d.linegraph - GRASS manual
Author: GRASS Development Team
Description: d.linegraph: Generates and displays simple line graphs in the active graphics monitor display frame.
Keywords: display, cartography

## NAME

d.linegraph - Generates and displays simple line graphs in the active graphics monitor display frame.

## KEYWORDS

display, cartography

## SYNOPSIS

d.linegraph
d.linegraph --help
d.linegraph [-xysl] x_file=string y_file=string[,string,...] [directory=string] [y_color=string[,string,...]] [color_table=style] [width=integer[,integer,...]] [title_color=string] [x_title=string] [y_title=string] [title=string] [y_range=min,max] [y_tics=float[,float,...]] [x_scale=float] [y_scale=float] [icon=string] [point_size=float] [secondary_color=name] [secondary_width=float[,float,...]] [--help] [--verbose] [--quiet] [--ui]

### Flags:

-x
  Scale only X labels, not values
-y
  Scale only Y labels, not values
-s
  Draw points
-l
  Do not draw lines
--help
  Print usage summary
--verbose
  Verbose module output
--quiet
  Quiet module output
--ui
  Force launching GUI dialog

### Parameters:

x_file=string [required]
  Name of data file for X axis of graph
y_file=string[,string,...] [required]
  Name of data file(s) for Y axis of graph
directory=string
  Path to files
  Path to the directory where the input files are located
y_color=string[,string,...]
  Color for Y data
color_table=style
  Name of color table
  Options: aspect, aspectcolr, bcyr, bgyr, blues, byg, byr, celsius, corine, curvature, differences, elevation, etopo2, evi, fahrenheit, forest_cover, gdd, grass, greens, grey, grey.eq, grey.log, grey1.0, grey255, gyr, haxby, inferno, kelvin, magma, ndvi, ndwi, nlcd, oranges, plasma, population, population_dens, precipitation, precipitation_daily, precipitation_monthly, rainbow, ramp, random, reds, roygbiv, rstcurv, ryb, ryg, sepia, slope, soilmoisture, srtm, srtm_percent, srtm_plus, terrain, viridis, water, wave
  aspect: aspect oriented grey colors [range: map values]
  aspectcolr: aspect oriented rainbow colors [range: 0 to 360]
  bcyr: blue through cyan through yellow to red [range: map values]
  bgyr: blue through green through yellow to red [range: map values]
  blues: white to blue [range: map values]
  byg: blue through yellow to green [range: map values]
  byr: blue through yellow to red [range: map values]
  celsius: blue to red for degree Celsius temperature [range: -80 to 80]
  corine: EU Corine land cover colors [range: 111 to 995]
  curvature: for terrain curvatures (from v.surf.rst and r.slope.aspect) [range: map values]
  differences: differences oriented colors [range: map values]
  elevation: maps relative ranges of raster values to elevation color ramp [range: map values]
  etopo2: colors for ETOPO2 worldwide bathymetry/topography [range: -11000 to 8850]
  evi: enhanced vegetative index colors [range: -1 to 1]
  fahrenheit: blue to red for Fahrenheit temperature [range: -112 to 176]
  forest_cover: percentage of forest cover [range: 0 to 100]
  gdd: accumulated growing degree days [range: 0 to 6000]
  grass: GRASS green (perceptually uniform) [range: map values]
  greens: white to green [range: map values]
  grey: grey scale [range: map values]
  grey.eq: histogram-equalized grey scale [range: map values]
  grey.log: histogram logarithmic transformed grey scale [range: map values]
  grey1.0: grey scale for raster values between 0.0-1.0 [range: 0 to 1]
  grey255: grey scale for raster values between 0-255 [range: 0 to 255]
  gyr: green through yellow to red [range: map values]
  haxby: relative colors for bathymetry or topography [range: map values]
  inferno: perceptually uniform sequential color table inferno [range: map values]
  kelvin: blue to red for temperature in Kelvin scale [range: 193.15 to 353.15]
  magma: perceptually uniform sequential color table magma [range: map values]
  ndvi: Normalized Difference Vegetation Index colors [range: -1 to 1]
