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Gnuplot Mode for Emacs

Gnuplot is my utility of choice for quick 'n' dirty plotting chores. I don't love Gnuplot's command line interface but I find mouse-driven, GUI oriented plotting tools to be even slower and more unwieldy to use. My solution is to run Gnuplot from within Emacs or XEmacs where I can edit an entire script then send that script to a running Gnuplot process. Because this is done in Emacs, I have access to a large number of useful tools to help create good scripts.

To this end, I have created a Gnuplot mode for Emacs. This is inspired by the Gnuplot mode originally written by Gershon Elber and initial versions were written in collaboration with Phil Type. All of the code in the current version is new and shares only some concepts with the original mode by Elber.

Gnuplot mode was last updated on 9 September, 1999. The current version number is 0.5j.

• Features of Gnuplot-Mode
• Download Files
• Other Information about Gnuplot-Mode
• Screenshots
• Web Resources

1. Functions for plotting lines, regions, entire scripts, or entire files
2. Graphical interface to setting command arguments
3. Syntax colorization using font-lock or hilit19
4. Automated completion of common words in Gnuplot and automatic indentation
5. On-line help using Info for Gnuplot functions and features
6. Interaction with Gnuplot using comint
7. Convenient key bindings and pull down menus plus a toolbar for use with XEmacs
8. Customizable using the custom package
9. Provides several hooks for additional customization
10. Tested with Emacs 19.34 and 20.2 and XEmacs 20.4. Also works with NTEmacs 20.3.
11. Works with any version of Gnuplot 3.5, 3.6, or 3.7
12. Distributed with a quick reference sheet in postscript which describes the features of Gnuplot mode

gnuplot-mode.tar.gz

This is a tarred and gzipped file containing most of the files listed below as well as a few others. (219 kb) There are various installation related files which are used to incorporate gnuplot-mode into the gnuplot distribution itself or to make gnuplot-mode by itself for use with Emacs and an already installed gnuplot.

A couple of people have reported difficulties downloading then untarring this file. This does not happen for me, so I am unsure what to do. If this happens to you, either download zip file, download the individual files, or try the link to my anonymous ftp site near the end of the page.

gnuplot-mode.zip

This has the same contents as the tarred and gzipped file, but is in the zip format. (224 kb)

gnuplot.el

The emacs lisp source file for gnuplot mode. Installation instructions can be found among the comments near the beginning of the file. (95 kb)

gnuplot-gui.el

The emacs lisp source code for a graphical interface to setting arguments to gnuplot commands. This must be installed alongside gnuplot.el in order for the XEmacs toolbar to work. (68 kb)

info-look.20.2.el
info-look.20.3.el

The emacs lisp source code for the generic info file interface used to provide keyword help. These are the versions from Emacs 20.2 and 20.3. The version from 20.2 is slightly altered. Check the value of the EMACS variable in the Makefile or read this for information about which one to use. This must be installed alongside gnuplot.el in order for keyword help and keyword completion to work. (19/26 kb)

gnuplot.info

The gnuplot info file. In case the installation of gnuplot on your computer does not include the document in this form, you can download it from here and install it in the info directory on your computer. (161 kb)

gpelcard.tex

gpelcard.ps

A one page quick reference to the features of gnuplot mode, including a list of key bindings and a list of user customizable variables. These are the latex source and the PostScript. (15/81 kb)

Other files

• Makefile: compile the lisp and latex files
• dot.el: a short lisp file used by the Makefile to suppress compilation warnings
• dotemacs: sample lines for your .emacs file
• README: general information
• INSTALL: installation instructions
• ChangeLog: version log

Files needed to use gnuplot-mode with NTEmacs

• INSTALL.Win9x: installation instructions on Windows 95/98
• pgnuplot.c: a short C program allowing gnuplot to be run as a subprocess of NTEmacs.

• README file: general information and installation instructions

• ChangeLog file containing version history

• Hints about using on-line help in gnuplot-mode

• How to use the graphical interface to setting command arguments

• Using gnuplot-mode as a plotting back-end in another Emacs major mode

	Here is a screen shots of gnuplot mode. This is XEmacs 20.4. Shown on the screen is the Gnuplot script window and the comint window displaying the running Gnuplot process along with the plot of the function defined in the script.
	This is an example of the new graphical interface to setting command arguments. Placing the screen cursor over a command and hitting C-c C-c or placing the mouse over a command and hitting shift-mouse-2 causes a small frame to open which contains widgets for setting arguments. The green button are pull-down menus with selectable options. The grey spaces are entry fields.
	Here is another example of the graphical argument setting interface. In this example, the arguments to the postscript terminal type are set.

Other Gnuplot resources on the web

• The official gnuplot 3.7 ftp site
• The Gnuplot homepage
• Bernhard Reiter's scientific plotting page
• David Ishee's X Gnuplot Front End
• The original gnuplot mode, taken from a recent Gnuplot 3.6beta distribution, written by Gershon Elber

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