Gnuplot.jl/docs/src/options.md

using Gnuplot
Gnuplot.quitall()
mkpath("assets")

empty!(Gnuplot.options.init)
push!( Gnuplot.options.init, "set term unknown")
empty!(Gnuplot.options.reset)
push!( Gnuplot.options.reset, linetypes(:Set1_5, lw=1.5))
saveas(file) = save(term="pngcairo size 550,350 fontscale 0.8", output="assets/$(file).png")

Package options and initialization

Options

The package options are stored in a global structure available in Julia as Gnuplot.option (the type of the structure is Gnuplot.Options). The most important settings are as follows:

• dry::Bool: if true all new sessions will be started as Dry sessions. Default is false, but if the package is not able to start a gnuplot process it will automatically switch to true;

• init::Vector{String}: initialization commands to be executed when a new session is created. Default is an empty vector. It can be used to, e.g., set a custom terminal:

push!(Gnuplot.options.init, "set term sixelgd");

Note that this is option affect all the newly created sessions, not the older ones. Also note that the commands in Gnuplot.options.init are not saved in Gnuplot scripts;

• reset::Vector{String}: initialization commands to be executed when a session is reset. Default is an empty vector. It can be used to, e.g., set custom linetypes or palette:

push!(Gnuplot.options.reset, linetypes(:Set1_5, lw=1.5));

Note that this is option affect all the sessions. Also note that the commands in Gnuplot.options.reset are saved in Gnuplot scripts;

• verbose::Bool: a flag to set verbosity of the package. In particular if it is true all communication with the underlying process will be printed on stdout. E.g.:

empty!(Gnuplot.options.reset); # hide
gpexec("set term wxt");        # hide
Gnuplot.options.verbose = true;
x = 1.:10;
@gp x x.^2 "w l t 'Parabola'"
save(term="pngcairo size 480,360 fontscale 0.8", output="output.png")
Gnuplot.options.verbose = false # hide
push!( Gnuplot.options.reset, linetypes(:Set1_5, lw=1.5));  # hide
gpexec("set term unknown");                                 # hide

Each line reports the package name (GNUPLOT), the session name (default), the command or string being sent to gnuplot process, and the returned response (line starting with ->). Default value is false;

• cmd::String: command to start the gnuplot process, default value is "gnuplot". If you need to specify a custom path to the gnuplot executable you may change this value;

• default::Symbol: default session name, i.e. the session that will be used when no session name is provided;

• preferred_format::Symbol: preferred format to send data to gnuplot. Value must be one of:

  • bin: provides best performances for large datasets, but uses temporary files;
  • text: may be slow for large datasets, but no temporary file is involved;
  • auto (default) automatically choose the best strategy.

Package initialization

If you use Gnuplot.jl frequently you may find convenient to collect all the package settings (see Options) in a single place, to quickly recall them in a Julia session. I suggest to put the following code in the .julia/config/startup.jl initialization file (further info here):

macro gnuplotrc()
    return :(
        using Gnuplot;

        # Uncomment following to true if you don't have the gnuplot
        # executable installed on your platform:
        #Gnuplot.options.dry = true;

        # Uncomment the following and set the proper path if the
        # gnuplot executable is not in your $PATH
        #Gnuplot.options.cmd = "/path/to/gnuplot";

        # Set the default terminal for interacitve use
        empty!(Gnuplot.options.init);
        push!(Gnuplot.options.init, "set term wxt size 700,400");

        # Set the default linetypes
        empty!(Gnuplot.options.reset);
        push!(Gnuplot.options.reset, linetypes(:Set1_5, lw=1.5, ps=1.5));

        # Initialize the gnuplot REPL using the provided `start_key`.
        # Comment the following to disable the REPL.
        Gnuplot.repl_init(start_key='>');
    )
end

At the Julia prompt you may load the package and the associated settings by typing:

julia> @gnuplotrc

and you're ready to go.