Generating Web Charts with Gnuplot and Web Scripting

Gnuplot is a neat open source program that turns data into charts and graphs, either direct to screen or to a file. It’s been around since 1986, and runs on all major OSes. While gnuplot is command-line-only (no shiny graphical interface), that feature also means that it’s ideal for scripting purposes. You can use a script wrapper to generate or read in data and do any needed manipulation, then call up gnuplot to produce a nice visual representation of your data. In this article, we’ll look at using scripting and gnuplot to generate charts or graphs for your website.