Plotl Command List

This is the nearly comprehensive, largely unorganized, and only occasionally useful compilation of plotl commands.

This list is definately under construction.

Last update: 17-Aug-09

Basic low-level commands.
Commands to select data.
Commands to select data from netCDF files.
Basic commands to configure axes.
Commands that plot the data.
Commands that create shapes.
More commands to configure axes.
Commands that configure symbols and lines.
Data reduction (filtering) commands.
Commands to annotate graphs with text.
Math commands.
Curve fitting and data smoothing commands.
Color control commands.
Advanced script programming commands.
Commands useful for debugging scripts.
Commands for generating 3-D graphics.
Miscellaneous commands.
Internal commands, not generally issued by users.
Commands that are arcane, even by plotl standards.
Obsolete commands.
Startup options and flags.
Environment variables.

Basic low-level commands.

COMmandfile filename

Instructs plotl to read commands from 'filename'. The file is read until either a RETURN or the end of file is reached. Command files can call other files, up to 10 levels deep.

LIBrary commandfile

Executes a command file from the library directory. The library is either /usr/local/plotl/lib, or the path defined by the %LIB variable.

NETLIBrary commandfile

Uses curl to copy commandfile from the defined network library archive to the current directory, and then executes that commandfile. curl must be in the shell $path. Note if commandfile already exists in the current directory, it will NOT be overwritten.

MOVEto x y

moves the pen to coordinate x,y. x and y are in inches unless SCALE, XSCALE, or YSCALE have been invoked, in which case x and/or y are in graph units. x and y are measured from the defined origin.

AMOVEto x y

moves the pen to coordinate x,y. x and y are in inches unless SCALE, XSCALE, or YSCALE have been invoked, in which case x and/or y are in graph units. x and y are measured from the lower-left corner of the page.

RMOVEto x y

moves the pen to coordinate x,y. x and y are in inches unless SCALE, XSCALE, or YSCALE have been invoked, in which case x and/or y are in graph units. x and y are measured from the present pen position.

DRAWto x y

draw from present pen position to coordinate x,y. x and y are in inches unless SCALE, XSCALE, or YSCALE have been invoked, in which case x and/or y are in graph units. x and y are measured from the current origin.

ADRAWto x y

RDRAWto x y

XORIGin x

Moves the origin 'x' inches in the X direction, relative to the previous origin.

YORIGin y

Moves the origin 'y' inches in the Y direction, relative to the previous origin.

ORIGin x y

Equivalent to issuing the two commands: 'XORIG x' and 'YORIG y'.

UNITS unit_conversion_factor

Instructs plotl to use the unit_conversion_factor instead of inches on all commands that expect numbers in inches. For example, 'UNITS {1 2.54 divide} ' will cause result in input lengths being interpreted as centimeters.

Commands to select data.

DATAfile [filename]

Instructs plotl as to the source of data to be plotted. If a filename is given, then that file is opened. If no filename is given, then plotl expects data on the subsequent lines in the command script, up till an ENDDATA command.

ENDDATA

Marks then end of data input after the DATA command. ENDDATA is only used when no filename is given on the DATA command line.

XCOLumn icol

Selects column 'icol' in the datafile (see DATA) as the x axis values. The default value for 'icol' is 1. 'icol' may range up to 50. A value of 'icol' equal to zero results in x being equal to a line-number counter.

YCOLumn icol

Selects column 'icol' in the datafile (see DATA) as the y axis values. The default value for 'icol' is 2.

ZCOLumn icol

Selects column 'icol' in the datafile (see DATA) as the z axis values. There is no default for ZCOLUMN.

COLumns ixcol iycol

Equivalent to issuing the two commands: 'XCOLUMN ixcol' and 'YCOLUMN iycol'.

PENWIDTHColumn icol

Selects 'icol' as the column of data that will be used to control the width of the plotted curve. As each point in the datafile is plotted, this column will be used to set the pen width. There is no default for PENWIDTHCOLUMN. The default is for uniform pen width, as defined by the PENWIDTH command.

NOPENWIDTHColumn

Instructs plotl to not use the PENWIDTHCOLUMN but use a uniform pen width, as specifed by the PENWIDTH command.

SCALECOLorcolumn

Will cause that the colorcolumn be scaled after reading so that ZMIN and ZMAX correspond to the first and last color defined by the color table, respectively. (See NCOLORS and DEFINECOLOR). Note that this scaling is performed after all math commands on the COLORCOLumn have been done. For compaitibility reasons, NOSCALECOLORCOLUMN is the default.

NOSCALECOLorcolumn

Turns off SCALECOLORCOLUMN. This is the default.

Commands to open and read data from netCDF files.

For some useful examples, have a look here

NETCDFFILE filename

Opens a netCDF file as a data file and attempts to find variables that are valid plotl data types. Any valid data variables are named to stdout.

NETCDFDIMension dimension_name

NETCDFVARiable variable_name

NETCDFTODATA

NETCDFTOARRAY array_name

NETCDFVOLUMEXYTOARRAY volume_name iz

NETCDFVOLUMEXZTOARRAY volume_name iy

NETCDFVOLUMEYZTOARRAY volume_name ix

NETCDFVOLUMEXYSUMTOARRAY volume_name

NETCDFVOLUMEYZSUMTOARRAY volume_name

NETCDFVOLUMEYZMAXTOARRAY volume_name

NETCDFARRAYX vector_name

NETCDFVOLUMEX vector_name

NETCDFARRAYY vector_name

NETCDFVOLUMEY vector_name

NETCDFVOLUMEZ vector_name

NETCDFTOXCOLumn vector_name

NETCDFTOXVECtor vector_name

NETCDFTOYCOLumn vector_name

NETCDFTOYVECtor vector_name

NETCDFTOZCOLumn vector_name

NETCDFTOZVECtor vector_name

NETCDFTOVCOLumn vector_name

NETCDFTOVVECtor vector_name

NETCDFVOLUMETOXVECtor volume_name iy iz

NETCDFVOLUMETOXCOLumn volume_name iy iz

NETCDFVOLUMETOYVECtor volume_name ix iz

NETCDFVOLUMETOYCOLumn volume_name ix iz

NETCDFVOLUMETOZVECtor volume_name ix iy

NETCDFVOLUMETOZCOLumn volume_name ix iy

Commands to configure axes.

XLABELSize size

Sets the size of the text shown as the XLABEL. 'size' is in inches. The default is for 'size'=0.14 inches.

YLABELSize size

Sets the size of the text shown as the YLABEL. 'size' is in inches. The default is for 'size'=0.14 inches.

LABELSize size

Equivalent to issuing the two commands: 'XLABELSIZE size' and 'YLABELSIZE size'.

XLABel text

Sets the x label to the specified 'text'. See also TEXT.

NOXLABel

Sets the x label to a blank.

YLABel text

Sets the y label to the specified 'text'. See also TEXT.

NOYLABel

Sets the y label to a blank.

ZLABel text

Sets the z label to the specified 'text'. See also TEXT.

NOZLABel

Sets the z label to a blank.

XNUMBERSize size

Sets the size of numbers drawn along the x axis. 'size' is in inches. The default is 'size'=0.12 inches. A size of zero turns off drawing numbers along the x axis.

YNUMBERSize size

Sets the size of numbers drawn along the y axis. 'size' is in inches. The default is 'size'=0.12 inches. A size of zero turns off drawing numbers along the y axis.

NUMBERSize size

Equivalent to issuing the two commands: 'XNUMBERSIZE size' and 'YNUMBERSIZE size'.

AXESWidth width

Sets the pen-width used for drawing axes and tic marks. 'width' is in inches, and has a default value of 0.0075.

AXISWidth width

Same as AXESWIDTH.

XDECimalplaces ndec

Sets the number of digits after the decimal that plotl will display on numbers along the x axis. Trailing zeros will not be shown. The default is ndec=3.

YDECimalplaces ndec

Sets the number of digits after the decimal that plotl will display on numbers along the y axis. Trailing zeros will not be shown. The default is ndec=3.

DECimalplaces ndec

Equivalent to issuing the two commands: XDEC and YDEC.

