PGPLOT Graphics Subroutine Library

Introduction

The PGPLOT Graphics Subroutine Library is a Fortran- or C-callable, device-independent graphics package for making simple scientific graphs. It is intended for making graphical images of publication quality with minimum effort on the part of the user. For most applications, the program can be device-independent, and the output can be directed to the appropriate device at run time.

The PGPLOT library consists of two major parts: a device-independent part and a set of device-dependent ``device handler'' subroutines for output on various terminals, image displays, dot-matrix printers, laser printers, and pen plotters. Common file formats supported include PostScript and GIF.

PGPLOT itself is written mostly in standard Fortran-77, with a few non-standard, system-dependent subroutines. PGPLOT subroutines can be called directly from a Fortran-77 or Fortran-90 program. A C binding library (cpgplot) and header file (cpgplot.h) are provided that allow PGPLOT to be called from a C or C++ program; the binding library handles conversion between C and Fortran argument-passing conventions.

PGPLOT has been tested with UNIX (most varieties, including Linux, SunOS, Solaris, HPUX, AIX, and Irix) and OpenVMS operating systems. I am unable to provide support for DOS, Windows, Windows/NT, or MacOS, but I do distribute code provided by users for use with these operating systems.

Examples

Some example graphs showing some of the capabilities of PGPLOT, and source code in Fortran and C for a simple example, can be found in the PGPLOT Portfolio. Caution: this page contains several large graphics files.

Copyright

PGPLOT is not public-domain software. However, it is freely available for non-commercial use. The source code and documentation are copyrighted by California Institute of Technology, and may not be redistributed or placed on public Web servers without permission. The software is provided ``as is'' with no warranty.

Status

The current version of PGPLOT is 5.2.0.

Changes in Version 5.0.0 Released 1994-12-30.
Changes in Version 5.0.1 Released 1995-02-16.
Changes in Version 5.0.2 Released 1995-06-14.
Changes in Version 5.0.3 Released 1995-12-29; sys_mac directory updated 1996-01-23; sys_arc directory updated 1996-03-27.
Changes in Version 5.1.0 Released 1996-05-10.
Changes in Version 5.1.1 Released 1996-11-04; sys_arc directory updated 1996-11-06.
Changes in Version 5.2.0 Released 1997-06-16.
Known problems in PGPLOT version 5.2.0.
Wish-list for future improvements.
Some frequently asked questions.

Installation

For instructions for obtaining PGPLOT from my ftp site and for details of supported operating systems, read the installation instructions.

If you cannot use ftp, PGPLOT is available on tape for a fee. Consult tjp@astro.caltech.edu.

Documentation

The manual PGPLOT Graphics Subroutine Library by T. J. Pearson is being updated for version 5.2 of PGPLOT. A draft of the manual is available: see the Table of Contents.

A PostScript file of the manual will be made available when it is completed. A PostScript file of the old manual (version 4.9, 0.27 Mbyte, gzipped) is still available, but it does not include the many changes made in version 5.0.

Interactive Drawing Programs and Other PGPLOT Extensions

BUTTON by N. Cardiel and J. Gorgas of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid is a package of subroutines to facilitate the creation of interactive Fortran programs using graphics buttons. For further information, see the WWW page http://www.ucm.es/OTROS/Astrof/button/button.html.
GENPLOT by Dale Gary.
PGPERL by Karl Glazebrook. This package provides an interface between the Perl language and the PGPLOT FORTRAN library. For further information, see the WWW page http://www.aao.gov.au/local/www/kgb/pgperl/.
PONGO by Paul Harrison. This is supported by Starlink: see http://star-www.rl.ac.uk/. Starlink also maintains a version of PGPLOT layered on the GKS library.
QDP/PLT by Allyn Tennant. PLT is an interactive plotting and fitting subroutine layered on PGPLOT, and QDP provides a command interface to this routine. QDP/PLT is used by some tasks within the FTOOLS package available from the NASA Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics.
STAP by Mingsheng Han. STAP is an interactive command driven statistic and plotting program: for information, see http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~han/stap/stap.html.
Tcl interfaces for PGPLOT have been developed by two groups:
- Nick Elias of the US Naval Observatory has released ptcl, a package that registers PGPLOT functions as Tcl commands. Information is available at ftp://fornax.usno.navy.mil/dist/ptcl/ptcl.html. ptcl has been ported to OpenVMS by Gilles Ratel.
- The Sloan Digital Sky Survey project has developed a Tcl interface to PGPLOT as part of its DERVISH package. See the Dervish Home Page for a description of the interface (under ``Plotting''). For more information contact Eileen Berman.
TVB by Georges GONCZI (Observatoire de Nice, France) is a semi-interactive program which allows one to make use of all the graphic possibilities of PGPLOT without having first of all to learn it and without having to know any special language (except French!). See http://www.obs-nice.fr/tvb/tvb.html.
WIP by James Morgan. WIP is an interactive package with a simple to use interface designed to produce high quality graphical output. WIP was developed as part of the Berkeley-Illinois-Maryland Association (BIMA) project. For further information, see the WWW page http://bima.astro.umd.edu/bima/wip/wip.html.
If you need to call PGPLOT subroutines from an ADA program, Martin Stift has both an ADA interface and an ADA95 interface to PGPLOT.

Reporting problems

If you have questions about PGPLOT, please send them to Tim Pearson, preferably by e-mail to tjp@astro.caltech.edu, or by FAX to +1 (626) 568-9352. If you have a problem with installation, please include information about your operating system version, Fortran and C compilers, and the version of PGPLOT you are trying to install. If you think you have found a bug in PGPLOT, a simple test program in Fortran or C that demonstrates the problem is very helpful. I maintain a mailing list for announcements about PGPLOT, and I will add your name to the list if you send me your e-mail address.