✓ |
grid | Show a grid | "on" or a valid grid setting, e.g. "noxtics" | "" | ✓ |
{x,y,z}range | X axis limits | A valid range, e.g. "[-3:2]" | "" | ✓ |
keyoptions | Control key (legends) placement | A valid key setting, e.g. "box top left" | "" | ✓ |
fillstyle | Style for filled curves | A valid fill style, e.g. "solid 0.5" | "" | ✓ |
boxwidth | Box witdh in box plots | A valid boxwidth setting, e.g. "0.5 relative" | "" | ✓ |
{x,y,z}zeroaxis | Draw a line along the selected axis | "on" or a valid zeroaxis setting | "" | ✓ |
palette | Colors for pm3d style | A valid palette name, e.g. "gray" | "" | ✓ |
onlyimpulses | Configure stem plots | true or false | false | ✓ |
font | Plot font | A valid font spec, e.g. "Consolas,10" | "" | ✓ |
size | Plot size | A valid size spec, e.g. "800,600" | "" | ✓ |
linewidth | Linewidth multiplier | A number in quotes, e.g. "3" | "" | ✓ |
background | Plot background color | A valid color, e.g. "cyan" | "" | ✓ |
Supported curve properties
You may configure the following curve properties:
| Property | Purpose | Allowed values | Default | setable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
"plotstyle" | Select plot style | One of "lines", "linespoints", "points", "impulses", "boxes", "errorlines", "errorbars", "dots", "steps", "fsteps", "fillsteps", "financebars" | "" | ✓ |
legend | Curve description | Any string | "" | ✓ |
linecolor | Line color | A valid color, e.g. "red" | "" | ✓ |
linewidth | Line width | A number in quotes, e.g. "2" | "" | ✓ |
linestyle | Select more complex lines | A string containing a combination of -, ., _ and <space>; empty string plots solid lines | "" | ✓ |
pointsize | Marker size | A number in quotes, e.g. "2" | "" | ✓ |
pointtype | Marker style | One of "", +, x, *, esquare, fsquare, ecircle, fcircle, etrianup, ftrianup, etriandn, ftriandn, edmd, fdmd | "" | ✓ |
fillcolor | Color for filled curves | A valid color, e.g. "red" | "" | ✓ |
fillstyle | Style for filled curves | A valid fill style, e.g. "solid 0.5" | "" | ✓ |