gnuplot 4.2 and multi-plot datafiles

Question

I have access to gnuplot 4.2 patchlevel 6

I have a test datafile that looks like:

basic
0_none  basic   0.3347168   0.3331800   0.3548338   0.3315996   0.3378341
1_paraFor   basic   0.3413189   0.3401179   0.3531559   0.3392823   0.3433555
2_auto  basic   0.3414820   0.3402250   0.3528171   0.3390799   0.3438841
3_dynamic   basic   0.3413961   0.3401999   0.3520472   0.3392411   0.3435512
3_guided    basic   0.3415166   0.3400619   0.3625410   0.3384712   0.3445621
3_static    basic   0.3419163   0.3401220   0.3551750   0.3389022   0.3449303
3_static,1  basic   0.3415717   0.3402059   0.3577352   0.3390119   0.3441314
4_static    basic   0.3412590   0.3402240   0.3510768   0.3393649   0.3431531
5_static,1  basic   0.3412654   0.3401909   0.3483269   0.3395889   0.3429420
6_dynamic   basic   0.3408938   0.3401659   0.3480079   0.3397539   0.3420336
7_guided    basic   0.3411740   0.3401840   0.3504939   0.3392360   0.3431120


thing
0_none  thing   0.3673208   0.3507421   0.3794038   0.3616536   0.3729880
1_paraFor   thing   0.1528836   0.1405380   0.2615359   0.1269777   0.1787895
2_auto  thing   0.1455593   0.1403410   0.1899531   0.1370104   0.1541082
3_dynamic   thing   0.1438274   0.1405718   0.1763921   0.1373380   0.1503168
3_guided    thing   0.1439133   0.1404161   0.1806850   0.1378717   0.1499549
3_static    thing   0.1528238   0.1404729   0.2701499   0.1273036   0.1783440
3_static,1  thing   0.1492954   0.1406879   0.2531040   0.1287514   0.1698394
4_static    thing   0.1538194   0.1409700   0.2736080   0.1252317   0.1824071
5_static,1  thing   0.1557609   0.1404920   0.2756920   0.1238832   0.1876387
6_dynamic   thing   0.1439191   0.1405990   0.1778750   0.1379238   0.1499145
7_guided    thing   0.1467988   0.1404960   0.1921580   0.1354474   0.1581502

My script looks like:

set terminal gif
set offsets 0.3, 0.3, 0, 0
set autoscale xfix
set xtics rotate
set key autotitle columnheader
plot    "test.csv" u 0:3:xtic(1) t 1 with linespoints, \
        "test.csv" u 0:4:5:6:7 notitle with candlesticks

The result looks like this mess:

From this I am guessing that my version of gnuplot does not understand set key autotitle columnheader. Commenting out the set key... line produces the same chart.

Replacing the t 1 with t "foo" renders a reasonable chart but with only one legend entry.

Is there a way in 4.2 to auto-generate the legend keys in some other way? Can I somehow embed the plot name in the data file?

PS My final goal will be a similar chart that could have several more charts embedded -- though I am thinking that is going to get hard to see.

user8153 user8153 · Accepted Answer · 2017-11-10T22:25:05

If you want autotitle to generate a legend entry basic then you have to tell gnuplot that there is a separate, second data set within your file. You can select each dataset separately with the index command:

set offsets 0.3, 0.3, 0, 0
set autoscale xfix
set xtics rotate
set key autotitle columnheader
plot "test.csv" u 0:3:xtic(1) index 0 with linespoints ls 1, \
     "" u 0:3:xtic(1) index 1 with linespoints ls 2, \
     "" u 0:4:5:6:7 index 0 notitle with candlesticks ls 1, \
     "" u 0:4:5:6:7 index 1 notitle with candlesticks ls 2

This is done in gnuplot 5.2.1, but this should also work in 4.2.6. Why can't you upgrade? Version 4.2.6 is from 2009!

gnuplot 4.2 and multi-plot datafiles

1 Answers