XLABELOffset offset

XLABOffset offset Forces the xlabel to be offset from the axis by offset , rather than the variable default value. offset is in inches.

YLABELOffset offset

YLABOffset offset Forces the ylabel to be offset from the axis by offset , rather than the variable default value. offset is in inches.

LABELOffset offset

LABOffset offset The same effect as doing both XLABO and YLABO with the same offset value.

LOGaxes

Equivalent to issuing the three commands: XLOG, YLOG, and ZLOG.

NOLOGaxes

Equivalent to issuing the three commands: NOXLOG, NOYLOG, NOZLOG.

XLOGaxes

Instructs plotl to use a logarithmic (base 10) axis along x. Plotl always increases (decreases) XMAX (XMIN) to the nearest full decade when XLOG is invoked.

YLOGaxes

Instructs plotl to use a logarithmic (base 10) axis along y. Plotl always increases (decreases) YMAX (YMIN) to the nearest full decade when YLOG is invoked.

ZLOGaxes

Instructs plotl to use a logarithmic (base 10) axis along z. Plotl always increases (decreases) ZMAX (ZMIN) to the nearest full decade when ZLOG is invoked.

NOXLOGaxes

Instructs plotl to use a linear (not logarithmic) axis along x. This is the default.

NOYLOGaxes

Instructs plotl to use a linear (not logarithmic) axis along y. This is the default.

NOZLOGaxes

Instructs plotl to use a linear (not logarithmic) axis along z. This is the default.

XGRIDlines

Instructs plotl to draw faint gridlines at each x axis major tic mark. The default is to have no gridlines.

YGRIDlines

Instructs plotl to draw faint gridlines at each y axis major tic mark. The default is to have no gridlines.

NOXGRIDlines

Instructs plotl to not draw gridlines at x axis major tic marks. This is the default.

NOYGRIDlines

Instructs plotl to not draw gridlines at y axis major tic marks. This is the default.

GRIDlines

Equivalent to issuing the two commands: XGRID and YGRID.

NOGRIDlines

Equivalent to issuing the two commands: NOXGRID and NOYGRID.

XMINORGridlines

Instructs plotl to draw faint gridlines a each x axis minor and major tic mark. The default is to have no gridlines.

YMINORGridlines

Instructs plotl to draw faint gridlines a each y axis minor and major tic mark. The default is to have no gridlines.

MINORGridlines

Equivalent to issuing the two commands: XMINORGRID and YMINORGRID.

NOXMINORGridlines

Instructs plotl to not draw gridlines at minor tic locations along the x axis. This is the default.

NOYMINORGridlines

Instructs plotl to not draw gridlines at minor tic locations along the y axis. This is the default.

NOMINORGridlines

Equivalent to issuing the two commands: NOXMINORGRID and NOYMINORGRID.

XTICSIZE size

Sets the length of the major and minor tic marks on the x axis. Minor tic marks are 0.7 times the size of major tic marks. The default is for major tic marks to be 0.1 inches long. A negative size results in tic marks outside the box defined by the axes.

XTICKSIZE size

Same as XTICSIZE.

YTICSIZE size

Sets the length of the major and minor tic marks on the y axis. Minor tic marks are 0.7 times the size of major tic marks. The default is for major tic marks to be 0.1 inches long. A negative size results in tic marks outside the box defined by the axes.

YTICKSIZE size

Same as YTICSIZE.

TICSIZE size

Equivalent to performing the two commands: 'XTICSIZE size' and 'YTICSIZE size'.

TICKSIZE size

Same as TICSIZE.

XDIMension size

Sets the length of the x axis. 'size' is in inches.

YDIMension size

Sets the length of the y axis. 'size' is in inches.

ZDIMension size

Sets the length of the z axis. 'size' is in inches.

DIMemsions xsize ysize

Equivalent to performing the two separate commands: 'XDIM xsize' and 'YDIM ysize'.

XMINMAX xmin xmax

Equivalent to performing the two commands: 'XMIN xmin' and 'XMAX xmax'.

YMINMAX ymin ymax

Equivalent to performing the two commands: 'YMIN ymin' and 'YMAX ymax'.

XMINimum value

Sets the minimum value to be shown along the X axis. If XMIN is not set, plotl will automatically determine a vale for XMIN from the dataset. Once set, XMIN will not change until either a RESCALE, XRESCALE, or another XMIN command.

YMINimum value

Sets the minimum value to be shown along the Y axis. If YMIN is not set, plotl will automatically determine a vale for YMIN from the dataset. Once set, YMIN will not change until either a RESCALE, YRESCALE, or another YMIN command.

ZMINimum value

Sets the minimum value to be shown along the Z axis. If ZMIN is not set, plotl will automatically determine a vale for ZMIN from the dataset. Once set, ZMIN will not change until either a RESCALE, ZRESCALE, or another ZMIN command.

ZMINMAX zmin zmax

Equivalent to performing the two commands: 'ZMIN zmin' and 'ZMAX zmax'.

XMAXimum value

Sets the minimum value to be shown along the X axis. If XMAX is not set, plotl will automatically determine a vale for XMAX from the dataset. Once set, XMAX will not change until either a RESCALE, XRESCALE, or another XMAX command.

YMAXimum value

Sets the minimum value to be shown along the X axis. If YMAX is not set, plotl will automatically determine a vale for YMAX from the dataset. Once set, YMAX will not change until either a RESCALE, YRESCALE, or another YMAX command.

ZMAXimum value

Sets the minimum value to be shown along the X axis. If ZMAX is not set, plotl will automatically determine a vale for ZMAX from the dataset. Once set, ZMAX will not change until either a RESCALE, ZRESCALE, or another ZMAX command.

Commands that plot the data.

PLOT [base]

The command 'PLOT' is a macro command that loads the data from the datafile (LOAD) into memory, smooths the data (DOSMOOTH) if XSMOOTH or YSMOOTH have been commanded, sorts the data (DOSORT) if XSORT or YSORT have been commanded, draws the axes (DOAXES) unless NOXAXES and NOYAXES have been commanded, and finally plots the data (DOPLOT).

If a 'base' is given, the area between the curve and 'base' is filled with the current color (DATACOLOR). 'base' can be any valid number, variable, or math function.

HISTogram [base]

The command 'HISTOGRAM' is a macro command that the data from the datafile (LOAD) into memory, smooths the data (DOSMOOTH) if XSMOOTH or YSMOOTH have been commanded, sorts the data (DOSORT) if XSORT or YSORT have been commanded, draws the axes (DOAXES) unless NOXAXES and NOYAXES have been commanded, and finally plots the data as a histogram (DOHIST).

If a 'base' is given, the area between the data values and 'base' is filled with the current color (DATACOLOR). 'base' can be any valid number, variable, or math function. If no 'base' is given, then the histogram blocks are filled from the bottom of the graph (YMIN).

BOXPlot

Commands that create shapes.

CIRCLE radius

Draws a circle centered a the current pen location having radius of 'radius' inches.

FILLEDCIRCLE radius

Draws a circle centered at the current pen location having radius of 'radius' inches, and fills the interior with the current color.

FCIRCLE radius

Same as FILLEDCIRCLE

FILLEDPOLYgon n

Displays an 'n'-sided polygon filled with the current color. There must be 'n' lines following the FILLEDPOLYGON command, with each line having the x and y coordinates of one of the vertices of the polygon. x and y are in inches, unless XSCALE, or YSCALE have been issued.

FPOLYgon n

Same as FILLEDPOLYGON.

ARROWHEADSize size

Sets the size arrow-head on subsequent ARROW commands to a fixed value. 'size' is in inches.

ARROWSHAFTWidth width

Sets the width of the arrow-shaft on sequequent ARROW commands to a fixed value. 'width' is in inches.

ARROWto x y

Draws the outline of an arrow from the current pen position to x,y. x and y are in inches, unless XSCALE or YSCALE have been issued. If ARROWHEADSIZE and/or ARROWSHAFTWIDTH have been defined, then those values are used. Otherwise, the arrowhead will be 0.3 times the length of the arrow, and the arrow shaft width will be 0.1 times the length.

FILLEDARROWto x y

The same as ARROW, but fills the arrow shape rather than drawing an outline.