  ndwi: Normalized Difference Water Index colors [range: -200 to 200]
  nlcd: US National Land Cover Dataset colors [range: 0 to 95]
  oranges: white to orange [range: map values]
  plasma: perceptually uniform sequential color table plasma [range: map values]
  population: color table covering human population classification breaks [range: 0 to 2e+09]
  population_dens: color table covering human population density classification breaks [range: 0 to 1e+09]
  precipitation: precipitation color table (0..2000mm) [range: 0 to 7000]
  precipitation_daily: precipitation color table (0..1000mm) [range: 0 to 10000]
  precipitation_monthly: precipitation color table (0..1000mm) [range: 0 to 1000]
  rainbow: rainbow color table [range: map values]
  ramp: color ramp [range: map values]
  random: random color table [range: map values]
  reds: white to red [range: map values]
  roygbiv: [range: map values]
  rstcurv: terrain curvature (from r.resamp.rst) [range: map values]
  ryb: red through yellow to blue [range: map values]
  ryg: red through yellow to green [range: map values]
  sepia: yellowish-brown through to white [range: map values]
  slope: r.slope.aspect-type slope colors for raster values 0-90 [range: 0 to 90]
  soilmoisture: soilmoisture color table (0.0-1.0) [range: 0 to 1]
  srtm: color palette for Shuttle Radar Topography Mission elevation [range: -11000 to 8850]
  srtm_percent: color palette for Shuttle Radar Topography Mission using relative elevation [range: map values]
  srtm_plus: color palette for Shuttle Radar Topography Mission elevation (with seafloor colors) [range: -11000 to 8850]
  terrain: global elevation color table covering -11000 to +8850m [range: -11000 to 8850]
  viridis: perceptually uniform sequential color table viridis [range: map values]
  water: water depth [range: map values]
  wave: color wave [range: map values]
width=integer[,integer,...]
  Width of the lines
title_color=string
  Color for axis, tics, numbers, and title
  Default: black
x_title=string
  Title for X data
  Default:
y_title=string
  Title for Y data
  Default:
title=string
  Title for Graph
  Default:
y_range=min,max
  Minimum and maximum value for Y axis (min,max)
y_tics=float[,float,...]
  Tic values for the Y axis
x_scale=float
  Scale for X values
y_scale=float
  Scale for Y values
icon=string
  Symbol for point
  Options: basic/arrow, basic/arrow1, basic/arrow2, basic/arrow3, basic/box, basic/circle, basic/cross1, basic/cross2, basic/cross3, basic/diamond, basic/hexagon, basic/marker, basic/octagon, basic/pin, basic/pin_dot, basic/point, basic/pushpin, basic/star, basic/triangle, basic/x, demo/muchomurka, demo/smrk, extra/4pt_star, extra/adcp, extra/airport, extra/alpha_flag, extra/bridge, extra/dim_arrow, extra/dive_flag, extra/fiducial, extra/fish, extra/half-box, extra/half-circle, extra/offbox_ne, extra/offbox_nw, extra/offbox_se, extra/offbox_sw, extra/pentagon, extra/ping, extra/ring, extra/simple_zia, extra/target, geology/circle_cross, geology/half-arrow_left, geology/half-arrow_right, geology/strike_box, geology/strike_circle, geology/strike_cleavage, geology/strike_half-bowtie, geology/strike_line, geology/strike_parallel, geology/strike_triangle, legend/area, legend/area_curved, legend/line, legend/line_crooked, n_arrows/basic_compass, n_arrows/fancy_compass, n_arrows/n_arrow1a, n_arrows/n_arrow1b, n_arrows/n_arrow2, n_arrows/n_arrow3, n_arrows/n_arrow4, n_arrows/n_arrow5, n_arrows/n_arrow6, n_arrows/n_arrow7a, n_arrows/n_arrow7b, n_arrows/n_arrow8a, n_arrows/n_arrow8b, n_arrows/n_arrow9
  Default: basic/circle
point_size=float
  Point size
  Default: 5
secondary_color=name
  Color
  Color for point symbol edge color
  Default: black
secondary_width=float[,float,...]
  Width of point symbol lines
  Default: 0.1

## DESCRIPTION

d.linegraph is a module to draw simple x,y line graphs (plots) based on numerical data contained in separate files.

