Data-file

Discrete data contained in a file can be displayed by specifying the name of the data file (enclosed in quotes) on the plot or splot command line.

Syntax:

     splot '<file_name>' {binary | matrix}
                         {index <index list>}
                         {every <every list>}
                         {using <using list>}

The special filenames "" and "-" are permitted, as in plot.

In brief, binary indicates that the file is binary, matrix indicates that the data are in matrix form, index selects which data sets in a multi-data-set file are to be plotted, every specifies which datalines within a single data set are to be plotted, and using determines how the columns within a single record are to be interpreted.

The options index and every behave the same way as with plot. using also does, with the obvious difference that the using list must provide three entries instead of two.

The plot options thru and smooth are not available for splot.

Data file organization is essentially the same as for plot, except that each point is an (x,y,z) triple. If only a single value is provided, it will be used for z, the data point number will be used for x, and the y-isoline number will be used for y; thus "splot 'file' using 1" is identical to "splot 'file' using 0:-1:1". If two values are provided, gnuplot gives you an error message. Three values are interpreted as an (x,y,z) triple. Additional values are generally used as errors, which can be used by fit.

Single blank records separate datalines (which are interpreted as y-isolines) in a splot datafile. No line will join points separated by a blank record. If all datalines contain the same number of points,gnuplot will draw cross-isolines in the opposite direction. This is termed "grid data", and is required for drawing a surface, for contouring (set contour) and hidden-line removal (set hidden3d).

It is no longer necessary to specify parametric mode for three-column splots.


Subsections