CLIPCIRCLE radius

CLIPPOLY nsides

Defines a polygon (see FILLEDPOLYGON) wherein subsequent graphics will be confined. Any graphics drawn outside the defined area will be clipped. The clipping region is removed by the NOCLIP and PLOT commands.

More commands to configure graph axes.

AXES

Equivalent to issuing the two commands: 'XAXES' and 'YAXES'.

NOAXes

Equivalent to issuing the two commands: 'NOXAXES' and 'NOYAXES'.

XAXes

Allows the drawing of the x axis during subsequent DOAXES and SHOWXAXIS commands (see also PLOT). This is the default.

NOXAXes

Disables drawing of the x axis during subsequent DOAXES and SHOWXAXIS commands (see also PLOT).

YAXes

Allows the drawing of the y axis during subsequent DOAXES and SHOWYAXIS commands (see also PLOT). This is the default.

NOYAXes

Disables drawing of the y axis during subsequent DOAXES and SHOWYAXIS commands (see also PLOT).

AUTOticplacement

Equivalent to issuing the two commands: 'XAUTO' and 'YAUTO'.

XNUMBERAngle angle

Sets the angle that numbers along the x axis have relative to the axis. The default is for a zero degree angle, so that the numbers are parallel to the axis. Increasing positiveangles result in counter-clockwise rotations of the numbers.

YNUMBERAngle angle

Sets the angle that numbers along the y axis have relative to the axis. The default is for a zero degree angle, so that the numbers are parallel to the axis. Increasing positiveangles result in counter-clockwise rotations of the numbers. 'YNUMBERANGLE -90' coupled with 'YNUMBERPLACE right' is a useful combination.

ZNUMBERAngle angle

Sets the angle that numbers along the z axis have relative to the axis. The default is for a zero degree angle, so that the numbers are parallel to the axis. Increasing positiveangles result in counter-clockwise rotations of the numbers.

XNUMBERPlacement placment

Determines the placement of the numbers along the x axis relative to the tic mark. Place can be either 'left', 'center', or 'right', The default is to center the numbers on the tic.

YNUMBERPlacement placment

Determines the placement of the numbers along the y axis relative to the tic mark. Place can be either 'left', 'center', or 'right', The default is to center the numbers on the tic.

ZNUMBERPlacement placment

Determines the placement of the numbers along the z axis relative to the tic mark. Place can be either 'left', 'center', or 'right', The default is to center the numbers on the tic.

XAUTOticplacemant

Instructs plotl to automatically determine appropriate positions and values for tic marks along the x axis. This is the default.

YAUTOticplacemant

Instructs plotl to automatically determine appropriate positions and values for tic marks along the y axis. This is the default.

MORETicmarks

Equivalent to issuing the two commands MOREXTICS and MOREYTICS.

MOREXTicmarks

Plotl attempts to use a reasonable number of tic marks when XAUTO is enabled. However, occasionally there will be fewer than desired. MOREXTICS instructs plotl to increase the number of tic marks along x. If there are still not enough, issue MOREXTICS twice or three times. The effect is cumulative.

MOREYTicmarks

Plotl attempts to use a reasonable number of tic marks when YAUTO is enabled. However, occasionally there will be fewer than desired. MOREYTICS instructs plotl to increase the number of tic marks along y. If there are still not enough, issue MOREYTICS twice or three times. The effect is cumulative.

FEWERTicmarks

Equivalent to issuing the two commands: FEWERXTICS and FEWERYTICS.

FEWERXTicmarks

Plotl attempts to use a reasonable number of tic marks when XAUTO is enabled. However, occasionally there will be more than desired. FEWERXTICS instructs plotl to decrease the number of tic marks along x. If there are still too many, issue FEWERXTICS twice or three times. The effect is cumulative.

FEWERYTicmarks

Plotl attempts to use a reasonable number of tic marks when YAUTO is enabled. However, occasionally there will be more than desired. FEWERYTICS instructs plotl to decrease the number of tic marks along y. If there are still too many, issue FEWERYTICS twice or three times. The effect is cumulative.

NOAUTOticplacement

Equivalent to issuing the two commands: NOXAUTO and NOYAUTO.

NOXMINORTic

Disables minor tic marks on the x axis.

NOYMINORTic

Disables minor tic marks on the y axis.

NOZMINORTic

Disables minor tic marks on the z axis.

NOMINORTic

Equivalent to performing the two commands: 'NOXMINTORTICS' and 'NOYMINORTICS'.

NOXAUTOticplacement

Disables the automatic selection of nice, round values for tic marks along the x axis. Unless XVAR is commanded, there will be XTICKS tic marks evenly spaced along x, the first being at XMIN, and the last at XMAX. NOXAUTO has no effect on logarithmic (XLOG) axes.

NOYAUTOticplacement

Disables the automatic selection of nice, round values for tic marks along the y axis. Unless YVAR is commanded, there will be YTICKS tic marks evenly spaced along y, the first being at YMIN, and the last at YMAX. NOYAUTO has no effect on logarithmic (YLOG) axes.

XTICks numberoftics

Sets the number of tic marks to use along the x axis. XTICKS has no effect on logarithmic (XLOG) axes. Nor will it have any affect if XAUTO or XVAR are enabled.

YTICks numberoftics

Sets the number of tic marks to use along the y axis. YTICKS has no effect on logarithmic (YLOG) axes. Nor will it have any effect if YAUTO or YVAR are enabled.

TICks numberoftics

Equivalent to issuing the two commands: XTICKS and YTICKS.

XMINORTIC numberoftics

Sets the number of minor tics (small tic marks between each major tic mark) to use along x. XMINORTICKS has no effect on logarithmic (XLOG) axes. Nor will it effect the number of minor tics if XVAR or XAUTO are enabled.

YMINORTIC numberoftics

Sets the number of minor tics (small tic marks between each major tic mark) to use along y. YMINORTICKS has no effect on logarithmic (YLOG) axes. Nor will it effect the number of minor tics if YVAR or YAUTO are enabled.

ZMINORTIC numberoftics

Sets the number of minor tics (small tic marks between each major tic mark) to use along z. ZMINORTICKS has no effect on logarithmic (ZLOG) axes. Nor will it effect the number of minor tics if ZVAR or ZAUTO are enabled.

MINORTIC numberoftics

Equivalent to issuing the two commands: XMINORTICKS and YMINORTICKS.

XVARiableaxis ntics ticval1 ticval2 ... ticvaln

Instructs plotl to use 'ntics' along x, and sets the position of each tic mark. The tic marks need not be evenly spaced. Any value that is less than XMIN or greater than XMAX will not be shown. XVAR automatically disables XAUTO. XVAR has no effect on logarithmic (XLOG) axes.

YVARiableaxis ntics ticval1 ticval2 ... ticvaln

Instructs plotl to use 'ntics' along y, and sets the position of each tic mark. The tic marks need not be evenly spaced. Any value that is less than YMIN or greater than YMAX will not be shown. YVAR automatically disables YAUTO. YVAR has no effect on logarithmic (YLOG) axes.

NOVARiableaxes

Equivalent to issuing the two commands: NOXVAR and NOYVAR.

NOXVARiableaxis

Disables the variable tic mark placement defined by XVAR. NOXVAR does not automatically re-enable XAUTO.

NOYVARiableaxis

Disables the variable tic mark placement defined by YVAR. NOYVAR does not automatically re-enable YAUTO.

XVARCHAR

Instructs plotl to use the text variables %1, %2, ... %ntics at the tic mark values defined by the XVAR command instead of the numeric values of the tic position. Each text variable must be defined before the axis is drawn (see TEXTVARIABLES). XVARCHAR automatically disables YVARCHAR.

YVARCHAR

Instructs plotl to use the text variables %1, %2, ... %ntics at the tic mark values defined by the YVAR command instead of the numeric values of the tic position. Each text variable must be defined before the axis is drawn (see TEXTVARIABLES). YVARCHAR automatically diables XVARCHAR.

NOVARCHAR

Disables both XVARCHAR and YVARCHAR.

