Xgfe is not intended to support every option of Gnuplot, but it is very useful for cranking out a quick plot and generally making your life with Gnuplot much easier. Xgfe does offer the ability to type commands directly to Gnuplot so its full capabilites are available through the GUI.
The use of the program should be self explanatory, but a few remarks should be made on some of its features. Use this documentation or the internal docs in Gnuplot for more info.
Here is the main window:
Dummy Variables
You can enter functions in terms of the default dummy variables of X
and Y, or you can specify different dummy variables in the "Variable
X" and "Variable Y" input boxes. If you use different dummy variables,
you must specify a range (this is consistent with running Gnuplot from
the command line interface). You can also specify ranges for the Z
variable if you want. If no ranges are given, Gnuplot will use
defaults. Run "help plot" in Gnuplot for more info on plotting.
Plot Type
The default plot type is 2D plotting. To select 3D plotting, use the
Plot Type menu to select the type for
files and functions.
Plot Style
The default plotting style for files is points, and for functions is
lines. These can be changed as
needed. The following styles for files and functions are supported:
Plot Labels
You can set the X, Y, and Z labels for the plots along with the
offsets using the appropriate input boxes. Run "help xlabel", "help
ylabel", or "help zlabel" in Gnuplot for more info on labels and
offsets.
Terminals
Gnuplot allows many terminals to be specified, and Xgfe supports a
subset of the more popular ones. ("More popular" is defined as by the
author. If you want another terminal to be supported let me know.) The
following terminals are supported:
The default font is Roman, 10pt. Courier or Roman can be specified at sizes of 10pt, 11pt, or 12pt. Another size can be selected if your driver can handle it (e.g. dvips) Type "help emtex" in Gnuplot for info on options.
The default font is Roman, 10pt. Courier or Roman can be specified at sizes of 10pt, 11pt, or 12pt. Another size can be selected if your driver can handle it (e.g. dvips) Type "help latex" in Gnuplot for info on options.
A font size of small, medium or large and be specified. The colormode of monochrome, gray, or color can be used. The default size of the plot is 640x480 pixels, but can be changed. Note: on my system with 16 megs of RAM, the pbm terminal runs out of memory. Type "help pbm" in Gnuplot for info on options.
The default options are landscape, monochrome, dashed, Helvetica at 14pt. The default size is 10in x 7in. The mode can be landscape, portrait, or eps. The color can be monochrome or color. The line type can be dashed or solid. The font name and size can be changed and the size of the plot in inches can be changed. Type "help postscript" in Gnuplot for info on options.
Output Files
An output file can be specified for the plot. If no output is
specified, the output will go to the shell window where you ran Xgfe
which is probably not what you want (except for the x11 terminal where
this is normal). The output can be reset to stdout
which is the default. Type "help output" in Gnuplot for more info.
Plot Size
The plot size can be specified, but the units depend on the terminal
option selected. For most terminals, the units are a scaling
factor. For others listed above, the units can be pixels or
inches. The size can be reset back to the default. Type "help size" in
Gnuplot for more info.
Saving Plots
To save your plot settings and command to a file, use the "Save" option
under the File menu. A file selection
window will open up to allow you to specify the filename. Type "help
save" in Gnuplot for more info.
Loading Plots
To load a plot from a saved file, use the "Load" option under the
File menu. Type "help load" in Gnuplot for
more info.
Raw Gnu Commands
Since Xgfe doesn't provide an interface to all the gory details of
Gnuplot, a "Raw Gnu" option is under the
File menu. Just type in as many commands as
you want in the text box and hit OK to fire off the command(s).
Commands and Error Messages
In the shell window you ran Xgfe from, the plotting commands issued
will be printed so you can see what is going on behind the
scenes. This can't be turned off at this time. If there are any
errors, they will be printed to the shell window. Errors may come from
Xgfe, or from Gnuplot. Xgfe will generate errors for easily detected
(by me) careless errors, but Gnuplot can generate errors for things
such as specifying "Windoze blows chunks" as a function to plot. If
there is any confusion over an error message, check Gnuplot's online
help.