Gnuplot: How do you load a custom command?

Question

I'm looking for a way to load a custom command to my gnuplot sessions. Often after playing around with a plot I want to output it to PDF, and continue working. This will look like:

set terminal pdf
set output   'somefilename.pdf'
replot
set terminal qt
replot

Currently the best I can do is put that in a separate file with the file name a variable instead of a string, define said variable in my session, then load said file. I'm wondering if I can load this script as a command that takes an argument, so I can do something like

exportpdf "myfile.pdf"

you can define custom commands which are loaded on startup - stackoverflow.com/a/1200530/5351549 — ewcz
– ewcz, Commented Dec 13, 2017 at 11:28
@ewcz where does it say there how to define a custom command? The at init part is less important. — kabanus
– kabanus, Commented Dec 13, 2017 at 11:44

user8153 · Accepted Answer · 2017-12-13 17:15:00Z

4

I think your your current method is already pretty good, but if you want you can fine-tune it a little bit:

If you are willing to keep storing the name of the file in a gnuplot variable FILENAME, then you can circumvent the need of an external file by using macros:
```
exportpdf="set term push; set term pdf; set output FILENAME; replot; set output; set term pop"
```
You can then save your current figure by executing
```
@exportpdf
```
If you want to give the filename as an argument you can create a script file exportpdf.gp
```
set term push
set term pdf
set output ARG1
replot
set output
set term pop
```
and define the string
```
exportpdf='call "exportpdf.gp"'
```
for example in your startup file. Then you can save your current figure to filename simply by executing
```
@exportpdf "filename.pdf"
```

answered Dec 13, 2017 at 17:15

user8153

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Comments

ewcz · Accepted Answer · 2017-12-13 11:57:48Z

1

if you want to define a custom "function", you could first construct the appropriate command and then evaluate it:

plotPdf(fname) = eval(sprintf("set terminal pdf;set output '%s';replot;set terminal qt;replot;", fname))

this definition can be then conveniently placed in the Gnuplot startup script so that it is automatically available

answered Dec 13, 2017 at 11:57

ewcz

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5 Comments

kabanus Over a year ago

I'm getting invalid command when trying plotPdf no arguments, plotPdf('something') or plotPdf 'something'.

kabanus Over a year ago

I'm GnuPlot version 5.0 patch level 5 if it matters.

ewcz Over a year ago

@kabanus and could you try to execute directly set terminal pdf;set output '%s';replot;set terminal qt;replot; with %s replaced with the argument you tried before? just to see which part fails...

kabanus Over a year ago

I wasn't clear - the error is is that plotPdf itself is invalid. Your line itself is fine. I tried print plotPdf('abc'), but then it complains eval is not a function, though it works as is when input directly to the command line -eval(sprintf("set terminal pdf;set output '%s';replot;set terminal qt;replot;", 'abc')) works directly.

kabanus Over a year ago

x() = eval(sprintf("set terminal pdf;set output '%s';replot;set terminal qt;replot;", 'abc')); complains x is an invalid command, but x = eval(sprintf("set terminal pdf;set output '%s';replot;set terminal qt;replot;", 'abc')); complains eval is an undefined function.

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