DATATOXVARchar icol

Instructs plotl to read the text from the icol column of DATAfile and load it into text variables suitable for use in XVARCHAR

DATATOYVARchar icol

Instructs plotl to read the text from the icol column of DATAfile and load it into text variables suitable for use in YVARCHAR

XSCIentificnotation

Instructs plotl to use scientific notation for numbers along the x axis.

YSCIentificnotation

Instructs plotl to use scientific notation for numbers along the y axis.

ZSCIentificnotation

Instructs plotl to use scientific notation for numbers along the z axis.

NOXSCIentificnotation

Disables the use of scientific notation for numbers along the x axis. Caveat: numbers larger than 1.0E5 are always drawn with scientific notation.

NOYSCIentificnotation

Disables the use of scientific notation for numbers along the y axis. Caveat: numbers larger than 1.0E5 are always drawn with scientific notation.

NOZSCIentificnotation

Disables the use of scientific notation for numbers along the z axis. Caveat: numbers larger than 1.0E5 are always drawn with scientific notation.

XHMS

Instruct plotl to use ddd/hh:mm:ss format for numbers along the x axis. The input units of the x values must be hours (or converted to hours with MATH).

XHMSFORMat format [units]

Specify the format of the time numbers along.

Allowed values for 'format' are:

DDD/HH[:MM:SS]

YYYY/DDD[/HH[:MM[:SS]]]

YYYY/MM/DD[/HH[:MM[:SS]]]

DDMONYYYY[/HH[:MM[:SS]]]

Allowed values for 'units' are:

hours -- X data are in units of hours (default)

unixsec -- X data are in unix time seconds

YHMS

Instruct plotl to use ddd/hh:mm:ss format for numbers along the y axis. The input units of the y values must be hours (or converted to hours with MATH).

ZHMS

Instruct plotl to use ddd/hh:mm:ss format for numbers along the z axis. The input units of the z values must be hours (or converted to hours with MATH).

NOXHMS

Disables using dd/hh:mm:ss format for numbers along the x axis.

NOYHMS

Disables using dd/hh:mm:ss format for numbers along the y axis.

NOZHMS

Disables using dd/hh:mm:ss format for numbers along the z axis.

ABSolutevaluesofticmarks

Equivalent to issuing the two commands: XABS and YABS.

NOABSolutevaluesofticmarks

Equivalent to issuing the two commands: NOXABS and NOYABS.

XABSolutevaluesofticmarks

Displays the absolute value of the tic mark value, rather than its actual value, on the x axis. The position of the tic mark is unaffected.

YABSolutevaluesofticmarks

Displays the absolute value of the tic mark value, rather than its actual value, on the y axis. The position of the tic mark is unaffected.

NOXABSolutevaluesofticmarks

Disables the modifications caused by the XABS command.

NOYABSolutevaluesofticmarks

Disables the modifications caused by the YABS command.

XNEGativevaluesofticmarks

Displays the negative of the tic mark values, rather than their actual values, on the x axis. The position of the tic mark is unaffected. This feature is commonly used to create an inverted axis. That is, one that descends from XMAX to XMIN from left to right.

NOXNEGativevaluesofticmarks

Disables the modifications caused by the XNEG command.

YNEGativevaluesofticmarks

Displays the negative of the tic mark values, rather than their actual values, on the y axis. The position of the tic mark is unaffected. This feature is commonly used to create an inverted axis. That is, one that descends from YMAX to YMIN from left to right.

NOYNEGativevaluesofticmarks

Disables the modifications caused by the YNEG command.

XMOD modulus

Displays the value of tic marks, modulus 'modulus', rather than the actual value on the x axis. The position of the tic mark is unaffected. This feature is commonly used to show local times that repeat, i.e., 'XMOD 24.'

NOXMOD

Disables the changes caused by the XMOD command. Effectively the same as 'XMOD 0.'

YMOD modulus

Displays the value of tic marks, modulus 'modulus', rather than the actual value on the y axis. The position of the tic mark is unaffected.

NOYMOD

Disables the changes caused by the YMOD command. Effectively the same as 'YMOD 0.'

Commands to configure symbols and lines.

PENWidth width

Sets the width of the lines drawn connecting data points on the graph. 'width' is in inches, and defaults to 0.0075.

DATAWidth width

Same as PENWIDTH.

BOXWidth width

SYMBOLEVERY nthpoint

Instructs plotl to put a symbol every 'nthpoint', rather than at every data point. For example, 'SYMBOLEVERY 5' puts a symbol every fifth point along the curve.

SYMBOLSIze size

Sets the size of symbols drawn on data curves. 'size' is in inches, and has a default value of 0.1.

DEFINESYMbol n TEXT textstring

Allows the user to define a TEXT string to be used as a symbol on a graphic. Up to 10 user symbols can be defined, with 'n' ranging from 10 through 19. Once defined, all the normal symbol control commands, such as; SYMBOLSIZE, SYMBOLNUMBER, SYMBOLEVERY and the like, can be used with their expected effect. Note that TEXT must be upper case, while the text in 'textstring' has no case restriction.

DEFINESYMbol n NUMBER value

As above, but uses a number, rather than a textstring as input.

SYMBOLNumber n

Selects wich symbol will be used on the graph. The possibilities for 'n' are:

6 -- A plus in diamond

7 -- An X in square

8 -- A plus in octagon

9 -- An eight point asterisk

10-19 As defined with the DEFINSYMBOL command.

SYMbols

Enables the placement of symbols on the data as it is plotted. The default is to use no symbols.

NOSYMbols

Disables the placement of symbols on the data points as they are plotted. This is the default. Issuing the command NOSYMBOLS automatically enables CONNECT.

CONnectpoints

Instructs plotl to connect data values with straight lines as they are plotted. This is the default.

NOCONnectpoints

Instructs plotl to not connect data points with lines. NOCONNECT automatically enables SYMBOLS.

FILLEDSYMbols

Instructs plotl to use solid color symbols, where appropriate, rather than outline shapes. Only symbol number 0, 1, 2, and 5 are affected.

NOFILLEDSYMbols

Instructs plotl to use outline symbols rather than solid filled shapes. This is the default.

DASHedlines mark1 [space1 mark2 space2 ...]

Instructs plotl to use a dashed line (rather than the default solid line) for data plots, and for lines drawn with DRAW, RDRAW, and ADRAW. If a single paramter, mark1, is given, the dashed lines will be half mark, half space, with the combined mark+space length equal to mark1. If additional parameters are included on the command, they will be used to define a more complicated dash pattern.

NODASHedlines

Retruns lines drawn to solid, rather than dashed. This is the default.

Data reduction (filtering) commands.

XRANGE xrangemin xrangemax

Excludes any points that have an x position outside the range specified. The excluded points are 'skipped' when the data file is read. XRANGE is typically much faster than filtering data with equivalent math commands.

YRANGE yrangemin yrangemax

Excludes any points that have a y position outside the range specified. The excluded points are 'skipped' when the data file is read. YRANGE is typically much faster than filtering data with equivalent math commands.

ZRANGE zrangemin zrangemax

Excludes any points that have a z position outside the range specified. The excluded points are 'skipped' when the data file is read. ZRANGE is typically much faster than filtering data with equivalent math commands.

NOXRANGE

Turns off data filtering set by the XRANGE command. This is the default.

NOYRANGE

Turns off data filtering set by the YRANGE command. This is the default.

NOZRANGE

Turns off data filtering set by the ZRANGE command. This is the default.

CLIP

Instructs plotl to clip (not show) data curves and symbols beyond the xmin/xmax/ymin/ymax frame. CLIP is equivalent to issuing the two commands XCLIP and YCLIP.

XCLIP

The same as CLIP, but only affects curves and symbols that are outside the xmin/xmax range.

YCLIP

The same as CLIP, but only affects curves and symbols that are outside the ymin/max range.

NOCLIP

Instructs plotl to allow and display data curves and symbols beyond the xmin/xmax/ymin/ymax frame. NOCLIP is equivalent to issuing the two commands NOXCLIP and NOYCLIP. This is the default.

NOXCLIP

Instructs plotl to allow and display data curves and symbols beyond the xmin/xmax range.

NOYCLIP

Instructs plotl to allow and display data curves and symbols beyond the ymin/ymax range.

