This is to announce the release of version 1.7 of Gnuplot.py.

Gnuplot.py is a Python [1] package that allows you to create graphs from within Python using the gnuplot [2] plotting program.

Gnuplot.py can be obtained from

http://gnuplot-py.sourceforge.net/

Prerequisites (see footnotes): the Python interpreter [1] the Python Numeric module [3] the gnuplot program [2]

or, to use it under Java (experimental): a Java interpreter the Jython interpreter [4] the Jython version of the Numeric module [5] the gnuplot program [2]

Some ways this package can be used:

1. Interactive data processing: Use Python's excellent Numeric package to create and manipulate arrays of numbers, and use Gnuplot.py to visualize the results. 2. Web graphics: write CGI scripts in Python that use gnuplot to output plots in (for example) PNG format and return them to the client. 3. Glue for numerical applications (this is my favorite): wrap your C++/C/Fortran subroutines so that they are callable from Python, then you can perform numerical computations interactively from scripts or from the command line and use Gnuplot.py to plot the output on the fly. 4. Compute a series of datasets in Python and plot them one after the other using Gnuplot.py to produce a crude animation.

New features in this version:

+ Relaxed license from GPL to LGPL. + Added support for sending data to gnuplot via FIFOs (named pipes). This eliminates the ambiguity about when temporary files can be deleted, and thereby removes a common source of problems with Gnuplot.py. Unfortunately, FIFOs only work under forms of unix. + Added preliminary support for running Gnuplot.py under Jython, the Java implementation of the Python language. It partly works but depends on JNumeric, which is still beta-level.

Features already present in older versions:

+ Two and three-dimensional plots. + Plot data from memory, from a file, or from an expression. + Support for multiple simultaneous gnuplot sessions. + Can pass arbitrary commands to the gnuplot program. + Object oriented, extensible design with several built-in types of plot items. + Portable and easy to install (nothing to compile except on Windows). + Support for Unix (including Linux and Mac OS X), MS Windows, and Mac OS. The platform-dependent layer is fairly well abstracted out, so it shouldn't be too difficult to add support for other platforms. + Support for sending data to gnuplot as `inline' or `binary' data. These are optimizations that also remove the need for temporary files. + Partly table-driven to make it easy to extend. New terminal types can be supported easily by adding data to a table. + Install via distutils.

Footnotes: ---------- [1] Python <http://www.python.org> is an excellent object-oriented scripting/rapid development language that is also especially good at gluing programs together. [2] gnuplot <http://www.gnuplot.info/> is a free, popular, very portable plotting program with a command-line interface. It can make 2-d and 3-d plots and can output to myriad printers and graphics terminals. [3] The Numeric Python extension <http://numpy.sourceforge.net/> is a Python module that adds fast and convenient array manipulations to the Python language. [4] Jython <http://www.jython.org> is a Python interpreter that runs within a Java virtual machine. [5] JNumeric <http://jnumerical.sourceforge.net/> is a version of the Numeric module that runs under Java/Jython.