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Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!lll-crg!lll-lcc!seager
From: seager@lll-lcc.aRpA (Mark K. Seager)
Newsgroups: net.sources.bugs,comp.sources.d
Subject: Some suggestions for GNUPLOT...
Message-ID: <482@lll-lcc.aRpA>
Date: Wed, 26-Nov-86 16:03:24 EST
Article-I.D.: lll-lcc.482
Posted: Wed Nov 26 16:03:24 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 26-Nov-86 21:01:08 EST
Organization: Lawrence Livermore Labs, Livermore Ca
Lines: 34
Keywords: plot, user interfaces, documentation (ugh!!)
Xref: mnetor net.sources.bugs:902 comp.sources.d:48

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*FLAME OFF*
This is a posting because the address vu-vlsi!plot is not known by
our macine...Would rather send this directly to the authors of
GNUPLOT, but... 
*FLAME ON*

I have reciently brought up GNUPLOT on a Sun 3 running Version 3.1 of
Sun's port of UNIX 4.2 Bsd.  It is a very nice package for interactive
graphics, but there are a few problems.
	1) The man page is not exactly verbose in it's explination of 
	   GNUPLOT.  Why not write something that takes an absolute idot
	   (like me) who knows nothing about GNUPLOT to being an
	   "expert user".
	2) Normal unix (and the MS-DOS pc's) don't have the HELP
	   facility.  The *.HLP files look like they could be of some
	   use, why not distribute the help package with GNUPLOT?
	3) I tried to redirect the output of GNUPLOT to a file with:
	   set output "filename"
	   and the plot information still came to the stdout (although
	   the file was created) and not to the file.  Could not
	   figure out if I am using GNUPLOT correctly or not from the
	   (lack of) documentation...
	4) Any way to get support for POSTSCRIPT devices.  Obviously
	   this would be wonderful for hardcopy output to various 
	   laser printers.
	5) Any thought to supporting 3-D plotting?  Contour plots and
	   the ilk?