gnuplot documentation

77 TERMINAL gnuplot 4.3 177
77.42 Mf
The mf terminal driver creates an input file to the METAFONT program. Thus a figure may be used
in the TeX document in the same way as is a character.
To use a picture in a document, the METAFONT program must be run with the output file from gnuplot
as input. Thus, the user needs a basic knowledge of the font creating process and the procedure for
including a new font in a document. However, if the METAFONT program is set up properly at the
local site, an unexperienced user could perform the operation without much trouble.
The text support is based on a METAFONT character set. Currently the Computer Modern Roman font
set is input, but the user is in principal free to choose whatever fonts he or she needs. The METAFONT
source files for the chosen font must be available. Each character is stored in a separate picture variable
in METAFONT. These variables may be manipulated (rotated, scaled etc.) when characters are needed.
The drawback is the interpretation time in the METAFONT program. On some machines (i.e. PC) the
limited amount of memory available may also cause problems if too many pictures are stored.
The mf terminal has no options.
77.42.1 METAFONT Instructions
- Set your terminal to METAFONT:
set terminal mf
- Select an output-file, e.g.:
set output "myfigures.mf"
- Create your pictures. Each picture will generate a separate character. Its default size will be 5*3
inches. You can change the size by saying set size 0.5,0.5 or whatever fraction of the default size you
want to have.
- Quit gnuplot.
- Generate a TFM and GF file by running METAFONT on the output of gnuplot. Since the picture is
quite large (5*3 in), you will have to use a version of METAFONT that has a value of at least 150000 for
memmax. On Unix systems these are conventionally installed under the name bigmf. For the following
assume that the command virmf stands for a big version of METAFONT. For example:
- Invoke METAFONT:
virmf ’&plain’
- Select the output device: At the METAFONT prompt (’*’) type:
\mode:=CanonCX;
- Optionally select a magnification:
mag:=1;
- Input the gnuplot-file:
input myfigures.mf
% or whatever printer you use
% or whatever you wish
On a typical Unix machine there will usually be a script called "mf" that executes virmf ’&plain’, so you
probably can substitute mf for virmf &plain. This will generate two files: mfput.tfm and mfput.$$$gf
(where $$$ indicates the resolution of your device). The above can be conveniently achieved by typing
everything on the command line, e.g.: virmf ’&plain’ ’\mode:=CanonCX; mag:=1; input myfigures.mf’
In this case the output files will be named myfigures.tfm and myfigures.300gf.
- Generate a PK file from the GF file using gftopk:
gftopk myfigures.300gf myfigures.300pk
The name of the output file for gftopk depends on the DVI driver you use. Ask your local TeX administrator
about the naming conventions. Next, either install the TFM and PK files in the appropriate