11.52.66 terminal

set terminal ( X11_singleWindow | X11_multiWindow | X11_persist |
               bmp | eps | gif | jpeg | pdf | png | postscript |
               svg | tiff )
             ( color | color | monochrome )
             ( dpi <value> )
             ( portrait | landscape )
             ( invert | noinvert )
             ( transparent | solid )
             ( antialias | noantialias )
             ( enlarge | noenlarge )

The set terminal command controls the graphical format in which Pyxplot renders plots and multiplot canvases, for example configuring whether it should output plots to files or display them in a window on the screen. Various options can also be set within many of the graphical formats which Pyxplot supports using this command.

The following graphical formats are supported: X11_­single­Window, X11_­multi­Window, X11_­persist, bmp, eps, gif, jpeg, pdf, png, postscript, svg¹, tiff. To select one of these formats, simply type the name of the desired format after the set terminal command. To obtain more details on each, see the subtopics below. The following settings, which can also be typed following the set terminal command, are used to change the options within some of these graphic formats: color, monochrome, dpi, portrait, landscape, invert, noinvert, transparent, solid, enlarge, noenlarge. Details of each of these can be found below.

antialias

The antialias terminal option causes plots produced with the bitmap terminals (i.e. bmp, gif, jpeg, png and tiff) to be antialiased; this is the default behaviour.

bmp

The bmp terminal renders output as Windows bitmap images. The filename to which output is to be sent should be set using the set output command; the default is pyxplot.bmp. The number of dots per inch used can be changed using the dpi option. The invert option may be used to produce an image with inverted colors.

color

The color terminal option causes plots to be produced in color; this is the default behaviour.

color

The color terminal option is the US-English equivalent of color.

dpi

When Pyxplot is set to produce bitmap graphics output, using the bmp, gif, jpg or png terminals, the setting dpi changes the number of dots per inch with which these graphical images are produced. That is to say, it changes the image resolution of the output images. For example,

set terminal dpi 100

sets the output to a resolution of 100 dots per inch. Higher DPI values yield better quality images, but larger file sizes.

enlarge

The enlarge terminal option causes plots and multiplot canvases to be enlarged or shrunk to fit within the margins of the currently selected paper size. It is especially useful when using the postscript terminal, as it allows for the production of immediately-printable output.

eps

Sends output to Encapsulated PostScript (eps) files. The filename to which output should be sent can be set using the set output command; the default is pyxplot.eps. This terminal produces images suitable for including in, for example, latex documents.

gif

The gif terminal renders output as gif images. The filename to which output should be sent can be set using the set output command; the default is pyxplot.gif. The number of dots per inch used can be changed using the dpi option. Transparent gifs can be produced with the transparent option. The invert option may be used to produce an image with inverted colors.

invert

The invert terminal option causes the bitmap terminals (i.e. bmp, gif, jpeg, png and tiff) to produce output with inverted colors.

jpeg

The jpeg terminal renders output as jpeg images. The filename to which output should be sent can be set using the set output command; the default is pyxplot.jpg. The number of dots per inch used can be changed using the dpi option. The invert option may be used to produce an image with inverted colors.

landscape

The landscape terminal option causes Pyxplot’s output to be displayed in rotated orientation. This can be useful for fitting graphs onto sheets of paper, but is generally less useful for plotting things on screen.

monochrome

The monochrome terminal option causes plots to be rendered in black and white. This changes the default behaviour of the plot command to be optimised for monochrome display, and so, for example, different dash styles are used to differentiate between lines on plots with several datasets.

noantialias

The noantialias terminal option causes plots produced with the bitmap terminals (i.e. bmp, gif, jpeg, png and tiff) not to be antialiased. This can be useful when making plots which will subsequently have regions cut out and made transparent.

noenlarge

The noenlarge terminal option causes the output not to be scaled to fit within the margins of the currently-selected papersize. This is the opposite of enlarge option.

noinvert

The noinvert terminal option causes the bitmap terminals (i.e. gif, jpeg, png) to produce normal output without inverted colors. This is the opposite of the inverse option.

pdf

The pdf terminal renders output in Adobe’s Portable Document Format (PDF).

png

The png terminal renders output as png images. The filename to which output should be sent can be set using the set output command; the default is pyxplot.png. The number of dots per inch used can be changed using the dpi option. Transparent pngs can be produced with the transparent option. The invert option may be used to produce an image with inverted colors.

portrait

The portrait terminal option causes Pyxplot’s output to be displayed in upright (normal) orientation; it is the converse of the landscape option.

postscript

The postscript terminal renders output as PostScript files. The filename to which output should be sent can be set using the set output command; the default is pyxplot.ps. This terminal produces non-encapsulated PostScript suitable for sending directly to a printer; it should not be used for producing images to be embedded in documents, for which the eps terminal should be used.

solid

The solid option causes the gif and png terminals to produce output with a non-transparent background, the converse of transparent.

transparent

The transparent terminal option causes the gif and png terminals to produce output with a transparent background.

X11_multiWindow

The X11_multiwindow terminal displays plots on the screen in X11 windows. Each time a new plot is generated it appears in a new window, and the old plots remain visible. As many plots as may be desired can be left on the desktop simultaneously. When Pyxplot exits, however, all of the windows are closed.

X11_persist

The X11_persist terminal displays plots on the screen in X11 windows. Each time a new plot is generated it appears in a new window, and the old plots remain visible. When Pyxplot is exited the windows remain in place until they are closed manually.

X11_singleWindow

The X11_singlewindow terminal displays plots on the screen in X11 windows. Each time a new plot is generated it replaces the old one, preventing the desktop from becoming flooded with old plots. This terminal is the default when running interactively.

Footnotes

1. The svg output terminal is experimental and may be unstable. It relies upon the use of the svg output device in Ghostscript, which may not be present on all systems.