### Data format

The X and Y data files for the graph are essentially a column of numbers in each file, with one input number per line. The program expects that each X value will have a corresponding Y value, therefore the number of lines in each data input file should be the same. Essentially, the X data becomes the X axis reference to which the Y data is plotted as a line. Therefore, the X data should be a monotonically increasing progression of numbers (i.e. "1,2,3,..."; "0, 10, 100, 1000,..."; "...-5,-1,0,1,5..."). If multiple Y data files are used, the Y axis scale will be based on the range of minimum and maximum values from all Y files, then all Y data given will be graphed according to that Y scale. Therefore, if multiple Y data inputs are used with dissimilar units, the graph produced comparing the two will be deceptive.

### File inputs

If the directory option is provided, the paths to files can (and should) be only relative paths to these files. While this is not recommended for scripting, it can be advantageous when typing the paths manually. For example when all files are stored in the directory `/home/john/data`, the user can provide the following in the command line:

    d.linegraph directory=/home/john/data x_file=x.txt y_file=y1.txt,y2.txt

### Managing colors

The user can specify the y_color option, the color_table option or just leave the defaults to influence the color of the plotted lines.

Colors specified by y_color option are used for drawing the lines in the graph. If multiple Y data files are used, an equal number of colors may be used to control the colors of the lines. Colors will be assigned to Y data in respect to the sequence of instantiation on the command line. It can be one of GRASS named colors or the RGB values from 0-255 separated by colons (RRR:GGG:BBB).

Alternatively, the user can use the color_table option to specify one of the GRASS predefined color tables.

By default, a series of colors will be chosen by the module if none are provided upon invocation. The order of default colors is red, green, violet, blue, orange, gray, brown, magenta, white, and indigo. The user is advised not to rely on the order of default colors but to either use the y_color or the color_table option to obtain predictable and reproducible results.

The color to be used for titles, axis lines, tics, and scale numbers is determined by the title_color option. The user can provide one of the GRASS named colors (such as gray, white, or black) or use the GRASS colon-separated format for RGB (RRR:GGG:BBB).

### Titles, labels, and tics

The title option specifies the text for the title of the graph. It will be centered over the top of graph. The x_title option is a text to describe data for X axis. It will be centered beneath the graph. Default is no text unless there is a need for a unit descriptor determined by the d.linegraph module, then string such as "in hundreds" is generated. The y_title option is a text to describe data for Y axis. It will be centered beneath the X data description. Similarly, to the x_title option, default is no text unless there is a need for an auto-generated description. In the case of graphs with multiple lines (multiple inputs for Y axis), user may wish to use more specific text placement using the d.text or v.label programs.

## NOTES

For historical reasons, the d.linegraph module accepts titles of more than one word where the underscore character ("_") is used to represent spaces (" "). For example "Census_data_1990" would be printed over the graph as "Census data 1990". The use of underscores is not necessary to use as long as the parameter is quoted in the command line. In general, use of underscores is not recommended and there is no need to use it at all in the GUI or when using d.linegraph in Python scripts.

The way the program locates and labels tic marks is less than perfect:
1) although distances between Y tics are proportional to the value, they are not proportional on the X axis;
2) decimal values between -1 and 1 can be printed on the X axis, but not on Y. (With respect to the later, the input for Y values can all be multiplied by a factor of 10 before graphing).

Depending on the user's needs, it might be easier or more appropriate to use a 3rd party tool such as xgraph, gnuplot, Matplotlib in Python, or R instead of d.linegraph. For a more general solution for plotting in GRASS, the user is advised to use the d.graph module.

## EXAMPLE

The following can be executed in Bash to create the input data for this example. The user can just create these files in a text editor, save them and specify path to them.

    cat > x.txt <<EOF
    1
    3
    4
    6
    9
    EOF
    cat > y1.txt <<EOF
    50
    58
    65
    34
    27
    EOF
    cat > y2.txt <<EOF
    10
    20
    35
    50
    45
    EOF

The next command sequence creates a file `plot.png` in the current directory which is the drawing made by d.linegraph.

    d.mon start=cairo output=plot.png width=400 height=400
    d.linegraph x_file=x.txt y_file=y1.txt,y2.txt
    d.mon stop=cairo

## SEE ALSO

d.frame, d.text, v.label, d.graph, d.histogram

## AUTHOR

Chris Rewerts, Agricultural Engineering, Purdue University

## SOURCE CODE

Available at: d.linegraph source code (history)

Latest change: Friday Aug 08 09:39:19 2025 in commit: ed72c71d8580e872cd6fd345c84a15c324764465

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© 2003-2026 GRASS Development Team, GRASS 8.6.0dev Reference Manual