Re: Gnuplot temp files

[Vivek Shanmuganathan \(95410006-BS\)]

On Thu, 16 Sep 1999, Henry A. Leinhos wrote:

> I'm running octave 2.0.14 on a Linuxppc machine, and I have been
> noticing a large number of temp files in my /tmp directory (presumably
> from gnuplot).  The filesystem eventually fills up (around 250 MB) and
> gnuplot stops working.  How can I control the amount of temp file
> storage used when running gnuplot/octave? 

These files are createted by Octave, not gnuplot. The problem is because
of the integration between Octave and Gnuplot is seemless only at the user
level.

It seems that when the plot() function is called, octave 'save's the
plotted data in /tmp directory. The data so saved can be loaded using
Octave's 'load'. Such data files are exactly in the format required by
GnuPlot. 

A large number of data files may be created when:

        a) Many curves are plotted witth 'hold on'

        b) The user, as in my case, uses gnuplot through octave (with or 
           without hold) create animated sequence of stick diagrams (e.g.
           mechanism simulaltion.) 

I presume that Octave does not delete these temporary files as they are
supposed to be periodically scavenged by the operating system. The problem
may be serious (the whole system, not just GnuPlot) if the total number of
files exceeds the limit for which the system is configured. 

Well, I don't have any solution to the problem. If the octave session is
over, the files can be safely deleted. In case you use too many plots on
hold, toggle hold whenever not required. Use GnuPlot directly, wherever
possible. 

Regards,

Vivek...
----------------------

Note: I am not an expert in Octtaave, nor in GnuPlot. Please point out if
I had stated anything incorrectly. 




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