Chart::GnuPlot - 22/11/1998
Version 0.02

This module provides an easy way produce gnuplot graphs (only gif so
far). You will require Gnuplot to be installed on your system and to
modify line 17 or 20 of Gnuplot.pm to reflect the location of the
executable (sorry!). Your gnuplot should be able to produce gifs, you
can tell if it supports them by starting gnuplot and typing;
  set terminal
see
  ftp://cmpc1.phys.soton.ac.uk/pub/
or
  http://science.nas.nasa.gov/~woo/gnuplot/beta/
for more on Gnuplot

A good example of the modules can be seen in test.pl.

Bye for now,

Nick Peskett - nick@soup.demon.co.uk


                     **********************

OPTIONS
      (* = mandatory)
      data *
      a reference to an array of array of arrays;
      [
        [ # data set 1
          [ 0, 1 ],
          [ 1, 3 ],
        ],
        [ # data set 2
          [ 0, -4 ],
          [ 1, -7 ],
        ],
      ]

      plots *
      a reference to a array of hashes.
      Each hash should be in the following format;
      [
        {
          'title'         => 'title of the series'.
          'data'          => index of dataset to use
                             (defaults to 0).
          'columns'       => [ array of column numbers to use for
                             the graph ].
          'type'          => 'errorbars' or 'lines' etc.
        },
        {
          etc.....
        },
      ]

      title           the title of the graph.
      title_font      the font to use for title.
      xtitle          title of x axis
      xtitle_font     the font to use for xtitle.
      ytitle          title of x axis
      ytitle_font     the font to use for xtitle.
      tl_label        label at top left of image.
      tl_label_font   the font to use.
      tr_label        as above but top right.
      tr_label_font   the font to use.
      bl_label        as above but bottom left.
      bl_label_font   the font to use.
      br_label        as above but bottom right.
      br_label_font   the font to use.

      gnu_exe         the full path to an alternative gnuplot,
      terminal        terminal type, there should be a matching
                      Chart::GnuPlot::Terminal::<terminal> method.
      size            size of output image (relative to terminal type).
      file_name       filename to use for the cache files.
      temp_dir        directory to place the cache files.
      grid            on (1) or off(0).
      key             ie. 'bottom right'
                      (this uses gnuplot 'set key' syntax).
      grid_set        grid setting (this uses gnuplot 'set grid' syntax).
      x_label_off     the offset (0 - 1) that the labels should be placed
                      from the side of the picture.
      y_label_off     as above but top/ bottom.
      colours         a hash that resembles (all entries are optional);
                      {
                        'background' => '000000',
                        'foreground' => 'ffffff',
                        'something'  => 'aaaaaa',
                        'series'     => [ qw( 0000ff 00ff00
                                           etc...) ],
                      }
      tmargin         top margin (in character spaces).
      rmargin         right margin.
      bmargin         bottom margin.
      lmargin         left margin.
      timefmt         the date picture of the datasets
                      (this uses gnuplot 'set timefmt' syntax)
      xrange          this value should be a reference to an array of two
                      values [ minimum, maximum ]. Either of these can be '*'.
                      If the range is a date, it should be in the same
                      format as timefmt.
      yrange          see xrange.
      xformat         the format values will be shown on the x axis
                      (this uses gnuplot 'set format x' syntax)
      yformat         the format values will be shown on the y axis
                      (this uses gnuplot 'set format y' syntax)
      xyformat        the format values will be shown on the both axis
                      (this uses gnuplot 'set format' syntax)
      set             this should be a reference to an array containing
                      a list of 'set' commands to pass gnuplot.
                      The main use for this is to access options that I
                      haven't put a wrapper around :-)

NOTES
      If the enviroment variable 'DEBUG' is set ($ENV{'DEBUG'} = 1)
      the gnuplot command file  & gnuplot command line options will be
      output to stderr.

      Unfortunately I haven't been able to trap the error messages from
      Gnuplot yet, If the gif doesn't appear, try setting DEBUG & run
      the generated script manually.

AUTHOR
    Nick Peskett - nick@soup.demon.co.uk