XDELTA xdmin xdmax

When set, the x position of each data point is compared to that of the previous point. If the difference is less than xdmin, or greater than xdmax, no line is drawn between the data points. Instead, the pen is moved to the new data location. This allows 'gaps' in the data to be displayed with corresponding gaps in the plotted curve.

NOXDELTA

Disables difference checking set by the XDELTA command.

YDELTA ydmin ydmax

When set, the y position of each data point is compared to that of the previous point. If the difference is less than ydmin, or greater than ydmax, no line is drawn between the data points. Instead, the pen is moved to the new data location. This allows 'gaps' in the data to be displayed with corresponding gaps in the plotted curve.

NOYDELTA

Disables difference checking set by the YDELTA command.

PLOTEVERY nthpoint

Instructs plotl to plot only every 'nthpont' point. For example, to plot every third point in a datafile, issue 'PLOTEVERY 3'.

SKIP n

Skips 'n' lines in the datafile before beginning to read data. This is quite useful for skipping over non-data header information in files. See also the 'skip' operand in MATH.

MAXPoints n

Sets the maximum number of points that plotl will read in from the data file (after skipping the number of points specfied in SKIP.)

SEEK string

Skips data lines in datafile till the line after one containing string . SEEK is performed before SKIP.

NOSEEK

Disables SEEK.

SORT

Same as XSORT.

NOSORT

Disables both XSORT and YSORT. This is the default.

XSORT

Instrcts plotl to sort data according to increasing x values before plotting. XSORT automatically disables YSORT.

YSORT

Instructs plotl to sort data according to increasing y values before plotting. YSORT automatically disables XSORT.

NOXSORT

Disables XSORT.

NOYSORT

Disables YSORT.

Commands to annotate graphs with text.

TEXT textstring

Draws the 'textstring' at the current pen position, using the current font (SETFONT) and TEXTSIZE. There are several control codes that can be used to modify the text. The escape character is the vertical bar, '|'.

|- Subscript and reduce fontsize.

|= Return to baseline and initial fontsize.

|> Increase font size.

|< Decrease font size.

|~ Overstrike last character.

|X?? Read ?? as a two digit hexadecimal number, and print the corresponding ascii character.

|B Change to bold font.

|I Change to italic font.

|U Alternate between underline/not underline.

|H Use Helvetica font. See also SETFONT.

|T Use Times font. See also SETFONT.

|C Use Courier font. See also SETFONT.

|S Use Symbol font. See also SETFONT.

|L LEFTJUSTIFY.

|R RIGHTJUSTIFY.

|M CENTERTEXT ( |C was already taken by Courier ).

|0 Draws symbol number 0 in the textstring.

|1 Draws symbol number 1 in the textstring.

|2 Draws symbol number 2 in the textstring.

|3 Draws symbol number 3 in the textstring.

|4 Draws symbol number 4 in the textstring.

|5 Draws symbol number 5 in the textstring.

|6 Draws symbol number 6 in the textstring.

|7 Draws symbol number 7 in the textstring.

|8 Draws symbol number 8 in the textstring.

|9 Draws symbol number 9 in the textstring.

|_ Draws 0.25 inches of a line using the current PENWIDTH and DASH in the textstring.

|| Draws the character '|'.

|\ Draws the character '\'.

| A quoted space. Forces a space.

|%varname Insert character variable 'varname' into text.

|$varname Insert numeric variable 'varname' into text.

|{math} Insert numeric result of {math} into text. See MATH.

|#?? Use ?? places after decimal point when inserting numeric values into text. Trailing zeroes are not shown.

|#+ Forces the inclusion of a plus sign at the beginning of positive numbers. The default is to omit the plus sign on positive numbers.

|#- Instructs plotl to omit the plus sign at the beginning of positive numbers. This is the default.

|#(i2.2) Instructs plotl to use the FORTRAN format specified between the parenthesis to format the number. This overrides just about all the other |# commands.

|^ Use scientific notation when inserting numeric values into text.

|: Use ddd/hh:mm:ss format when inserting numeric values into text.

TITLE textstring

Puts 'textstring' above the graph, centered, using the current TEXTSIZE and font (SETFONT). See also TEXT.

TEXTSIze size

Sets the 'size' of text drawn by subsequent TEXT commands. 'size' is in inches, and has a default of 0.18.

TEXTAngle angle

Sets the angle that text drawn by subsequent TEXT commands will have relative to the x axis. Positive angles increase the counter-clockwise rotation of the text. The default is for a zero degree angle.

CENTERtext

Instructs plotl to center the textstrings drawn by subsequent TEXT commands on the current pen position.

RIGHTjustifytext

Instructs plotl to position text drawn by subsequent TEXT commands such that the textstring ends at the current pen position.

LEFTjustifytext

Instructs plotl to position text drawn by subsequent TEXT commands such that the textstring begins at the current pen position. This is the default.

LINESEGmentlength length

NEWLINE

Moves the pen position to a new position equivalent to a carriage-return, line-feed combination. The line spacing is set to 1.2 times the TEXTSIZE, unless NEWLINESPACING has been defined.

NEWLINESpacing spacing

Sets the line spacing used in NEWLINE and TEXTBLOCK commands.

TEXTBLOCK -return- textblock

Reads the line after the TEXTBLOCK command (up to 8192 characters) and prints it as a paragraph, inserting NEWLINE commands as required to make the block width fit within TEXTBLOCKWIDTH.

TEXTBLOCKWidth width

Defines the width of the block used by the TEXTBLOCK command. 'width' is in inches.

STAMP text

Placed 'text' in the information block in the lower-left corner of the page in a small font, just any previous STAMP.

%variable=textstring

Sets the text variable 'variable' to 'textstring'. Text variables can be used as part of the input in subsequent commands that require text input by including |%variable as part of the text.

SETENV variable string

Equivalent to %variable=string

Math commands.

MATH mathcommand

Plotl uses a stack oriented math command syntax. Each math command is surrounded by braces, {}. For exmaple {2 5 add} would push the number 2 onto the stack, push the number 5 on the stack, the command add would add them together, resulting in 7. Any valid operand, number, or variable can be placed in a math command. Also, math commands can either affect data, (i.e., x={x x mul}),be used as input on plotl commands (i.e., xmin { pi 2 div } ), or to set variables (i.e., $junk={ $angle cos }). Nested math commands are not allowed. That is, anything that looks like {{something}} is invalid.

$variable = { ... }

X = { ... }

Y = { ... }

Z = { ... }

V = { ... }

C0 = { ... }

C1 = { ... }

C2 = { ... }

C3 = { ... }

C4 = { ... }

C5 = { ... }

C6 = { ... }

C7 = { ... }

C8 = { ... }

C9 = { ... }

C10 = { ... }

C47 = { ... }

C48 = { ... }

C49 = { ... }

C50 = { ... }

CLEARMATH

Math commands that affect data (X=, Y=, Z=, V=, C*=) are accumulated on a math command stack. As the data is read, each command is performed on each line of data, in the order the commands were accumlated. The math command stack is not automatically cleared. CLEARMATH removes all accumulated commands from the stack.

CLEARXMATH

Removes only X=anything commands from the math command stack.

CLEARYMATH

Removes only Y=anything commands from the math command stack.

CLEARZMATH

Removes only Z=anything commands from the math command stack.

CLEARVMATH

Removes only V=anything commands from the math command stack.

CLEARLASTmathcommand

Removes the last math command entered from the stack. CLEARLAST can be issued multiple times to remove multiple commands.

Commands to configure error bars.

ERRORBAREVERY n

Instructs plotl to place error bars every 'n' points rather than every point when XERROBARCOLUMN and/or YERRORBARCOLUMN has been defined.

ERRORBARTICSize ticsize

Sets the length of the tics that mark the upper and lower extent of errorbars. 'ticsize' is in inches, and has a default value of 0.1.

XERRORBARColumn icol

Instructs plotl to use the numbers in 'icol' to define the size of x-error bars. The number in error bar columns are expected to be in the same units as the data being plotted. XERRORBARCOLUMN sets both the plus (XERRORBARHIGH) and minus (XERRORBARLOW) extents.

