Axis Scaling

It is often the case that the automatic scaling determined by plotl is not what you want or need. It is possible to prescribe the minimum and maximum values of either the x or y axes, or both. The folling example sets the min and max for the y axis, but allows plotl to autoscale along x;

    data test.dat
    xcolumn 1
    ycolumn 2
    ymin -2
    ymax 3
    xlabel Angle
    ylabel COS( Angle )
    plot
    title Y Axis Using Fixed Scaling

This creates a graph like this. plotl will allow the curve to extend beyond the bounds of the axes if so directed;

    data test.dat
    xcolumn 1
    ycolumn 2
    ymin -1
    ymax 0.5
    xlabel Angle
    ylabel COS( Angle )
    plot
    title Whoops!

with results like this. This can be useful at times. If you want to focus in on a narrow range of the data, but don't want the curve drawn outside the axes box, use the clip command;

    data test.dat
    xcolumn 1
    ycolumn 2
    ymin -1
    ymax 0.5
    xlabel Angle
    ylabel COS( Angle )
    clip
    plot
    title That's Better

giving this graph.