What is ploticus? |
A free, GPL, non-interactive software package for producing plots, charts, and graphics from data.
It was developed in a Unix/C environment and runs on
various Unix, Linux, and win32 systems.
ploticus is good for automated or just-in-time graph generation, handles date and time
data nicely, and has basic statistical capabilities. It allows significant user control
over colors, styles, options and details.
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Where can I get ploticus? |
http://ploticus.sourceforge.net.
The site has downloads (source code and pre-compiled binaries), full documentation, and a
large gallery of examples.
The primary author of ploticus is
Steve Grubb.
If ploticus has been a useful tool for you or your organization please consider
making a donation via this PayPal link.
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How do I run ploticus? |
From the command line you can run ploticus using the pl command.
The pl command can also be invoked via CGI.
C developers can use libploticus. Other interfaces
exist for packages such as Python.
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What's the easiest way to get started? |
Use prefabs. This is an easy-to-use interface for quickly generating
standard data displays and plots.
You specify parameters on the command line, like this:
pl -prefab vdist data=data6 y=1 ..
everything else is done automatically.
Read all about it in the
ploticus prefabs handbook, or look at the
gallery of prefab examples.
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How can I unlock the full power of ploticus? |
By coding ploticus scripts.
This gives you access to the full range of capabilities and options, and allows
you to produce multiple graphs, overlays, manipulate data, and so on.
Complete documentation for writing scripts is in the ploticus scripts handbook,
and a gallery of script examples is available.
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What graphic formats can ploticus produce? |
PNG, JPEG, and pseudo-GIF images.
PostScript, EPS, SVG and
SWF (shockwave-flash) vector formats.
X11 for development and interactive applications.
Also, server-side or client-side imagemaps can be generated for
providing click-thru or
mouseover popup text bubbles (tooltips) in web-based applications.
Availability of some formats is dependent on configuration.
The graphic format may be specified on the command line, eg. pl -png
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What about input data? |
Input data can come from files, commands, or standard input, and should be
ascii text with data organized into fields.
Fields may be delimited by white-space, tab, or comma.
Data types that can be plotted include
numeric, category, date, and time.
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Other useful information |
FAQ
Notes on using ploticus for..
generating web-based graphics
dynamic content and just-in-time applications
paper-based reports
large-sized posters
pre-press work
libploticus(3) C language API
Program limitations
Download and build instructions
Troubleshooting & support
Copyright and permissions
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