XERRORBARLowcolumn icol

Instructs plotl to use the numbers in 'icol' to define the minus extent of x error bars. Used in conjuntion with XERRORBARHIGH, errorbars can have differing plus and minus values.

XERRORBARHighcolumn icol

Instructs plotl to use the numbers in 'icol' to define the plus extent of x error bars. Used in conjuntion with XERRORBARLOW, errorbars can have differing plus and minus values.

YERRORBARColumn icol

Instructs plotl to use the numbers in 'icol' to define the size of Y-error bars. The number in error bar columns are expected to be in the same units as the data being plotted. YERRORBARCOLUMN sets both the plus (YERRORBARHIGH) and minus (YERRORBARLOW) extents.

YERRORBARLowcolumn icol

Instructs plotl to use the numbers in 'icol' to define the minus extent of Y error bars. Used in conjuntion with YERRORBARHIGH, errorbars can have differing plus and minus values.

YERRORBARHighcolumn icol

Instructs plotl to use the numbers in 'icol' to define the plus extent of Y error bars. Used in conjuntion with YERRORBARLOW, errorbars can have differing plus and minus values.

NOXERRorbars

Disables placement of x error bars.

NOYERRorbars

Disables placement of y error bars.

NOERRorbars

Equivalent to issuing the two commands: NOXERRORBARS and NOYERRORBARS.

Curve fitting and data smoothing commands.

FITPOLYnomial n

Fits a least-squares polynomial of order 'n' through the loaded data (LOAD, PLOT). The coefficients of the polynomial are stored in the variables $a0, $a1, ... $an. The polynomial is then: y = $a0 + $a1*x + ... + $an*x**n. 'n' must be between zero and nine, inclusinve. The command 'FITPOLY 0' returns the average of the data as $a0.

FITCUBICspline npoints minimum maximum

Fits a series of cubic splines to loaded data (LOAD, PLOT), and creates a temporary datafile with the resulting curve. The created data file has 'npoints' data points, ranging from 'minimum' to 'maximum' along x. The data columns (XCOLUMN, YCOLUMN) are set to xcol=1 and ycol=2. The datafile (DATA) is set to the temporary file. SYMBOLCOLUMN, COLORCOLUMN, and PENWIDTHCOLUMN are not supported with cubic spline fits.

INVENTdata npoints minimum maximum

Creates a datafile with 'npoints' ranging from 'minimum' to 'maximum'. Both XCOLUMN and YCOLUMN are set to 1. COLORCOLUMN, SYMBOLCOLUMN, and PENWIDTHCOLUMN are not supported. Typically, this command is used to plot curves of simple functions. For example, after an INVENT command, one might set 'y={x x mul}' to plot a parabola.

XSMOOTH ntimes

Instructs plotl to apply a Gaussian filter of variance 'ntimes' to the data, therby smoothing the x variation. Larger 'ntimes' result in smoother data.

YSMOOTH ntimes

Instructs plotl to apply a Gaussian filter of variance 'ntimes' to the data, therby smoothing the y variation. Larger 'ntimes' result in smoother data.

NOXSMOOTH

Turns off x data smoothing set by XSMOOTH.

NOYSMOOTH

Turns off y data smoothing set by YSMOOTH.

Color control commands.

SETRGBcolor red green blue

Sets the current color to that specified. This has the effect of setting TEXTCOLOR, DATACOLOR, and AXISCOLOR all to the specified color. 'red', 'green' and 'blue' are decimal numbers from 0.0 to 1.0. Black is 'SETRGB 0 0 0'.

SETCOLOR red green blue

The same as SETRGB.

GRAY graylevel

Equivalent to 'SETRGB graylevel graylevel graylevel'.

GREY graylevel

The same as GRAY.

NOGRAY

Equivalent to 'SETRGB 0 0 0'. Sets the current color to black.

NOGREY

Same as 'NOGRAY'.

TEXTCOLOR red green blue

Selects the color defined by 'red', 'green', and 'blue' as the color for all subsequent TEXT.

DATACOLOR red green blue

Selects the color defined by 'red', 'green', and 'blue' as the color for data curves and symbols.

AXISCOLOR red green blue

Selects the color defined by 'red', 'green', and 'blue' as the color for axes.

AXESCOLOR red green blue

Same as AXISCOLOR.

GRIDCOLOR red green blue

Selects the color used to draw the GRID. The defaults is black (GRIDCOLOR 0 0 0).

MINORGRIDCOLOR red green blue

Selects the color used to draw the MINORGRID. The default is black (MINORGRIDCOLOR 0 0 0).

GRIDDASH mark space

NOGRIDDASH

MINORGRIDDASH mark space

NOMINORGRIDDASH mark space

NCOLORS n

Defines the number of colors in the color table. Each color must be defined with a DEFINECOLOR command. The color table may have up to 256 entries. The color table is used primarily to support the COLORCOLUMN, COLORCONTOUR, and SOLID commands.

DEFINECOLOR icolor red green blue

Defines the red, green, and blue values for a color in the color table. The color numbers range from zero to n-1, where n is the value set by the NCOLORS command.

DCOLor icolor red green blue

Same as DEFINECOLOR

COLOR icolor

Selects color number 'icolor' from the color table and sets the current color to that color. This has the effect of 'SETRBG red green blue' where 'red', 'green', and 'blue' are the values used when 'icolor' was defined by DEFINECOLOR.

Advanced script programming commands.

VERSIONcompatibility version

Instructs plotl to use 'version' compatible syntax. Typically, plotl is completely backwards compatible with scripts written for older versions. There are rare exceptions, however. The VERSION command instructs plotl to interpret commands assuming the syntax supported by the previous version, rather than the newer syntax. VERSION does not affect any command that does not have a backwards compatibility confict. 'version' is formated like yyyy.mm.dd. For example, 1995.05.26 is a valid version.

LITERAL postscript string

Literally puts the postscript string into the PostScript output file (typically plotl.ps).

USE variablename

Equivalent to '$variablename={true}'.

NOUSE variablename

Equivalent to '$variablename={false}'

LOOP number

Executes the commands between LOOP and ENDLOOP 'number' times. The variable '$loop' is incremented each time. Loop structures may be nested.

ENDLOOP

Indicates the end of a LOOP structure. Each LOOP must have a corresponding ENDLOOP.

GOTO #label

Instructs plotl to jump to the command following the label '#label'. The character '#' must be the first character on a line. It cannot be preceded by whitespace.

DEFINECOMmandfile filename

Takes all subsequent commands up till ENDDEFINE, and writes them to the file specified by 'filename'.

ENDDEFINEcom

Ends the definition of a command file, and returns plotl to normal command parsing mode.

IF {something}

ELSE

ENDIF

PROMPT command string

Prompts user with 'string'. User's response is appended to 'command' and that 'command users_response' is executed. For example: 'prompt NULL Press return to continue' will wait for the user to press return, then execute the NULL command.

NOFASTread

Instructs plotl to parse data lines and interpret numbers, variables ($name), math syntax ({math command}) and ddd/hh:mm:ss formatted numbers. This is relatively slow, compared to FASTREAD. This is the default.

NOREADFAST

Same as NOFASTREAD.

FASTread

Instructs plotl to expect only numbers in data files. Things such as variables and math syntax will not be corrected interpreted in this mode. However, this mode is relatively fast compared to the NOFASTREAD mode.

READFAST

Same as FASTREAD.

NOFAST/FORCE

LABELHeaders xhead yhead1 ... yheadN

MULTIPLOT

Commands useful for debugging scripts.

DEBUG

Results in debugging level command echoing to stdout.

NODEBUG

Disables debugging level command echoing.

VERBOSE

Instructs plotl to echo all commands and status messages to stdout. This is the default.

QUIET

Instructs plotl to not echo commands and status messages to stdout. Error message are still written to stderr, and are unaffected by QUIET.

SHOWCVARiable variable

Writes the text string stored in the character variable 'variable' to stdout.

SHOWVARiable variable

Writes the numeric value of 'variable' to stdout.

DUMPCOLORtable [filename}

Instructs plotl to output the color table. If a filename is given, the table is written to that file. Otherwise, the table is written to stdout. The format is suitable to be executed as a plotl COMMANDFILE. Only the first NCOLORS of the table are dumped.

