Book Image

gnuplot Cookbook

By : Lee Phillips
Book Image

gnuplot Cookbook

By: Lee Phillips

Overview of this book

gnuplot is the world's finest technical plotting software, used by scientists, engineers, and others for many years. It is in constant development and runs on practically every operating system, and can produce output in almost any format. The quality of its 3d plots is unmatched and its ability to be incorporated into computer programs and document preparation systems is excellent. gnuplot Cookbook ñ it will help you master gnuplot. Start using gnuplot immediately to solve your problems in data analysis and presentation. Quickly find a visual example of the graph you want to make and see a complete, working script for producing it. Learn how to use the new features in gnuplot 4.4. Find clearly explained, working examples of using gnuplot with LaTeX and with your own computer programming language. You will master all the ins and outs of gnuplot through gnuplot Cookbook. You will learn to plot basic 2d to complex 3d plots, annotate from simple labels to equations, integrate from simple scripts to full documents and computer progams. You will be taught to annotate graphs with equations and symbols that match the style of the rest of your text, thus creating a seamless, professional document. You will be guided to create a web page with an interactive graph, and add graphical output to your simulation or numerical analysis program. Start using all of gnuplot's simple to complex features to suit your needs, without studying its 200 page manual through this Cookbook.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
gnuplot Cookbook
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Finding Help and Information
Index

Coloring the surface


The wireframe splot with hidden line removal that we covered in the first recipe of this chapter, Making a surface plot, gives the visual impression of a solid surface. The numerical value encoded into the surface's height can be visually estimated, roughly, by the perspective provided by the isolines in conjunction with the tics on the vertical axis. But gnuplot also has a way to draw real solid surfaces whose height is indicated by color or shade.

The previous figure shows the same mathematical function plotted in the first recipe in this chapter (Making a surface plot). Now the numerical value of the function at any point is indicated by both the height of the surface and its shade; the surface is now drawn as an opaque membrane rather than as a network of curves.

How to do it…

To produce the previous figure, run the following in gnuplot:

set isosamples 100
set samples 100
unset key
set title "J_0(r^2)"
set xrange [-4:4]
set yrange [-4:4]
set ztics 1
unset surface
set...