Re: please help me plot

[David Forel]

>>
>> Hello - I just installed Cygwin on an XP Home laptop.  Below are the two
>> Octave commands I entered and the result.
>>
>>
>>
>> octave:1> x = 1:1:5;
>> octave:2> plot(x);
>> octave:3>
>> gnuplot> set terminal aqua 1 enhanced
>>                       ^
>>          line 0: unknown or ambiguous terminal type; type just 'set
>> terminal' for a list
>>
>>
>> gnuplot> plot "-" using ($1):($2) axes x1y1 title "" with lines linestyle
>> 1 ;
>>               ^
>>          line 0: use 'set term' to set terminal type first
>>
>>
>> gnuplot> 1 1
>>          ^
>>          line 0: invalid command
>>
>>
>> gnuplot> 2 2
>>          ^
>>          line 0: invalid command
>>
>>
>> gnuplot> 3 3
>>          ^
>>          line 0: invalid command
>>
>>
>> gnuplot> 4 4
>>          ^
>>          line 0: invalid command
>>
>>
>> gnuplot> 5 5
>>          ^
>>          line 0: invalid command
>>
>>
>> gnuplot> e
>>          ^
>>          line 0: invalid command

To use gnuplot in Cygwin (ie for plotting in graphical window), you
need to start Cygwin X server (if you have it installed, ways to do it
are described in [1]). I've had mixed experience with Cygwin X,
sometimes it worked, sometimes not (not sure why, I didn't investigate
further), so I stick to using native Windows version from Octave
Forge.

Regarding bharat's comments, I'm using windows version of Octave 3.0.3
from Octave Forge and everything works fine for me, so unless you need
Cygwin for some specific reason, I suggest you give it a try (although
I prefer using gnuplot as graphics engine, it's more mature).

[1] http://x.cygwin.com/docs/ug/using.html#using-starting

Regards
Ivan Sutoris

==================================================

Thanks for the suggestion.  Some web article, maybe very old, suggested using 
the Cygwin version of Octave.  Oops!

I installed 3.0.3 and things seem fine.  (Well, an m-file that I didn't write 
has a problem that I will look at; an m-file that I wrote works fine.)

I will state that I need Octave because I don't want to spend $2,000 for the 
pro license for Matlab, not counting add-ons.  Thank the gods for Octave!

Another plot question.  I installed choosing the jhandles option, not gnuplot.  
I have book "GNU Octave Manual Version 3."  Does this book contain enough 
information for me to get the plot commands I will want or do I have to 
buy/download something else to cover jhandles ?

Thank you, David