DUMPCOMPILEstack [filename]

Instructs plotl to output the list compile stack. If a filename is given, the list is written to that file. Otherwise, the list is written to stdout.

DUMPALIASes [filename]

Instructs plotl to output the list of aliases. If a filename is given, the list is written to that file. Otherwise, the list is written to stdout.

DUMPPGM [filename]

DUMPARRAY [filename]

Instructs plotl to output the array last loaded with the ARRAY command. If a filename is given, the array is written to that file. Otherwise, it is written to stdout.

DUMPARRAYMAP [filename url border]

DUMPVARiables [filename]

Instrucs plotl to output the complete list of numeric variables. If a filename is given, the list is written to that file. Otherwise, it is written to stdout.

DUMPCVARiables [filename]

Instrucs plotl to output the complete list of character variables. If a filename is given, the list is written to that file. Otherwise, it is written to stdout.

DUMPDATA [filename]

Instructs plotl to output the x, y, z, and v data vectors presently in memory. If a filename is given, the data is written to that file. Otherwise, it is written to stdout.

DUMPMATHstack [filename]

Instructs plotl to output the entire math command stack as presently defined. If a filename is given, the commands are written to that file. Otherwise, the stack is dumped to stdout.

ECHOERRor message

Writes 'message' to stderr.

ECHO message

Writes 'message' to stdout.

SAVETEMPoraryfiles

Occasionally plotl creates scratch files to store information. Typically, these files are deleted just before plotl terminates. If SAVETEMP has been issued, however, the scratch files remain after plotl quits.

Commands for generating 3-D graphics.

Contours, relief plots spectra, and the like.

3DMOVEto x y z

Moves the pen to the position specified. If XSCALE, YSCALE, or ZSCALE have been set, then x, y, or z are in graph units, rather than inches, as is the default. If the coordinate system is not CARTESIAN, then x, y, and z are always in graph units. 3DROTATION must be issued before 3DMOVE.

3DDRAWto x y z [nsegments]

Draws from the current pen position to x, y, z. The optional parameter nsegments instructs plotl to draw to the new x,y,z coordinates in nsegments steps. If the geometry is not CARTESIAN, then the the default value of one will often not produce the expected or desired result. If XSCALE, YSCALE, or ZSCALE have been set, then x, y, or z are in graph units, rather than inches, as is the default. If the coordinate system is not CARTESIAN, then x, y, and z are always in graph units. 3DROTATION must be issued before 3DDRAW.

CARTESIANcoordinates

Instructs plotl to us a cartesian coordinate system for subsequent 3-D graphics.

POLARcoordinates

Instructs plotl to use a right-circular polar (cylindrical) coordinate system for subsequent 3-D graphics. The x axis becomes r (radius), and the y axis becomes theta. Y values are in degrees.

COS3Dcoordinates

SPHERICALcoordinates

Instructs plotl to us a spherical coordinate system for subsequent 3-D graphics. X becomes theta and Y becomes phi, in the usual sense. Both X and Y values should be in degrees.

3DROTation xrotation yrotation zrotation

Defines the three Eulerian angles for the rotation to be applied to subsequent 3-D graphics. The default rotation (0,0,0) is such that the x and y axes are in the same orientation as for 2-D graphics. The z azis completes the right-handed coordinate system, coming perpendicular out of the page. Rotations are performed as follows: 1) the coordinate system is rotated about the z axis by 'zrotation'. 2) the coordinate system is rotated about the new y axis by 'yrotation'. Finally, the coordinate system is rotated about the new x axis by 'xrotation'. All angles are in degrees. The rotations are such that positive rotation angles result in right-handed rotations of the coordinate system.

Note that the convention for 3DROTATION was changed on 27-MAY-1995. Scripts written before this date will very likely use the old convention. These scripts can either be updated to use the new angle convention, or, the command 'VERSION 1995.05.26' can be issued before the 3DROTATION command is executed.

If you choose to update the script, note that '3drot -90 0 0' in the old convention is equivalent to '3drot 0 0 0' now. Also, '3drot -25 25 0' is equivalent to '3drot -65 0 -25' now. In general, new_xrotation = -90 - old_xrotation, new_yrotation = old_zrotation, and new_zrotation = -old_yrotation.

DEFINE3Drotation xrotation yrotation zrotation

Same as 3DROTATION.

ARRAY nx ny

Instructs plotl to read nx*ny array values from subsequent lines in the commandfile. The elements are read in column major order (FORTRAN order).

ARRAY2 nx ny

RAWARRAY

RAWARRAYXSCANS

ARRAYSUBTRACTARRAY2

ARRAYADDARRAY2

ARRAYDIVIDEARRAY2

LOADARRAY2FROMARRAY

SOLID

Renders a 3D surface of the data loaded with the ARRAY command using the presently defined rotation matrix (3DROTATION) and geometry mapping (CARTESIAN, POLAR, COS3D, SPHERICAL). The suface is shaded with the colors defined in the current color table (NCOLORS, DEFINECOLOR), with the colors varying linearly from zmin to zmax. SOLID is the preferred syntax, and should be used in place of the error prone SURFACE command.

ONECONTour level

SHOWONECONTour level

STEP dz

CONTOURSTEP dz

CONTour

SHOWCONTour

ANNOTATEContourlevels

NOANNOTATEContourlevels

CCONTour

COLORCONTour

GCONTour

GRAYCONTour

GREYCONTour

SHOWCOLORSCALE

SHOWGRAYSCALE

SHOWGREYSCALE

CLEARWorkspace

XLINES

YLINES

HIDElines

NOHIDElines

NOXLINES

NOYLINES

FILL3DFunction

FILL3Darray

3DREDUCE xfactor yfactor

TRANSPOSE3DXY

3DTRANsposexy

REFLECT3DX

3DREFLECTX

REFLECT3DX

3DREFLECTX

3DLAT2NORTHCOLAT

3DLAT2SOUTHCOLAT

ARRAY2NORTHPOLAR

ARRAY2SOUTHPOLAR

3DPLOT

ARRAYXSCALEing nx a0 a1

VOLUMEXSCALEing nx a0 a1

ARRAYYSCALEing ny a0 a1

VOLUMEYSCALEing ny a0 a1

VOLUMEZSCALEing nz a0 a1

ARRAYX nx arrayx(1) arrayx(2) ... arrayx(nx)

VOLUMEX nx arrayx(1) arrayx(2) ... arrayx(nx)

ARRAYY ny arrayy(1) arrayy(2) ... arrayy(ny)

VOLMUEY ny arrayy(1) arrayy(2) ... arrayy(ny)

VOLUMEZ nz arrayz(1) arrayz(2) ... arrayz(nz)

ARRAYDX nx arraydx(1) arraydx(2) ... arraydx(nx)

ARRAYDY ny arraydy(1) arraydy(2) ... arraydy(ny)

FIT3DDIMensions

FILLPOLARHOLE

CLOSEPOLARsurface

ARRAYREION ix1 ix2 iy1 iy2

XRASTER nraster ipixel_1 ipixel_2 ... ipixel_nraster

YRASTER nraster ipixel_1 ipixel_2 ... ipixel_nraster

RASTERDX dx

RASTERDY dy

YSLICEARRAY iy

XSLICEARRAY ix

Miscellaneous commands.

TMDATA filename nrows ncols

FLUSHoutput

VARIABLESUperscriptsize size

MAXCOLumns n

NOMAXCOLumn

NOTIME

NOSTAMP

SYSTEM system-shell-command

On supported operating systems (unix) executes the string 'system-shell-command' in the system shell environment.

ZOOM zoomfactor

Scales all subsequent graphics by 'zoomfactor'. ZOOM should be used as the first command in a script, or on the plotl startup line. It can be used at other times, though the effect may be hard to predict.

FACTOR zoomfactor

Same as ZOOM.

ALIAS alias action

Creates an alias so that unsupported commands can be assigned to supported syntax. For example, alias exit quit means that the command alias exit has the same effect as the command quit . You can prevent the execution of commands by aliasing them to null . Also, don't alias alias alias since the infinite recursion will soon cause plotl to fail.

