# Points

The points style displays a small symbol at each point. The command set pointsize may be used to change the default size of the points. The point type defaults to that of the linetype. See linetype (p. ). If no using spec is found in the plot command, input data columns are interpreted implicitly. See style lines (p. ).

The first 8 point types are shared by all terminals. Individual terminals may provide a much larger number of distinct point types. Use the test command to show what is provided by the current terminal settings. Alternatively any single printable character may be given instead of a numerical point type, as in the example below. Longer strings may be plotted using the plot style labels rather than points.

        plot sin(x) with points pt "#"

You may use any utf-8 character as the pointtype. See utf8 (p. ). When using the keywords pointtype, pointsize, or linecolor in a plot command, the additional keyword variable may be given instead of a number. In this case the corresponding properties of each point are assigned by additional columns of input data. Variable pointsize is always taken from the first additional column provided in a using spec. Variable color is always taken from the last additional column. When plotting with style linespoints it is not currently possible to specify separate colors for the lines and the points. If all three properties are specified for each point, the order of input data columns is thus

        plot DATA using x:y:pointsize:pointtype:color \
             with points lc variable pt variable ps variable

Note: for information on user-defined program variables, see variables (p. ).