Re: Suggestion to improve usability of plot command

[<br...@ph...>]

Daniel J Sebald wrote:

> I don't know if the problem is so much the use of numbers for me.  The 
> problem is the fact that the numbers don't produce the same symbols 
> across drivers.  

These two are, actually, the same problem.  We use numbers *because* 
they're the lowest common denominator of that every terminal driver can 
use: a sequence of point types that will be used repeatedly as often as 
necessary.

> Why couldn't those be mapped to be similar symbols?  

Because terminal drivers' capabilities differ so much.

> It is very frustrating to create a plot on the screen, 

You're blinding yourself to the difference between "creating" and 
"fine-tuning" here.

> then save it as PostScript to find the symbols are different.

So don't do that then.  Ghostview & friends exist: use them.

> In that sense, I'd say gnuplot isn't script compatible.

Setting aside recent additions like 'linecolour', it is and always has 
been as compatible as it could possibly be: every terminal driver can 
use every plot script and process it, without warnings or errors.  The 
worst that can happen is that the output is harder to read than it was 
on the terminal it was designed for.