SYNonym alias action

Same as ALIAS.

UNALIAS alias

GETBOUNDS

Sets the variables $X0, $Y0, $X1, and $Y1 to the present size of the postscript bounding box.

SETFONT fontname

Sets the default font for subsequent text and numerics. The default font is Helvetica. Supported fonts are: Courier, Helvetica, Symbol, and Times-Roman. Fontname is case-sensitive, and must be an exact match of one of the four supported font names.

NULL

Null command, does nothing.

HELP

Outputs generic help message, pointing user to plotl information available on internet.

PGM pgmfile

Loads a PGM (portable gray map) from pgmfile . Only type P2 PGM files are supported. The full P2 specification is not yet supported. For example, comments can only be placed immediatedly after the P2 header. Also, the maximum value of any pixel is 255. The PGM graphic is limited to about 2 million pixels. The internal variables $imagex and $imagey are are set during the load, and correspond to the width and height of the image in pixels.

SHOWIMAGE

Instructs plotl to draw the bitmap imaged loaded with a PGM command. The image is scaled to fill the entire box defined by the ORIGIN, XDIM and YDIM. To maintain the aspect ratio either XDIM or YDIM must be scaled to fit. For example, ydim {$xdim $imagey mul $imagex div} . The color table defined with the DEFINECOLOR command should have an entry for each gray level in the image.

NEWPAGE

ROTate angle

DELETE filename

RETURN/DELETEthiscommandfile

RETURN

Instructs plotl to stop reading commands from the current COMMANDFILE and again read commands from the calling commandfile (or from stdin if that was the previous state).

QUIT

Instructs plotl to quit.

SCALEmovedrawraster

Equivalent to issuing the three commands 'XSCALE' 'YSCALE' and 'ZSCALE'.

NOSCALEmovedrawraster

Equivalent to issuing the three commands 'NOXSCALE' 'NOYSCALE' and 'NOZSCALE'.

XSCALEmovedrawraster

Instructs plotl to treat x values passed to MOVE, DRAW, and raster commands as scaled values. That is, x values on these commands are in graph units, as determined by XMIN and XMAX, instead of inches as is the default. XMIN and XMAX must have previously been defined.

NOXSCALEmovedrawraster

Returns plotl to default of treating x values on MOVE, DRAW, and raster commands as inches.

YSCALEmovedrawraster

Instructs plotl to treat y values passed to MOVE, DRAW, and raster commands as scaled values. That is, y values on these commands are in graph units, as determined by YMIN and YMAX, instead of inches as is the default. YMIN and YMAX must have previously been defined.

NOYSCALEmovedrawraster

Returns plotl to default of treating y values on MOVE, DRAW, and raster commands as inches.

ZSCALEmovedrawraster

Instructs plotl to treat z values passed to MOVE, and DRAW commands as scaled values. That is, z values on these commands are in graph units, as determined by ZMIN and ZMAX, instead of inches as is the default. ZMIN and ZMAX must have previously been defined.

NOZSCALEmovedrawraster

Returns plotl to default of treating z values on MOVE, and DRAW commands as inches.

REScaleminmax

Equivalent to issuing the three commands: 'XRESCALE', 'YRESCALE', and 'ZRESCALE'.

XREScaleminmax

Instructs plotl to ignore the ranges set by previous XMIN and XMAX commands. If XMIN and XMAX are not set prior to a datafile load (PLOT, LOAD), plotl will set XMIN and XMAX automatically.

YREScaleminmax

Instructs plotl to ignore the ranges set by previous YMIN and YMAX commands. If YMIN and YMAX are not set prior to a datafile load (PLOT, LOAD), plotl will set YMIN and YMAX automatically.

ZREScaleminmax

Instructs plotl to ignore the ranges set by previous ZMIN and ZMAX commands. If ZMIN and ZMAX are not set prior to a datafile load (PLOT, LOAD), plotl will set ZMIN and ZMAX automatically.

Internal commands.

The following commands are commands that are typically not issued by the user in scripts. Instead, they are most often used as building blocks by other plotl commands. However, they are sometimes useful to the advanced user, and are so here documented.

ERRORBAR

CLIPATAXES

DOPLOT

DO3DPLOT

DOBOXplot

DOFFT

DOSORT

DOSMOOTH

DOHANNING

DODERIVative

DOMATH

DOMINMAX

DOARRAYMATH

SHOWAXES

SHOWSECONDAXES

SHOWXAXis

SHOWYAXis

SHOWSECONDXAX/NOANNOTATION

SHOWSECONDXAXis

SHOWSECONDYAX/NOANNOTATION

SHOWSECONDYAXis

SHOW3DXAXis

SHOW3DYAXis

SHOW3DZAXis

SHOWSECOND3DXAXis

SHOWSECOND3DYAXis

SHOWSECOND3DZAXis

DO3DBIN

DO3DBINCOUNT

DO3DBINSUM

DO3DBINAVE

DO3DBINDEV

DOBIN

DOBINCOUNT

DOBINSUM

DOBINAVE

DOBINDEV

DEFINEBINs

DOHISTogram

DOAXES

UNLOADFFTarray

LOADFFTarray

LOADdata

Instructs plotl to read data from the datafile (DATA) into memory. Of the maximum 50 columns of data, only data from the X, Y, Z, V, COLORCOLUMN, SYMBOLCOLUMN PENWIDTHCOLUMN and errorbar columns are retained. Any MATH operations are performed during the read.

APPENDdata

Appends data from the current datafile (DATA) to that already loaded with previous LOAD and APPEND commands into memory.

Especially arcane commands.

The following commands are so arcane that I'm not even going to try to describe them. If you feel you need one of these, ask me about it first. Or not.

TESTCOMPILE

SWAPENDIAN

NOSWAPENDIAN

TRANSPOSEXY

HANNING

NOHANNING

NFFT number (should be 2**N)

FFT

MERGEwithnewdata [iorder]

BUILD

FORCEPENDOWN

NOFORCEPENDOWN

ALLOWCOMmandsindata

NOALLOWCOMmandsindata

OFFSET3D x y

XNUMBERPRiority

YNUMBERPRiority

XFF1

NOXFF1

YFF1

NOYFF1

XLF1

NOXLF1

YLF1

NOYLF1

XFF2

NOXFF2

YFF2

NOYFF2

XLF2

NOXLF2

YLF2

NOYLF2

XFN1

NOXFN1

YFN1

NOYFN1

XLN1

NOXLN1

YLN1

NOYLN1

XFN2

NOXFN2

YFN2

NOYFN2

XLN2

NOXLN2

YLN2

NOYLN2

BORderspace

NOBORderspace

XBORderspace

NOXBORderspace

YBORderspace

ZBORderspace

NOYBORderspace

NOZBORderspace

Obsolete commands.

The following commands, while still supported, are considered obsolete. Typically, there is a new and better syntax that is recommended. Use of these commands should be avoided in new scripts.

MARK length

Obsolete syntax. See DASH.

Used in conjuction with SPACE, defines a dash pattern for lines in data plots, and those drawn with DRAW, ADRAW, and RDRAW.

Obsolete syntax. Use MATH operations on PENWIDTHCOLUM.

READXLABelfromdatafile

READYLABelfromdatafile

TEXTSTRING1 text

Obsolete syntax. Use '%textstring1=text'

TEXTSTRING2 text

TEXTSTRING3 text

TEXTSTRING4 text

TEXTSTRING5 text

SHOWTEXTSTRING1

Obsolete syntax. Use 'TEXT |%textstring1'.

SHOWTEXTSTRING2

SHOWTEXTSTRING3

-V yyyy.mm.dd

Sets the compatibility version to the version specified. See the VERSION command.

Environment variables.

Environment variables set in the unix shell are accessed by plotl as character variables. For example, the variable term (setenv term vt100) would be used as in

ECHO Terminal type is |%term.

Note that once an enviroment variable has been used, it becomes an internal plotl variable, and is not updated if the environment variable changes. Also, unix environment variables are case sensistive, while internal plotl character variables are not. The case sensitivity is maintained within plotl to retrieve the value of the external variable, but once internalized, the case sensitivity is lost.