Common features of the plotting programs

Five interface programs convert the output of the LMTO package to a format suitable for Gnuplot and generate a command file where all options are set:

These programs will be described in detail below. There are, however, some common features which will be described first.

Out of the variety of output devices and media, the most common ones are supported in the programs. Starting one of the programs results in the following prompt:

  Enter output device:
   1 = Postscript (default)
   2 = HP-GL pen plotter
   3 = HP Laserjet III (PCL5)
   4 = PC screen (vt220 emulation)
   5 = X-Windows

Depending on the choice the following output is created:

1. A Postscript file named charge.ps, pot.ps, bnds.ps, dos.ps or fs.ps. This file can be send to any Postscript printer or be viewed with Display Postscript or Ghostview.
2. A file named charge.hpgl, pot.hpgl, bnds.hpgl, dos.hpgl or fs.hpgl suitable for all pen-plotters and laserprinters that understand HPGL (Hewlett-Packard Graphics Language).
3. A file named charge.pcl, pot.pcl, bnds.pcl, dos.pcl or fs.pcl suitable for all Hewlett-Packard laserprinters and compatibles.
4. Direct output to any vt220 compatible terminal including PCs emulating a vt220 (Tektronics 4014 and compatibles are also supported).
5. Direct output to a local or remote X-Window. If the program is used remotely, make sure that the remote host has permission to use the local display (xhost +localdisplayname) and set the environment variable DISPLAY to `localdisplayname:screennumber'.

If the parameters have to be changed (e.g. Encapsulated Postscript instead of Postscript) or another terminal supported by Gnuplot has to be added, this can easily be done by changing the source code where the line "set term ..." is written to the Gnuplot command file. Refer to the Gnuplot manual for details.

All programs generate intermediate files containing the plot data and a commandfile with all the commands and options necessary. The names of these files are listed in the detailed description for each program below. These files will remain on the disk if the executables (*.run) are used directly, and that will allow some fine-tuning by editing the command file (*.GNU).

For routine plots, however, it is better to run the shellscripts *.exec, which call Gnuplot immediately after generating the plot data and delete all intermediate files afterwards.