PGPLOT Graphics Subroutine Library
The PGPLOT Graphics Subroutine Library is a Fortran-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. Although originally conceived as part of
the Caltech VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometry) programs, PGPLOT
has much wider applicability and is now widely used at astronomical and
other scientific institutes throughout the world. Graphs produced with
PGPLOT appear in almost every issue of the major astronomical journals.
The PGPLOT library consists of two major parts: a device-independent
part, which is written in portable Fortran-77, and a set of
device-dependent ``device handler'' subroutines for output on various
terminals, image displays, dot-matrix printers, laser printers, and pen
plotters. The majority of these device handlers have been contributed by
users outside Caltech.
PGPLOT itself is written mostly in standard Fortran-77, with a few
non-standard, system-dependent subroutines. It has been tested under
several varieties of UNIX (including Linux, SunOS, Solaris, HPUX, AIX)
and VMS (both VAX and AXP). Through the kind contributions of PGPLOT
users, PGPLOT is also available for a number of other operating systems
(NeXTstep, DOS, Windows, Windows/NT, Macintosh OS), although I am
unable to support these versions myself. Anyone who is planning to
port PGPLOT to other operating systems, compilers, or hardware
configurations is advised to contact me first.
PGPLOT is not public-domain software. However, it is freely
available for non-commercial use. It is copyrighted by California
Institute of Technology. The software is provided ``as is'' with no
warranty.
The current version of PGPLOT is 5.0.3.
UNIX
Version 5.0.3 of PGPLOT includes support for the following varieties
of UNIX, although it has not yet been tested on all of
them (tested systems are marked with an asterisk). Note that you need
a C compiler as well as a Fortran compiler; the GNU gcc compiler works
well.
Operating System Fortran and C compilers
AIX (IBM-RISC)* xlf cc
Alliant fortran cc
Convex fc cc
Cray (Unicos)* cf77 cc
FreeBSD f77 cc
HP (HP-UX)* fort77 c89, gcc
SGI (Irix)* f77 cc
Linux f77/f2c gcc
NeXT* af77/f2c/gf77 cc
Digital UNIX [OSF/1] f77 cc
Sun Solaris (v2.x)* f77 cc/gcc
Sun SunOS (v4.x)* f77 cc/acc/gcc
Ultrix f77 cc
VP2200 frt cc
For notes on these systems, see the files pgplot/sys*/aaaread.me
in the distribution.
VMS
PGPLOT is supported on OpenVMS-VAX and OpenVMS-AXP (also known as
OpenVMS-Alpha). It has been tested with the current DEC Fortran and
DEC compilers under OpenVMS v6.1. You need the C compiler to compile
the device driver for DECwindows (X-windows).
DOS and Windows
I am unable to support PGPLOT on DOS or Windows systems, but I
encourage PGPLOT users who have ported PGPLOT to these systems to
contribute their code for inclusion in future versions of PGPLOT. If
you plan to port PGPLOT to one of these systems, you should consult
the notes on porting PGPLOT in Appendix
G.
- Michael Michelsen (Dept. Chem. Eng., Technical University of
Denmark, michael@oh3.kt.dtu.dk) has
ported PGPLOT to DOS with FTN77/386 from Salford
Software (4Gb linear address space). This is
included in version 5.0.3 of PGPLOT in directory
pgplot/sys_salford; see the file aaaread.me.
- Christian T. Dum (Max-Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial
Physics, Garching, Germany, ctd@mpe-garching.mpg.de) has
ported PGPLOT to DOS with Microsoft Power Station (Fortran 32), except
for drivers that use %VAL() and dynamic memory allocation, and
Tektronix driver (TTdriv) which requires terminal I/O routines. This
is included in version 5.0.3 of PGPLOT in directory
pgplot/sys_msdos; aaaread.me
A number of other people are working on
porting PGPLOT to DOS and Windows with other configurations.
Windows/NT
I am not able to support PGPLOT under Windows/NT. PGPLOT has been
ported to this environment by Dr Mark Könnecke
(formerly of Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory, England). He uses Microsoft
Power Station Fortran. This version of PGPLOT is available from ftp://ftp.nd.rl.ac.uk/pub/pgplot/ (although I have recently had trouble reaching this site). There are two files:
pgsrc.tar.Z is the sys_winnt directory tree which needs to be added to
the general distribution kit. He has put all fortran files that he has
changed in there as well. pgntbn.zip is a binary distribution kit
containing both a static and a dynamic version of the library, the
server program and all the demo programs and some help files.
Macintosh
PGPLOT has been ported to the Macintosh OS with Language Systems
Fortran 2.1 by John
S. Salmento. A Macintosh window driver is included, and several of
the standard PGPLOT drivers, including PostScript. For further
information, see http://www.lehigh.edu/~js0p/js0p.html.
Acorn Archimedes
PGPLOT v5.0.3 has been ported to Acorn 32-bit microcomputers by Kate and David Crennell.
The UNIX and VMS version of PGPLOT, including limited support for DOS,
is available by anonymous ftp from astro.caltech.edu (131.215.240.1)
in directory /pub/pgplot. There are three
separate files, which contain the same information but in different formats:
See the installation instructions to find
out how to decompress the distribution file and install the
software.
If you cannot use anonymous ftp, PGPLOT is available on tape for a
fee. Consult tjp@astro.caltech.edu.
The manual PGPLOT Graphics Subroutine Library by
T. J. Pearson is being updated for version 5.0.3 of PGPLOT. The
following chapters are currently available:
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.
Tim Pearson, California Institute of Technology,
tjp@astro.caltech.edu
Copyright © 1995-6 California Institute of Technology