XV. Is there any graphing/plotting or data-analysis software available?

1. Gnuplot is the standard in plotting packages. It is a command-driven interactive software plotting package which can plot pre-computed data or standard mathematical functions. It features:
   
   • user-defined X and Y ranges (optional auto-ranging), smart axes scaling, smart tic marks;
   • labelling of X and Y axes;
   • user-defined constants and functions
   It supports countless devices (everything from the lowly Epson 8-pin dot-matrix printer to colour PostScript printers) for hardcopy and display. comp.graphics.gnuplot is available for comments and questions about gnuplot.

2. Grace (previously known as xmgr), originally developed by Paul Turner, is also a very popular package (considering the number of people that have recommended it for inclusion in this FAQ) for XY plots.

   It features:
   

   • user defined scaling, tick marks, labels, symbols, line styles, colors;
   • batch mode for unattended plotting;
   • Linear regression, splines, running averages, DFT/FFT, cross/auto-correlation;
   • hardcopy support for PostScript, HP-GL, and FrameMaker .mif format.

   The latest version, 5.0.1, is available at:
   ftp://plasma-gate.weizmann.ac.il/pub/grace/

3. Herng-Jeng Jou (http://lusk1.mines.edu/hjjou/linux_prg.html) has pointers to various packages (both commercial and free).

4. S. Baum (http://www-ocean.tamu.edu/~baum/ocean_graphics.html) has made available, a collection of pointers to various packages (both commercial and free).

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