pdfcairo 'unknown or ambiguous terminal type' in gnuplot

Question

After upgrading gnuplot from 4.6 to 5.0.1, I encounter the following error:

set terminal pdfcairo size 3.0in,2.25in font ',8'
             ^
"plot.plt", line 114: unknown or ambiguous terminal type; type just 'set terminal' for a list

How can I fix it?

PS: pdfcairo works fine in the previous version (4.6).

I install the gnuplot by the following command:

#build it:
./configure --with-cairo 
make

#install it:
sudo make install

As described in GNUPLOT Version 5.0.1 Release Notes, the pdfcairo is included by default.

Cairo/pango/wxWidgets This set of terminals includes

pngcairo, pdfcairo, epscairo, and cairolatex for output to a file

wxt for interactive display All of these will be built by default if the configuration script finds the required libcairo, libpango, libcairo, libwxgtk, and related support libraries To disable these terminals:

./configure --without-cairo ./configure --with-cairo --disable-wxt

You must have the respective dev libraries and headers installed when building gnuplot from source. — Christoph
＠Christoph, thx for ur reminder. I make it. Pls check the answer. — SparkAndShine

SparkAndShine SparkAndShine · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-27T16:40:26

I fix it with the kind reminder of @Christoph.

To tackle this issue, install the dependency libraries for cairo-based terminals by the follwoing command:

sudo apt-get install libcairo2-dev
sudo apt-get install libpango1.0-dev

And then compile gnuplot again:

#build it:
cd gnuplot-5.0.1 ; ./configure ; make

#install it:
sudo make install

Now, everything is fine. Enjoy it:-)

gnuplot> set term

Available terminal types:
       cairolatex  LaTeX picture environment using graphicx package and Cairo backend
           canvas  HTML Canvas object
              cgm  Computer Graphics Metafile
          context  ConTeXt with MetaFun (for PDF documents)
            corel  EPS format for CorelDRAW
             dumb  ascii art for anything that prints text
              dxf  dxf-file for AutoCad (default size 120x80)
            eepic  EEPIC -- extended LaTeX picture environment
              emf  Enhanced Metafile format
            emtex  LaTeX picture environment with emTeX specials
         epscairo  eps terminal based on cairo
         epslatex  LaTeX picture environment using graphicx package
              fig  FIG graphics language for XFIG graphics editor
             hpgl  HP7475 and relatives [number of pens] [eject]
            latex  LaTeX picture environment
               mf  Metafont plotting standard
               mp  MetaPost plotting standard
             pcl5  HP Designjet 750C, HP Laserjet III/IV, etc. (many options)
         pdfcairo  pdf terminal based on cairo
         pngcairo  png terminal based on cairo
       postscript  PostScript graphics, including EPSF embedded files (*.eps)
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pdfcairo 'unknown or ambiguous terminal type' in gnuplot

1 Answers