Calling gnuplot from python

Question

I\'ve a python script that after some computing will generate two data files formatted as gnuplot input.

How do I \'call\' gnuplot from python ?

I want to se

Answer 1

Subprocess is explained very clearly on Doug Hellemann's Python Module of the Week

This works well:

import subprocess
proc = subprocess.Popen(['gnuplot','-p'], 
                        shell=True,
                        stdin=subprocess.PIPE,
                        )
proc.stdin.write('set xrange [0:10]; set yrange [-2:2]\n')
proc.stdin.write('plot sin(x)\n')
proc.stdin.write('quit\n') #close the gnuplot window

One could also use 'communicate' but the plot window closes immediately unless a gnuplot pause command is used

proc.communicate("""
set xrange [0:10]; set yrange [-2:2]
plot sin(x)
pause 4
""")