This is for a quick visual inspection of your job data output as XY plot. The XY data containing is read from the file data_input.dat
1.00 0.00000
2.00 0.74103
3.00 0.79751
.. ....
.. ....
$ gnuplot
> plot "data_input.dat"
Now a scatter plot will pop up as a window. If you are logged into remote session with ssh, make sure you have forwarded the X. i.e. logged in with -X flag
$ ssh -X yourhost
Change it to line plot by adding 'with lines'
$ gnuplot
> plot "data_input.dat" with lines
__________________________________________________________
Now for more advanced options:
1) To save the plot as png image:
add set terminal png, set output "plot.png"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
set terminal png
set output "plot.png"
plot "data_input.dat" with lines
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now the plot will be saved as 'plot.png' into working directory.
You can open the image from terminal using eog (eye of gnome)
$ eog plot.png
2) To label the X and Y and plot grid:
add set ylabel "RMS", set xlabel "Time" and set grid
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
set terminal png
set output "plot.png"
set ylabel "RMS"
set xlabel "Time"
set grid
plot "data_input.dat" with lines
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3) If you want to plot 1st and 5th column in your data_input.dat:
add 'using 1:5' in plot command
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
set terminal png
set output "plot.png"
set ylabel "RMS"
set xlabel "Time"
set grid
plot "data_input.dat" using 1:5 with lines
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4) To plot two data series in the same plot and label each line:
add next series after a comma
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
set terminal png
set output "plot.png"
set ylabel "RMS"
set xlabel "Time"
set grid
plot "data_input.dat" using 1:2 with lines title 'data-1', "data_input.dat" using 1:5 with lines title 'data-5'
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
To plot many series, it's convenient to use
the line continuation character, "\" .
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
set terminal png
set output "plot.png"
set ylabel "RMS"
set xlabel "Time"
set grid
plot "data_input.dat" using 1:2 with lines title 'data-1', \
"data_input.dat" using 1:3 with lines title 'data-3' \
"data_input.dat" using 1:5 with lines title 'data-5' \
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
5) Running it from a script
Put all these commands into a script and run if you have to run them several times
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
#!/usr/bin/gnuplot
reset
set terminal png
set output "plot.png"
set ylabel "RMS"
set xlabel "Time"
set grid
plot "data_input.dat" using 1:2 with lines title 'data-1', \
"data_input.dat" using 1:3 with lines title 'data-3' \
"data_input.dat" using 1:5 with lines title 'data-5' \
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
matplotlib is another even better option for advanced graph creation
More examples:
Gnuplot 4.2 Tutorial
http://www.duke.edu/~hpgavin/gnuplot.html
Plot your graphs with command line gnuplot » Linux by Examples
http://linux.byexamples.com/archives/487/plot-your-graphs-with-command-line-gnuplot/
Data visualization tools for Linux
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-datavistools/
