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Manual page for The_pl_program(PL)
pl
SYNOPSIS
pl -prefab prefabname parm=value .. [-options]
.. OR ..
pl scriptfile [-options]
DESCRIPTION
pl is a program that produces plots and charts from data, and
produces results that can be viewed on web pages, paper, slides,
or interactively on the screen. Standard types of plots may be
done using
prefab plot templates
, or a user-developed
script file
may be supplied for greater flexibility and customization.
pl may be executed from the command line or
as a CGI program.
EXAMPLES
See the various
prefab examples
.
A large number of
script examples
are also available.
COMMAND LINE ARGUMENTS
The pl command line arguments may be given in any order.
-prefab prefabname
Produce a plot using a
prefab
plot template.
prefabname identifies the template, eg.
cron or vbars.
Necessary parameters are supplied on the command line using the form parm=value.
scriptfile
Ploticus
script file
that will be interpreted to produce results.
Alternatively, -stdin may be used to indicate
that script will be available on standard input.
variable=value
Declares the named
variable and sets it to the given value.
This is a convenient way to pass information
to prefabs and scripts. For example: CUTDATE=10-31-98
would declare the variable CUTDATE and set it to 10-31-98.
Any argument on the command line that contains an embedded equals-sign
(=) is taken as a var-value pair. Variable names are case-sensitive.
-o outfile | stdout
Specify a filename where the result will be written.
No processing is applied to this name.
If -o stdout is used,
result will be sent to standard output.
If -o is not specified, a
default output filename
will be used.
RESULT FORMAT OPTIONS (availability may depend on specific ploticus build):
-png
PNG image
-gif
pseudo-GIF image
-jpeg
JPEG image
-svg
SVG
graphic. -svgz, -tag and -zlevel options are
also available
-wbmp
WBMP image
-eps
EPS (encapsulated PostScript)
-ps
paginated PostScript to stdout
-x11
display on X11 screen
-map
produce a
server-side clickable imagemap file
along with png, gif, or jpeg image
-csmap
produce a
client-side clickable imagemap file
along with png, gif, or jpeg image
RESULT SIZE OPTIONS
-scale sx[,sy]
Scale the final result.
If one value is given, the result is scaled by this amount in both x and y.
If two values are given, scaling in x and scaling in y may be done independently.
A scale value of less than 1.0 reduces the
size; an scale value of greater than 1.0 enlarges.
Scaling is done relative to the origin (0,0) which is at the lower left.
-pagesize width,height
Control the size of the display window or image.
width and height are in absolute units.
Absolute location 0,0 is at the lower left corner.
This option may be used to control the size of the X11 display window
result. The default size is 8 inches wide by 8 inches high.
The resulting size is not influenced by the -scale option.
PNG, GIF, JPEG size will be determined by the extent of the graphic;
however, -pagesize (or the proc page pagesize attribute) must be used
for images where drawing occurred beyond (8.0,8.0) absolute (inch) coordinate,
in order to allocate enough image memory (otherwise the top or right areas of the graphic
will not be visible).
-pagesize has no effect with EPS or paginated PostScript results (the PostScript
BoundingBox will be determined by the extent of the graphic).
Example: -pagesize 7,3
-tightcrop
For image or EPS output, crop the result tightly to the extent of
the design. Normally a small margin is allowed on all four sides.
This option sometimes crops a bit too tight; if so try -croprel.
-crop x1,y1,x2,y2
Crop image or EPS result to the box specified by
x1,y1 and x2,y2, in absolute units.
Note that there may be no spaces in the coordinates specification.
Cropping takes place after design is rendered and does not
affect coordinate locations.
-croprel left,bottom,right,top
Crop image or EPS result tightly to the extent of the design (like -tightcrop),
but then adjust the cropping outward or inward on one or more sides.
left is the amount to adjust the left side, in absolute units.
Similarly for bottom, right, and top.
Positive values always adjust outward from center; negative values adjust inward (tighter).
There may be no spaces in the left,bottom,right,top specification.
Cropping takes place after design is rendered and does not
affect coordinate locations.
GRAPHICS ENVIRONMENT OPTIONS
-font font
sets the overall font to font. See
fonts
for more info.
-textsize pointsize
sets the overall default textsize to pointsize.
All embedded size specifications will be rendered relative to this.
-linewidth w
sets the overall default linewidth to w.
All embedded line width specifications will be rendered relative to this.
See linedetails(pli) for more on line width.
-color color
sets the overall default text and line drawing color to color.
-backcolor color
sets the background color to color.
