Phil ASTRAY - 2009-04-02

This post introduces a series of 3 suggestions of new features for the amazing GNUPLOT program !

So feature #1 is providing control over curve continuity.

We have a directive which specifies: set datafile missing '?'
It would be nice to allow curves either to break at missing points, or simply pass through (continuous if style is "lines","linespoints"...).

I suggest that the directive simply be extended, allowing a second symbol to be specified to allow full control over continuity:

# set datafile missing '?' '-'

In datasets, '?' would mean "the curve breaks here", whereas '-' would mean "let the curve pass through/ignore this entry".

Additionnal suggestions:
- discontinuity could be rendered with vertical lines, as an option: it may be useful for users to be able to quickly locate discontinuity points this way.
- missing fields could be treated as missing points.
e.g. if the comma is a separator, it is handy to have entries like:
20090202,1,2,,,5,,0

Comments are welcome !
I am new to the list and available to help in design/some coding if you wish !

Regards
Phil