This directory contains files for running Gnuplot from within emacs. This package was assembled by Bruce Ravel . See http://feff.phys.washington.edu/~ravel/gnuplot/ for the latest. Contents ======== README this file INSTALL thorough installation instructions ChangeLog a log of changes by version number gnuplot.el gnuplot mode for emacs gnuplot-gui.el a GUI for setting command arguments interactively info-look.20.2.el programmer's interface to info files, old version info-look.20.3.el programmer's interface to info files, new version dot.el a short lisp file used by the Makefile gnuplot.info info version of gnuplot 3.6 help gpelcard.tex quick reference card for gnuplot mode (latex) gpelcard.ps dotemacs example .emacs lines for enabling gnuplot mode Makefile.in \ Makefile.dst \ aclocal.m4 \ files inherited from the gnuplot distribution configure } for making gnuplot-mode configure.in / install-sh / mkinstalldirs / Win9x/INSTALL.Win9x Extra installation instructions for Windows 95/98 Win9x/pgnuplot.c Program required to run gnuplot from Emacs Soon gnuplot-mode will be included with the gnuplot 3.7 distribution. The installation instructions for the free-standing distribution have been modified to be consistent with that. Installation ============ 1. Unpack the gnuplot.tar.gz and cd to the gnuplot directory. 2. Type "configure". If configure doesn't work for you, see note 7 below. 3. Run "make". If you use XEmacs, run "make EMACS=xemacs" (or change the EMACS variable to "xemacs" in the Makefile, the run "make"). 4. Move the lisp files to the system site_lisp directory if you are installing as root. If you are installing as a normal user move the .elc files to a place where emacs, i.e. your personal emacs directory. 5. Insert the contents of the `dotemacs' file into your .emacs file or into the system's emacs start-up file to enable gnuplot mode. 6. The function `gnuplot-info-lookup-symbol' looks at the Gnuplot info file that comes with this package or that can be made from the Gnuplot distribution. For that function to work, the file gnuplot.info must be placed somewhere where info can find it, for example /usr/info. A line like this in your .emacs allows you to put gnuplot.info any place convenient: (add-to-list 'Info-default-directory-list "/path/to/file") Wouldn't it be //great// if Emacs had some kind of systematized package installing facility? I think so, too! Oh well.... NOTES ===== 1. gnuplot-mode is designed for use with version 3.7 of gnuplot. It should work very well with any of the 3.6 beta versions. Only some of the specialized features will not work with version 3.5 -- the GUI interface to setting command arguments is an example. 2. To use gnuplot-mode with Emacs on Windows 95 or 98 see the instructions in the directory Win9x. 3. The installation materials used by gnuplot-mode come from the gnuplot distribution. 4. If "configure" doesn't work for you, the file "Makefile.dst" can be used. In that case do, "make -f Makefile.dst" and carry on from there. 5. If you do not have the custom library installed, you will get several harmless warnings when compiling gnuplot.el. Most of gnuplot-mode will work even without the custom library installed. 6. The file info-look.el provides the on-line help functionality. Without it, things like on-line help and keyword completion will not work. Using a tool that is a standard part of Emacs is a good idea, but this one gets complicated. This file became part of Emacs with version 20. It changed between 20.2 and 20.3. And it does not come with XEmacs. What's more, the version from 20.2 has a bug and the newer version does not work with Emacs 19. So, this distribution comes with two versions of info-look.el, the version from Emacs 20.2 patched to work correctly and the version from Emacs 20.3. Here's what happens when you run make: a. If you use Emacs 19 or XEmacs 19, then the Makefile will compile the 20.2 version. b. If you use Emacs 20.2 or lower, the Makefile will compile the 20.2 version. c. If you use XEmacs 20 or higher, the Makefile will compile the 20.3 version. d. If you use Emacs 20.3 or higher, the Makefile won't compile any version. 7. The gnuplot-mode distribution comes with the version of the gnuplot info file that gets made by gnuplot 3.7. Use it rather than the old one. If you really must use the older info file, see the document string for the variable `gnuplot-info-hook'. If you already have the info file installed on your computer, you will not need the one that comes with gnuplot-mode. 8. The interactive graphical graphical interface to setting command arguments contained in gnuplot-gui.el is experimental. It is incomplete and may make mistakes. Hopefully, you will find it useful. It *requires* that you are using a version of emacs with the widget library installed or that you have installed it yourself. Version numbers in the 20's of Emacs and XEmacs ship with the widget library. For version numbers in the 19's, it can be obtained at http://www.dina.kvl.dk/~abraham/custom/