-cm
Use centimeters as absolute units.
On the command line this must appear to the left of any arguments dealing with
absolute unit values, such as -pagesize.
If cm will always be the desired
absolute units, the preferred way to achieve this is by using
units: cm in a
ploticus config file.
-inches
Use inches as absolute units. This is the default.
INTERACTIVE USE OPTIONS
-winloc x,y
Control where on the screen the upper-left corner of the X11 display
window will be placed. x and y are in pixels.
Example: -winloc 200 0
-v command
-viewer command
After generating results in the specified format, execute command
in order to view the results on your screen.
The output file will automatically be
included in the command. For example, if a GIF file is being
generated you might use this to invoke the xv utility: -viewer xv.
If PostScript is being generated you could use something like this to
invoke the ghostview utility: -viewer "gv -magstep -1".
The given command must be available on your system and locatable in
your command search path.
This option may not be used with -o stdout.
PAPER ORIENTATION OPTIONS
-landscape
For paginated postscript, set paper orientation to landscape (oblong).
-portrait
For paginated postscript, set paper orientation to portrait.
-posteroffset x,y
Allows production of large-size posters made up of multiple standard
sheets of paper butted together. May be used only with paginated PostScript,
and should be used in combination with the -scale and -textsize
options. x,y is the point within your result (in
absolute units
) that is to be placed at the lower left corner of the page.
For further discussion of this, see
posters
.
DEVELOPMENT AND DEBUGGING OPTIONS
-debug
Debug mode; extra dianostic information produced and
temporary files not cleaned up upon termination.
-showbad
Identify unplottable data, showing the value, and its row and field.
-diagfile filename | stderr | stdout
All non-error messages and output will be written to this file (default is stderr).
-errfile filename | stderr | stdout
All error messages will be written to this file (default is stderr).
-help or -? or -version
Print version number, copyright info, web site address, etc.
OUTPUT FILE NAMES
The output file may be specified on the command line using the -o option,
or via Proc Page's outfilename attribute.
If so, the result is written to a file of that name.
-o stdout may also be used to send result to standard output.
Otherwise, if your script filename has a "recognized extension"
( .p, .pl, .plo, .pls, .htm or .html ),
the base part of the script file name is used and .png, .gif, etc.
is appended. If your script filename doesn't have a recognized extension, the
generic name out.* will be used.
X11 output is always displayed on the screen, and
paginated PostScript is written to standard output unless -o is used.
If page breaks (Proc Page) are encountered when rendering in any format other
than paginated PostScript,
special action is necessary since each page must go into a separate file.
A Proc Page outfilename may be specified for each page;
otherwise a pn prefix will be attached to the beginning of
each page's output file name to indicate page n.
USAGE EXAMPLES
The following example uses the
scat prefab
:
pl -prefab scat -png datafile=results.dat x=2 y=3
The following examples assume
that you have a script file called lineplot1.p.
pl -x lineplot1.p = view on X11 screen
pl -png lineplot1.p = create PNG image lineplot1.png
pl -gif lineplot1.p -o stdout = create GIF image on standard output
pl -gif lineplot1.p -viewer xv = produce GIF and view using xv
(assuming xv image viewer is available on your system).
pl -eps lineplot1.p = produce EPS file lineplot1.eps
pl -eps lineplot1.p -viewer gv = produce EPS and view using gv
(that's ghostview, assuming it is available on your system).
pl -eps lineplot1.p -o lineplot.eps = produce EPS into file lineplot.eps
pl -ps lineplot1.p | lp = produce paginated postscript and send to
unix lp print spooler.
pl -ps lineplot1.p -veiwer gv = produce paginated postscript
and view using ghostview.
ENVIRONMENT
PLOTICUS_CONFIG
The name of a
ploticus configuation file
, for setting default date notations, number
notations, measurement units, etc.
PLOTICUS_PREFABS
The path name of a directory where ploticus will look for
prefab
scripts. The "factory" prefabs are located in
the ploticus ./prefabs subdirectory.
LC_CTYPE, LC_COLLATE, LANG
Locale support. Thanks to Oleg Bartunov oleg@sai.msu.su
for contributing this. pl must be
built with -DLOCALE for this to work.
TDH_ERRMODE
Control the disposition of error messages. Allowable values: stderr
which is the default, and cgi which causes error messages to be written
to stdout with html formatting.
AUTHOR
Stephen C. Grubb
SEE ALSO
http://ploticus.sourceforge.net
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 data display engine
Copyright Steve Grubb
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